King's Landing, as Played By Dubrovnik

Following two relaxing days at sea, we arrived in gorgeous Dubrovnik on another picture-perfect day.

All frustration about missing Malta, which had been the bucket-list destination that pulled us to this itinerary, faded in the reality of Dubrovnik's azure blue sky and picturesque buildings.

The coast of Croatia is ready for its closeups on the "silver screen," though often representing other countries.  Dubrovnik and surrounding areas were recently featured in the Nicholas Cage movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, which on a small video screen had me laughing heartily while flying to Barcelona.

Dubrovnik's biggest claim to cinematic fame came with the epic HBO series Game of Thrones, where it starred for the most part as King's Landing.

Walking through the lovely medieval village on your own will reveal locales familiar to fans of the show, including the staircase where Cersei Lannister was forced to do her walk of shame.  With a bit of search outside the city walls, you'll find Blackwater Bay.

Having become intrigued about the show during travel excursions in which our guides mentioned GOT, Julie and I finally binge-watched the series just before the final season was set to air.  Jay and Amy had warned us that while I would probably like it, "Mom would find it too intense."  A bit shocking, undoubtedly, but a fun ride all the way for both of us!

Seven seasons watching any epic TV show --- even taken in a compressed time period --- creates an attachment to the story and characters, so when we found several Game of Thrones filming site tours available in Dubrovnik, we jumped on one from Viator.

Call it the luck of the draw, but for a very reasonable price we enjoyed a fabulous tour with a very talented guide.  Like much of Dubrovnik's population, he played an extra in the series.  His dad was something of a featured extra, portraying a recurring nobleman.

As we arrived at various locations, he would show us photos from Game of Thrones in his flip book and then refresh our memories of what exactly happened during the scene supplemented by stories of how the locals became extras, parking lot drama and use of CGI to enhance the already breathtaking scenery and ancient buildings.

Because the area is so gorgeous, it is a pleasure to follow a local as he takes you to lovely viewpoints to snap photos.  Having the additional allure of a filming site tour for a show we have been dissecting for years led by an excellent guide made this very special indeed.  After all, this show had creeped into my consciousness to the point where I found connections even when a destination we visited didn't claim any attachment to the series.

Before the tour, Julie and I had walked around the village, popping inside an occasional unlocked church doors where we found surprisingly ornate interiors and simply taking in the scenery.  It seemed somewhat familiar from our prior visit by cruise fifteen years earlier, but it also seemed "exciting and new" as the familiar Love Boat theme song goes.

We could have slipped into comfy chairs at an enticing sidewalk café for lunch like we had in Lucca, but Julie had seen an afternoon Princess excursion to nearby Cavtat for $20 per person.  Apparently, that was some kind of special deal because of the late plan to be in Dubrovnik, because I note on the Princess Excursions page that it normally costs twice that much.

So for about the price of having a nice lunch in town, we instead ate a delicious lunch on the fantail Regal Princess with a lovely view of Dubrovnik and proceeded by bus for a pleasant ride to the southernmost town in Croatia, Cavtat, another terrific village by the shore.

Our driver stopped long enough to appreciate a panoramic view of Dubrovnik from a different angle.

As luck would have it, there was some kind of military/police recruitment exercise in process when we arrived in Cavtat, which obstructed views of the sea.  However, it was a good reminder that in this part of the world, peace cannot be taken for granted in the manner to which we have become accustomed in the United States.

It wasn't that long ago that the breakup of Yugoslavia birthed the new nations of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro.  That came with the cost of a bloody war that brought United Nations intervention spearheaded by the USA under the Clinton Administration.

We enjoyed our stroll along the coast past quaint shops and restaurants, eventually buying an ice cream cone as a treat on this sunny afternoon.

By the way, Princess also offered a Game of Thrones tour, but we booked the Viator tour more in our price range on my CruisePlanners1.com web site.  Finding our tour guide at the designated meeting point by the large fountain in town proved to be quite easy.

Cavtat Excursion

Arriving in Dubrovnik

Game of Thrones Excursion