Exploring The Elaphite Islands

Dubrovnik, Croatia is amazing but today I’m taking you on my adventures around the Elaphite Islands just a boat ride away, making it the perfect day trip. Each island, three being inhabited, offer different elements of history set in the beautiful nature of these islands. Plus, it’s a great way to get away from the touristy areas for a while.

There are a few companies that offer day trip boat tours to the islands from Dubrovnik (I recommend using this option as it was a great way to learn about the history of each island). We only had about 20 or so people on our boat and we had an excellent captain who started our tour with a shot of travarica (Croatian brandy) and zivijeli (“cheers” in Croatian).

Sipan, our first stop, is the largest island in terms of area and is most famous for the olive oil and red wine that is produced here. It is also the only island with roads and cars but not many.

We enjoyed walking through very quiet areas as we were in search of the famous olive oil stopping by an occasional local as I tried to use my limited Croatian to ask if we were headed in the right direction. We finally found someone, and we did find the place. On our search for this famous olive oil, we came across a lovely, local woman who didn’t speak a word of English and was tending to her garden in the back. She stopped to help us purchase the olive oil and then proceeded to show us the fish she was cooking for dinner and showing off her lovely garden in back. I wasn’t sure if she was being friendly or inviting us to stay but realized we were limited on time. We continued on the path up the hill through quiet woodsy areas and countless olive trees – it felt as if we had that part of the area island to ourselves, which was very nice. (Fun fact: Šipan entered the Guinness Book of Records as the island with the largest number of olive trees relative to its size.) We didn’t find any of the churches we originally thought we would see but every time I use that olive oil, I smile when I think of that sweet lady we bought it from.

Sipan is a famous fishing island so we had lunch onboard our boat where the captain grilled fish coming from the very water we were docked in – the fish was so delicious. We then headed to our second island, Lopud stop while dining.

Lopud is best known for its sandy beaches. One of said beaches is called Sunj and it is even known to be one of the best in the entire Dubrovnik region because it is composed of fine white sand (which is extremely rare in Croatia). Lopud is also more developed in terms of tourism and therefore the most economically developed of the islands. An example of this is the Lafodia hotel – a luxury hotel that actually looks like a cruise ship out of water and makes you do a double-take when you see it.

The port area also has a number of cafes, restaurants and hotels. Along the boardwalk are local vendors selling their goods. I bought some homemade candy almonds that were absolutely delicious!

Now that the “touristy” part is out of the way -- the island has two monasteries (one founded in 1458 and currently under renovation) and east of the port are the ruins of Fort Spanjol dating back from 1653. The view from the top is beautiful if you are willing to make the climb – clever taxi drivers in electric golf carts are willing to take you if not. There are 30 churches and chapels on the island – the largest is St Mary’s which contains paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Inland there is less development and more to explore, in my opinion. The island of Lopud was a favorite place for the summer residence of the local aristocracy so you will also find evidence of summer villas and chapel ruins while exploring. We found many of these chapel ruins – some of the chapels were very small and could only fit a hand-full of people inside at once – small but still fascinating and beautiful! Walking through the small 19th century Park Dordic Mayneri was like walking through an enchanted garden of a noble family in love with nature. On this island, I could’ve spent all day exploring if given the chance.

After Lopud, we visited Kolocep, the smallest island, which was our last stop. Only 110 people live here – it is small but just as mighty with a huge flair! Local people live like it’s the 19th century so don’t be surprised if you see them fishing and playing cards. This is a very green island – including a dense forest with 100-year-old pine trees amongst olive groves, vineyards, and citrus trees. It was a very interesting combination but gorgeous nonetheless.

The coastline has with a number of hidden coves – the most famous is the Blue Cave on the south side of the island and is popular with swimmers.

The island has seven pre-Romanesque churches dating back to the times of Croatian kings from the 9th to the 11th century. We had fun looking for them on the island and even came up upon St Mary’s Church, a lovely chapel with exquisite surrounding grounds – fortunately or unfortunately depending how you look at it, there was not one person around. I almost felt guilty (well not really) that we had the entire place to ourselves!

Our wonderful semi-relaxing day of exploration in the Elaphite Islands flew by and we headed back to Dubrovnik. Spending some time in semi-secluded spaces provided us with some needed rejuvenation and renewed energy away from all the crowds. We enjoyed our boat tour with our captain but if you want to be on your own schedule, Lopud is reached from Port of Dubrovnik. There are daily ferries to the island (one of which stops in Koločep along the way and continues on to Šipan). But if you have the time, I would definitely recommend putting this on your list of things to do, especially if you are feeling exhausted by the touristy crowds.

Next week I’ll share more things to do outside of Dubrovnik, which includes a stop in a country right next door! Please make sure to subscribe to receive my weekly posts directly to your email every Friday. You may also follow me on Instagram or Facebook under Late Bloomer Traveler where I share more brief highlights throughout the week. Would love for you to join our travel community and I’ll talk with you all next week!