Fort Imperial — Attraction in Dubrovnik

We took the cable car up Mount Srđ, which was relatively expensive, but the view of Dubrovnik from here is spectacular, and only gets better when you reach the top where there is a panorama viewing spot, an expensive restaurant (we gave it a miss) and a gift shop of some kind.

We walked a short distance behind the cable car terminal where the fort is located: the price was not very expensive for entry into the fort and museum, and it contained a lot of information, starting with the history of the fort itself, then its role during the Homelands War in the first half of the 1990s following attacks on Dubrovnik. Further rooms show English ITN News coverage of the attacks, which really hit home, and items used by the resistance groups, as well as bomb shrapnel found in the old town. Dubrovnik is clearly very proud of the freedom fighters/defenders of the city.

There was also an exhibition when we went showing photographs of the exact same locations taken before and after the bombing of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Dubrovnik Old Town. Stark contrasts indeed!

After ascending the stairs up to the top of the Fort, we were rewarded with the single best view in all of Dubrovnik, taking in the whole of the Old Town and beyond, the harbour, the island of Lokrum, the coastline leading to Cavtat, the sea, and (because we timed it perfectly) the most incredible sunset. Please consider coming here, we learned a lot, and the view is...

A wonderful experience! You get the most spectacular views of Dubrovnik and the surrounding area and islands!! Absolutely amazing - definitely as good as going up the city walls! There's a trail to the top - wear decent footwear because it's quite uneven, but path is very clear and well defined. We made the 'mistake' of going around 11pm so was 29°C all the way up the hill. Doable but hot - drank maybe 2 litres of water in an hour. Alternatively you can get the cable car.

At the top there's a little shop (on 1st or 2nd floor of the building up there), and a restaurant.

DRINKS ARE EXPENSIVE! Bottle of water (about 1 litre) was 40-80Kn depending if you bought it in the shop or restaurant. Recommend taking Lots of water with you! Definitely take more than you think you'll need! It's worth carrying it up the hill because you'll definitely want it later, especially if you're going up in the heat of summer!

Would recommend starting your walk before 11am! 8am or 9am would have been cooler and more pleasant.

There's also a museum at the top - only 15Kn entrance at the time of visiting (Sept 2018) and filled with interesting history! (So a bottle of water is over twice the price of the museum entry...

Fantastic views over Dubrovnik, the Adriatic and east towards the mountains of Bosnia.

The cable car is a fast & convenient, if slightly pricy, way to get up there (kn100 return, Kn60 single). There is also a zig zag path from Dubrovnik.

At the cable car terminus there is a nice restaurant with excellent service, and spectacular views, though as you might expect prices are higher than in the town (Kn80 → 200+). The portion sizes were also (unusually) a little small. However the food was very good. And did I mention the view?

Finally, Fort Imperial itself is a Napoleonic fort which played a key role in the defence of Dubrovnik in the siege of 1990. There is an extensive exhibition inside the fort with images, weapons and munitions on display. Only portions of the display are translated into English. Outside along the ridge are the remains of the trench system used in the defence. It is worth bearing in mind that much of the hillside was mined in the war. I have no idea if it has been demined, but it might be worth not wandering too far from...