Staying in an Airbnb Inside Dubrovnik’s Old Town

Croatia

Staying in an Airbnb Inside Dubrovnik’s Old Town

words: Sophie Alexander-Osman
photography: Sophie Alexander-Osman
published: November 5, 2026

There is staying in Dubrovnik, and then there is staying inside Dubrovnik. For this trip, I wanted the latter. I found Apartment Kate on Airbnb, right in the heart of the Old Town, inside the ancient city walls. Its entrance door is quite literally on the famous Jesuit Steps, recognisable from Game of Thrones, so from the moment you leave the apartment, you are immediately in the middle of one of the most iconic parts of the city.

There is something completely different about waking up among Dubrovnik’s famous orange roofs, their traditional kupa kanalica terracotta tiles catching the morning light. Staying at a beach resort just outside the city is one thing, but opening your front door onto centuries-old limestone streets is another. You can walk downstairs, grab a coffee and breakfast, sit outside and watch the Old Town wake up around you. You are surrounded by the architecture, the history and everyday life rather than simply coming into the Old Town to see it for a few hours.

Apartment Kate is on the third floor of a roughly 300-year-old building, reached by three flights of stairs. It is spacious enough to properly settle into, with two bedrooms, a living room, original kitchen and bathroom, but it is definitely not polished or modern. The floors are squeaky and completely wonky, the shower is not made for giants and the whole place has the quirks you would expect from an old building. Somehow, that is exactly what makes it work.

The small windows were one of my favourite details. As the summer heat started to disappear in the evening, we could open them and let the air move through the apartment. Below, the Old Town carried on. You could hear plates and glasses clinking from the restaurants and cafés in the streets, people talking as they walked past and neighbours putting out their washing or sitting with a book on their Juliet balconies. It felt incredibly local, despite being right in the middle of one of Croatia’s busiest tourist destinations.

The location also means you can experience Dubrovnik at completely different times of day. Get up early and wander the Old Town before the streets fill with visitors, disappear back into the apartment during the hottest part of the afternoon, then head out again for dinner and drinks as the sun goes down. Everything is within walking distance, including Stradun, the city walls, the historic sights and Banje Beach, which is around ten minutes away.

A few minutes from the apartment is Buža Bar, one of my favourite places to spend an afternoon in Dubrovnik. Built into the rocks on the outside of the city walls, it looks straight out over the Adriatic. Grab a cold drink, watch the boats sail past and stay for sunset. People swim below, and if you are feeling brave, you can jump from the rocks into the sea. It is casual, social and exactly the kind of place where you can lose a few hours without realising.

And that is really what made staying here so special. You are not just visiting the Old Town, you are living in it, even if only for a few days. You wake up with the orange rooftops outside your window, have breakfast on the limestone streets, walk out onto the same steps used in Game of Thrones, then come home in the evening with the sounds of Dubrovnik still happening below you.

There are more luxurious hotels around Dubrovnik, and plenty of beautiful beach resorts where you can spend your days beside the sea. But staying inside the Old Town offers something those places cannot. You get to experience Dubrovnik when you are not simply sightseeing. You get to feel like you are actually there.

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