Dust flying, a cloud so thick it gets into my eyes and down the back of my throat as I scream, we roar through the vineyard and out into a dirt road.
Our tyres spin as the terroir turns to gravel and we’re hugging a hair-pin bend with a rockface on one side and a sheer drop down to the sea on the other.
But instead of being terrified – after all my son is driving and he only passed his test three weeks ago – I’m laughing and urging him to go faster. That’s because we’re in a convoy of buggies on an off-road safari and we’re immediately behind our guide who is leading us all over Korčula, an island that was said to be the home of Marco Polo, in Croatia.
So far we’ve motored along a main road, screeched into a bay to glimpse the azure clear water lapping a stunning golden beach and torn across vineyards and winding roads following the incredible coastline as part of the two hour excursion which costs €60 each. Finally, breathless, and sad that it’s over, we’re back where we began.
‘You’re a good driver,’ the guide tells my son, taking off his helmet and walking over. ‘You kept up with me, but the rest were too slow.’ I see my son’s chest puff out as he grins. I’m already out of the buggy and shaking myself down. Now I see why drivers say ‘eat my dust.’ I’m covered in it.
I don’t mind though. It’s only ten minutes’ until we’re back on board our new home-away-from-home, the Kraljica Jelena, where I quickly shower and clamber up to the salon bar for a well-earned glass of fizz.
We’re cruising along the coast of Croatia from Split to the capital Dubrovnik on a week’s Elegance cruise with Sail Croatia, a family-run company that specialises in small ships. The Kraljica Jelena – the Queen of the Sea – is a modern version of a traditional Croatian sailing boat with just 19 cabins on board. That means there’s a maximum of 38 guests, with nine crew including the captain, Gordan, two sailors, two waiters, a chef and assistant, a maid and cruise director Joana.
‘That was fun,’ a shipmate says walking up to the bar and ordering a beer. ‘Ripper actually.’ We’re the only two English guests on board with a boat full of Australians who are in the middle of touring Europe and thought a trip to where Game of Thrones was filmed would be interesting – especially if they could see or even sit in the Iron Throne.
Dubrovnik stood in as King’s Landing in the hit HBO fantasy drama TV series starring Sean Bean, Kit Harington and Sophie Turner. But there are a few more days before we reach the capital and we’re determined to enjoy a plethora of beautiful Croatian islands along the way.
So far we’ve visited Milna on Brac island where we dined harbourside and bought home-made bracelets and trinkets from children who’d set up little stalls by the water, and Hvar, the riviera of the Adriatic, with its cobbled streets, 7th century fortress and celebrity tourists on superyachts. Croatia is opposite Italy and is just as stunning in its raw, natural beauty.
Every day we rise early for a delicious buffet of fruits, pastries and cooked breakfast in the salon before venturing up to the top sun deck to sunbathe or relax in the jacuzzi.
Usually at 11am, the captain finds a secluded bay for a swim stop where we clamber down the wooden stairs that lead directly into the sea. Even though it’s summer, the water is cold and so we have to force ourselves to take the plunge, but once inside it’s glorious. The waters are the cleanest I’ve ever seen outside of the Maldives – crystal blue and so clear we can see right down to the bottom of the ocean.
After an hour or so of swimming or snorkelling, it’s back on board to shower and get ready for lunch. This is a three-course affair freshly prepared by the chef. We sit chatting to our newly made friends from Down Under while tucking in to dishes such as tricolore salad made with ripe avocado, sweet tomatoes and melt-in-your-mouth buffalo mozzarella, mushroom risotto and lemon cheesecake.
‘Delicious,’ we all take it in turns to murmur and then we’re on to our next destination. The cruise is half board, so you can explore each island in the afternoons and choose where to have dinner each evening.
Today we’re in Vis, one of the most outer-lying islands on the Dalmatian coast, where we meander around the harbour and look in the souvenir shops before deciding where to eat. There’s no point asking my son what he’d like as the answer is always the same: ‘Pizza.’ And I can see why – it’s as good as any we’ve tried in Italy.
‘We can’t be late tonight,’ I say. ‘We need to be up early tomorrow.’ We’ve booked a trip to see the Blue Cave on the tiny island of Bisevo nearby that’s only accessible by boat and we have to be on board the small wooden boat at 7am to avoid the crowds.
The cave is only a short boat ride from Queen Jelena but it’s a tight squeeze to get through the tiny entrance – so teeny, in fact, that we have to lie or crouch on the floor of the boat to make it. We giggle until our guide, who is steering the boat gondolier-style with a large wooden pole, tells us to sit back up and we all gasp.
The water inside the large cave is a bright, almost neon, turquoise blue. It’s this colour, the guide explains, because of the refracted light entering the cave. It is, quite simply, beautiful. But our visit is fleeting and soon we’re on our way back to the ship to head to our final ports of call: Mljet, where the entire island is a National Park and covered in pine trees, and Dubrovnik.
The city, with its rust red roofs, is UNESCO protected and so stunning that the writer George Bernard Shaw called it ‘heaven on earth.’ The old town has 1,940m of 15th century stone walls that visitors can walk around, and a labyrinth of alleyways and the Stradun promenade crammed with historic charm, restaurants, bars and high end shops.
It is also King’s Landing, the fictional city in Game of Thrones. The award-winning show has been filmed here since 2011 and so we join a Dubrovnik Games of Thrones Tour (€25 each) to discover the secrets behind filming on location here.
We wind our way through the medieval city until we come to a bay which is instantly recognisable. It’s where pivotal scenes with the actors on steps cut into the rock below the fortress and by the sea have been filmed. ‘It’s cheaper to film here than create CGI,’ our guide explains. But Games of Thrones have spent $100 million dollars here. That’s because they need to pay all the businesses surrounding the shoot locations to shut for the day – as well as all the residents with windows overlooking the shoot. ‘It’s a set fee of 100 euros per window,’ the guide continues, ‘so they can’t film the action. But many of the owners of the houses understood how popular the series was and would demand more money at the last minute or even on the day of filming. It proved very lucrative.’
Almost every local seemingly worked on the series in some capacity (our taxi driver was the executive producer's chauffeur during filming) but most wanted to bec0me an extra – even though the fee was only 26 euros per day. ‘They all wanted to be in Game of Thrones,’ the guide says, ‘but they all had to be on set by 3am as it took so long to get them into costume and make-up and each day was 12 hours of filming.’
Next stop is the Walk of Shame in the city centre where Cersei Lannister, played by Lena Headey, walked naked while people shouted ‘shame, shame.’ ‘In reality the actress was pregnant and didn’t want to be filmed nude so they used a body double,’ our guide reveals. ‘And they had to hide all the electricity boxes and modern technology along the street with plastic plants.’
The location became so popular that other films have been shot here since – including Stars Wars: The Last Jedi and the 2018 Robin Hood movie.
The series has finished now but there are GoT souvenirs everywhere. We’re guided into one shop and I can't believe it. There, in the back, surrounded by GoT T-shirts, mugs and memorabilia is the Iron Throne. ‘It’s not the real one,’ our guide says, ‘but it’s exactly the same.’ I jump at the chance to sit on it – and can’t stop grinning. We’re visiting in the height of summer, where it is already 30 degrees in the shade, but there’s only one thing to say: ‘Winter is coming.’ It’s the ultimate way to end what has been a truly incredible holiday. Croatia is already on my list to return to soon, but first there are eight seasons of Game of Thrones to rewatch to spot my favourite new place – Dubrovnik and not Kings Landing.
Getting There
A 7-nights Elegance Cruise on Queen Jelena cruising from Split to Dubrovnik on May 11, 2025, starts at £1,729 per person in a Lower Deck Cabin excluding flights. The price includes breakfast and a three-course lunch every day, Captain’s Dinner Evening, Local Village Dinner, Wi-Fi, a Tour Manager and return airport transfers.
