All guidebooks for Croatia rightly recommend taking Dubrovnik’s cable car 1,350 feet up to the top of Mount Srđ, and many also recommend returning to the city via a nearby zigzag path leading down the cliff. This scenic route is steep and full of loose rocks, however, and because it’s the obvious choice, it can also be crowded. I decided to try another way.

But first I had to get to the summit. The cable car was closed for repairs the day I intended to take it. Should you encounter a similar situation, you’ll likely find numerous taxi drivers near the cable car’s base who can take you up the small mountain. On a sunny day, the views are nothing less than sensational.

A 200-year-old fortress built by Napoleon caps the top of Mount Srđ, and it became a focal point during the Siege of Dubrovnik in the early 1990s. Still bearing scars from shells and bullets, the fortress now houses the Museum of Croatian War of Independence. In dank, mossy stone rooms, displays understandably tell the Croatian side of the story (not the Serbian), and photos of a war-damaged Dubrovnik contrast sharply with the picture-perfect city of today. The roof terrace offers magnificent panoramas of the coast.