Rijeka dubrovačka (River of Dubrovnik) is the area to the west of Dubrovnik from the source of the River Ombla to the Franjo Tudman bridge. Ombla is one of the smallest rivers in the world. Its length from the source to the start of brackish water (where salt and fresh water mix) is around 50 meters. Old Dubrovnik citizens valued the natural beauty of this canyon and as such is home to the greatest amount of summer residences – 24 in fact. Unfortunately many were devastated but some, such as the one in the ACI Marina, can be visited. The Gučetić-Đurđević summer residence is of great importance to the Dubrovnik Republic because it was host to the final council of noblemen in 1814.

Scenic Ride along the Coastline A beautiful ride along the Adriatic road overlooking the coast and villages will take us towards the small village of Trsetno and Arboretum.

Trsteno is situated about 12 km outside Dubrovnik north. The entrance is found right next to a huge Oriental plane tree that stretches up 50 m in the sky. Impressive! The tree has stood there for 500 years accidentally to the legend, and was planted at the same time as the Arboretum was founded. Let the adventure begin!

The Arboretum is the oldest renaissance garden in Dalmatia. It’s dated back as far as 1492 when an irrigation aqueduct was built there. The garden developed and was owned by the family residence Gučetić-Gozze. The family was very interested in plants so they ordered seeds and greenery from ships coming from exotic places from different parts of the world. Here lived the philosopher and writer Nikola Vitov Gučetić. The last owner Vito Gučetić Bosiljević (Gozze Basegli) a stone sculpture collector, made an artificial ruin and some of the sculptures were even placed around the mansion. The garden is lush and filled with Japanese banana trees, date palms, magnolia, various cactus species, and other exotic plants. During the Croatian War of Independence, Arboretum in Trsteno was heavily damaged by Serbian and Montenegrin forces, attacked by sea and by air. Arboretum was tragically burnt during the massive attacks and 80% of the vegetation burnt down. Join us to explore

At the end of the experience, we will be coming back along the Adriatic road to a starting point.