From the walls of Dubrovnik you look straight across a short stretch of sea to a low, dark green island covered in pines and holm oaks. That is Lokrum, and it is the closest thing the city has to a back garden. No cars or motorbikes are allowed on it, and nobody may stay overnight. You leave the bike on the mainland, catch one of the regular boats from the old harbour, and in about a quarter of an hour you step onto a quay with peacocks strutting about as if they owned the place, which they more or less do.
The island's story is rich in legends. Benedictine monks founded a monastery here in the Middle Ages, and one tale says Richard the Lionheart was shipwrecked on Lokrum on his way back from the Crusades and promised to build a church in thanks. When the monks were forced out in the early nineteenth century, they supposedly placed a curse on anyone who would own the island, and a string of later owners, including the Habsburg archduke Maximilian, who turned it into a summer retreat and brought the peacocks, met unhappy ends. Maximilian later became Emperor of Mexico and was executed there.
Today Lokrum is a nature reserve with a botanical garden, the ruins of the monastery, a small fort on the hilltop with views over the city, and a little salt lake known as the Dead Sea, linked to the open sea through the rocks and good for a calm swim. The rocky shores are popular with swimmers in summer, and the island has a few cafés.
Getting to Dubrovnik on two wheels is the riding part. The Adriatic coastal road, the D8, runs high above the sea with tight bends and stunning views, crossing the white suspension bridge over the inlet north of the city. Traffic in summer is heavy and the run into the old town can be gridlocked, so arrive early and park outside the walls. The climb up Srđ hill behind the city on a narrow road gives an aerial view of Lokrum and the old town together.
Dubrovnik has fuel and every service, though prices are high in season. Boats to Lokrum run mainly between spring and late autumn. Bring water, a swimsuit and sun protection, and check the time of the last boat back.