Dubrovnik city guide

Things To Do In Dubrovnik

A walled marble city on the Adriatic, spectacular and overwhelmed. Walk the walls at eight in the morning and it is unforgettable; arrive at noon in August and it is a queue.

Where to stay What it costs

Hostels in the city

8.7

Average, from 45,258 reviews

1,940m

Of city walls, walkable

8,000

Cruise passengers on a busy day

€35

Entry to the walls

Spectacular, and managed like a theme park

Dubrovnik was the Republic of Ragusa, an independent maritime state that outmanoeuvred Venice for centuries, and it built walls nearly two kilometres long to stay that way. They are still there, still complete, and walking them is the best hour on the Croatian coast.

The problem is volume. Up to 8,000 cruise passengers can be in the old town at once in high season, on streets built for a few thousand residents, and the city has introduced caps and charges to manage it. Around a thousand people now live inside the walls, down from five thousand in the 1990s.

The timing rules are simple and they change everything: walls at eight when they open, or after five. Old town in the evening, not at midday. Avoid days when four ships are in — the port publishes the schedule.

Two days, and stay over.

Where to stay

Inside the walls is atmospheric and expensive. Everything else is a bus ride and much cheaper.

Old Town

Atmosphere

Inside the walls: marble streets, the Stradun, and the city to yourself after the ships leave. Expensive and noisy.

Ploče

Views and beaches

East of the walls, with Banje beach, the cable car station and the classic view back at the city.

Lapad and Babin Kuk

Value and swimming

The peninsula west of the centre: beaches, a promenade, far cheaper beds and a fifteen-minute bus in.

Gruž

Transport and value

The port and bus station area, with the market, ferries to the islands and the cheapest rooms.

Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 12 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Things to do

Things to do in Dubrovnik

Walk the walls, and walk them at eight. They open at eight in summer, entry is about €35, the circuit is 1,940 metres and takes an hour to ninety minutes, and doing it in the first hour means shade, cool air and photographs without crowds. By eleven it is a slow-moving queue in full sun with no way off.

The cable car up Srđ takes four minutes and costs about €27 return, or you can walk up in an hour on a switchback path. The view over the walled city and the islands is the best in Croatia, and sunset is the time.

Lokrum, the island fifteen minutes away by boat, has a monastery, peacocks, a salt lake and free swimming, and it is the easiest escape from the crowds.

Inside the walls, the Rector's Palace, the Franciscan monastery with one of the oldest working pharmacies in Europe, and the war photo exhibition are the ones worth entry.

Free things to do in Dubrovnik

The old town itself is free to walk into — only the walls charge — and it is a different city at seven in the morning and after nine at night.

Banje beach and the rocky shores below the walls are free, and Buža, a bar through a hole in the sea wall, charges only for drinks.

Walking up Srđ on the switchback path costs nothing and takes about an hour, with the same view as the cable car.

The Lapad promenade and its beaches are free, and Gruž market in the morning is free to wander and the cheapest food in the city.

Food and drink

Eating and drinking in Dubrovnik

This is the most expensive city in Croatia to eat in, and the restaurants inside the walls know exactly who their customers are — €25 to €40 for a main is normal on the Stradun side streets.

The way around it is to leave. Gruž has the market and the konobas that locals use, at €12 to €20, and Lapad is similar.

Dalmatian cooking is the same as the rest of the coast: grilled fish by weight, black risotto, pašticada, and peka ordered hours ahead.

Pelješac and Korčula wines come from just up the coast — Plavac Mali is the red — and a glass is €5 to €8 in town, less at a market shop.

A beer is €4 to €6 inside the walls and €3 outside them.

Nightlife

Going out in Dubrovnik

Modest and expensive inside the walls, where a few bars run late and the crowd is largely visitors.

Buža, reached through a hole in the sea wall, is the one everyone goes to — drinks on the rocks above the water at sunset, with cliff jumping for the brave.

Lapad has the more local bars and the beach clubs, and Banje beach club is the summer venue east of the walls.

A beer is €4 to €6 and cocktails €10 to €15.

Dubrovnik is not a party town — the crowds are older, the residents are few, and noise inside the walls is policed. For a bigger night, Split and Hvar are the destinations.

Getting around

Getting around Dubrovnik

The old town is car-free and walkable; everything else is steep and served by buses at about €2 a ride, bought from a kiosk for less than from the driver.

The airport bus takes 30 minutes to the old town and Gruž for about €10, timed to flights.

Buses to Split take four and a half hours and Zagreb nine or ten. Note that the road to the rest of Croatia used to cross Bosnian territory at Neum; the Pelješac Bridge now bypasses it, so a passport is no longer needed for that stretch.

Ferries and catamarans from Gruž reach Korčula, Mljet and Hvar, and boats to Lokrum leave from the old port.

Kotor in Montenegro is about two and a half hours with a border crossing that queues badly in summer.

Costs

What Dubrovnik costs

The most expensive place in Croatia by a distance. Dorms are €25 to €60 depending on the month, a main inside the walls €25 to €40, and the city walls about €35 on their own.

A day is €70 to €120 in season.

The levers are real: stay in Lapad or Gruž and bus in, eat where the market is, use the free beaches, and walk up Srđ rather than paying €27 for the cable car.

The Dubrovnik Pass at around €35 to €45 includes the walls and several museums plus buses, which makes it worth doing if you would pay for the walls anyway.

Safety

Staying safe in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is very safe, with crowds and heat the real issues rather than crime.

The walls are the most common source of problems: 1,940 metres of exposed stone with steep steps, almost no shade and no easy exits once you are on them. In July and August people faint up there. Go at eight, take water, and do not start the circuit at midday.

The marble streets of the old town are polished by centuries of feet and are slippery in rain.

Beaches are rocky and sea urchins are common — water shoes help.

Pickpocketing occurs in the Stradun crush when ships are in. Emergency number is 112.

Day trips from Dubrovnik

Islands, an oyster bay and two countries, all within a few hours.

Lokrum

15 minutes · Boat from the old port, about €27 return

A wooded island with a monastery, peacocks, a salt lake and free swimming. The easiest escape from the crowds.

Ston and Pelješac

1 hour · Bus or tour, €10–35

The second longest defensive wall in the world, salt pans worked since Roman times, and oysters from the bay.

Kotor, Montenegro

2.5 hours · Bus or tour, €20–50

A walled town on a fjord-like bay, with a fortress climb. Border queues in summer are significant.

Cavtat

40 minutes · Boat or bus, €5–15

A quiet harbour town south of the city, with a Meštrović mausoleum and far fewer people.

What's on

What is on while you are there

A summer festival that has run since 1950, in the streets and on the walls.

Staff pick

5–18 October

Good Food Festival

The Good Food Festival in Dubrovnik, Croatia, is a beloved culinary celebration that brings together food enthusiasts to explore the city’s rich gastronomic heritage.…

23–25 October

Lumiart 2026: Dubrovnik Light Festival

Dubrovnik's medieval Old City transforms into an open-air gallery of light installations, projections, and new media art during this three-day November festival. Since 2019,…

1 October

Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra

The Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra performs under conductor Slobodan Begić in a program of film and salon music at the historic Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik.…

2–16 October

Folk Dance Ensamble Linđo

Folklorni ansambl Linđo Folk Dance Ensamble Linđo presents a captivating performance of traditional Croatian folk dances. The event takes place at Lazareti in Dubrovnik,…

4 October

Mixed Choir Libertas

The Mixed Choir Libertas performs a concert in front of Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik on October 4, 2026. The performance begins at 7:00 PM…

13 October

Srđan Bulat

Award-winning Croatian classical guitarist Srđan Bulat presents his recital “A Century of Croatian Music for Guitar” at the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik. The program…

20 Aug – 18 Oct

Matko Vekić Exhibition: Resort Without a Signal

Matko Vekić's paintings examine Mediterranean spaces caught between development and abandonment — unfinished buildings, empty pools, and accumulated debris that exist beyond network signals…

All events in Dubrovnik

Hostels

Where to stay in Dubrovnik

Limited and expensive inside the walls, with far better value in Lapad and Gruž a short bus ride away. Live from Hostelworld.

10.0 350

When to go

May, June, September and October. July and August are the reason the city has a crowding problem.

12°

Jan

Mild, wet and very quiet. Some places closed

12°

Feb

Carnival, and still quiet

14°

Mar

Warming. The walls are pleasant and empty

17°

Apr

Good. Cruise season starting

22°

May

Excellent. Warm, swimmable, and not yet overwhelmed

26°

Jun

Warm sea, long days, crowds building

29°

Jul

Peak. Cruise ships, heat and queues

29°

Aug

The busiest and most expensive weeks of the year

25°

Sep

The best month. Warmest sea, crowds easing

21°

Oct

Still swimmable, much cheaper, and calm

17°

Nov

Quiet and wet. Ferries reduce

13°

Dec

Mild and empty, with a small Advent market

Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets: quiet busy peak

Average highs. The crowd calendar matters more than the weather — check the cruise ship schedule before picking a day, because four ships in port changes the city completely.

What your trip will cost

Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros, in season.

The walls alone are about €35. The Dubrovnik Pass bundles them with museums and buses and usually pays for itself.

Nights 3

—

Beds—
Food and drink—
Getting around—
Doing things—

Dubrovnik travel questions

The ones we get asked most.

When should I walk the walls?

At eight, when they open. The circuit is 1,940 metres of exposed stone with almost no shade and few exits, and by eleven in summer it is a slow queue in full sun. The first hour is cool, quiet and the whole difference between a highlight and an ordeal.

How bad are the crowds?

On a day with several cruise ships in, up to 8,000 passengers can be in an old town built for a few thousand people. The port publishes its schedule online — check it before choosing which day to go inside the walls.

Is it worth the money?

The city is extraordinary and the prices are the highest in Croatia. Stay in Lapad or Gruž and bus in, eat where the market is, use the free beaches, and it becomes reasonable. Trying to do Dubrovnik entirely inside the walls is what makes it expensive.

Do I need a passport for the bus from Split?

No longer. The route used to cross a short strip of Bosnian territory at Neum, but the Pelješac Bridge now bypasses it entirely.

Is the cable car worth €27?

The view from Srđ over the walled city and the islands is the best in Croatia. You can also walk up the switchback path in about an hour for nothing, which is the better option if you are fit and it is not the middle of the day.

How long do you need?

Two days, and stay over. The city belongs to residents and overnight visitors before nine and after five, and that is when it is worth being there.

When is the best month?

September. The sea is at its warmest, the crowds ease after the first week, and prices fall from the August peak. May and October are the cheapest good months.

Say yes to hostels, meet the world

Compare Dubrovnik hostels — live prices, real reviews and free cancellation on most bookings. Then meet the people already there in the app.

Find hostels in Dubrovnik Get the app