Dubrovnik
A republic that paid the sultan tribute rather than fight, and lasted until 1808
- When to go
- October 17° · 8 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€€€price 5 of 5
- How many days
- 2days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 16 km Dubrovnik
- Right now
Dubrovnik takes two days, and which city you see comes down to two things you can know in advance: when the walls open and how many cruise ships dock that day. Everything else — the Stradun, the Rector's Palace, the old harbour — lies within a few hundred metres and can move around the plan; those two cannot.
The walls are a 1,940-metre circuit walked in one direction only, anticlockwise, with almost no shade anywhere along it. So you set off at opening or in the last hour before closing — the difference shows in the heat coming off the stone and in how many people are walking ahead of you.
The cruise arrival schedule is published in advance, and the port authority's rules cap how many large ships can be in on the same day: two at Gruž and one anchored off the old town. A day with no ship and a day with two large ones are still the difference between a city you walk through and one you push through; if you have a choice, pick the day with none.
Guides for Dubrovnik
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Dubrovnik in 2 days
→The walls at eight, Lovrijenac on the same ticket, Srđ before sunset and Lokrum on the first boat — two days by the…
Day trips from Dubrovnik
→Cavtat for half a day, Konavle for a whole one, Ston for its walls and salt — and one trip that needs papers.
Where to stay in Dubrovnik
→Dubrovnik comes down to walls versus budget: the Old Town is everything on foot and the priciest, Lapad has the beach…
What Dubrovnik costs
→Dubrovnik has no single daily total like some cities on this site — the walls ticket alone carries more of the bill…
Dubrovnik's four extras, from a pharmacy open since 1317
→The Franciscans' pharmacy has worked since 1317, St John's Fortress keeps a maritime museum, Rupe is a granary cut into…
What to eat in Dubrovnik
→Black risotto and mussels 'na buzaru' bring the sea to the plate, pašticada brings the mainland, and the same burek…
The best time to visit Dubrovnik
→The sea by month, the rain by month, and one Port Authority list that says more about crowds than the calendar.
Getting around Dubrovnik
→The Platanus shuttle runs straight to the Old Town with no change, and inside the walls it is on foot only.
Mistakes everyone makes in Dubrovnik
→The kuna hasn't been accepted since 2023, cash to the driver costs more than the app, and street food on the Stradun…
What to see in Dubrovnik
The city walls
Three entrances: by the Pile Gate, by the Ploče Gate and at St John's Fortress in the old harbour. Pile is the busiest; the queue at Ploče is usually shorter.
€40
Stradun
The main street, about three hundred metres long, its houses rebuilt to a single prescribed plan after the 1667 earthquake. In the evening, once the day visitors leave, it reads as a different city.
free
Srđ and the cable car
The hill above town, with the whole old harbour and Lokrum below. The cable car reaches the top in about four minutes; on foot it is an hour to an hour and a half uphill, so not at midday.
€30 · ride ~4 min · closed no fixed day; shut December–March
Lokrum
An island nature reserve with a botanical garden, peacocks and a small salt lake. Boats leave the old harbour every half hour, and the last one back sails between 6 and 8 pm depending on the season; in rough weather they don't run.
€30 · closed shut in midwinter; weekends only Feb–Mar
The Rector's Palace and Sponza
The two buildings where the Republic did its work: government and customs. Since 1952 Sponza has held the State Archives, whose document series begin in the thirteenth century.
€15
Konavle
The valley south-east of the city, with villages and taverns; Cavtat is its town on the sea. Half a day outside the walls, and the best choice on a day with two large ships in port.
free (only transport/meals cost)
Two things you probably did not know
In 1377 the Republic of Ragusa ordered ships and travellers to be held outside the city because of plague, one of the first quarantines anywhere. It abolished slavery in 1416, more than four centuries before most of Europe.
Water reaches the city through a twelve-kilometre aqueduct built in 1438, and it still works. Onofrio's fountain at the entrance to the Stradun is its end point.
Ready for Dubrovnik?
Within reach from here
Places sorted by straight-line distance from Dubrovnik — day trips or weekends.
Croatia
→A thousand islands and one road that looks down on all of them
Montenegro
→The Bay, the riviera or Ulcinj for the sea, Durmitor for July — choose the coast by its beaches and the north by the month
Italy
→The cities on the high-speed line are an hour or two apart; the coast, Matera and the Tuscan hills lie off it
All 277 places we write about sit on one page — narrow them down by continent, country, price or what you are travelling for.
Within reach from here: Herceg Novi, Perast and Kotor
See how much of that actually suits you — or pin Dubrovnik if you have been.
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