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.
- Cavtat
- 30–40 minutes by boat or bus
- Konavle
- 40 minutes by bus
- Ston
- an hour by bus
Dubrovnik is a town you leave most easily by boat and most profitably by bus. The Elaphiti are three islands half an hour out, Konavle is the valley to the south-east, with taverns and watermills, and Ston has five and a half kilometres of walls and a saltworks running since Roman times.
Cavtat — the easiest
Thirty to forty minutes by boat from the old harbour, or by bus. Cavtat is a town with a promenade, palms and the Račić family mausoleum, a work by Ivan Meštrović, in the cemetery at the tip of the peninsula. Half a day, and the best choice on a day with three large ships in port, the most the port rules allow.
Konavle — the best value
The valley south-east of the town, with villages, taverns and watermills on the Ljuta. You come for a lunch that lasts two hours and for the hinterland that fed the Republic of Dubrovnik. It is forty minutes by bus, but the villages are scattered across the valley; with a car you add Cavtat the same day.
Ston and the Elaphiti
Ston is an hour by bus onto the Pelješac peninsula. The walls were begun in 1358, finished in the fifteenth century, and still run five and a half kilometres between Ston and Mali Ston; they guarded a saltworks where salt is still made with nothing but sea, sun and wind. Oysters from the Mali Ston bay are eaten here. The Elaphiti are three inhabited islands to the west: Koločep, Lopud and Šipan. Lopud has no cars and has Šunj, a sand beach, which is a rarity in this part of the Adriatic.
How long each takes
Every one of these five starts and ends in Dubrovnik the same day — a car helps only for Konavle and Ston
What to know in advance
- The Bay of Kotor is another country. It is sold as a day trip and it is beautiful, but it is a border crossing, with document checks and a queue that in summer can eat two hours.
- Off-season boat timetables. From November to March the Elaphiti and Mljet services run far less often, and some do not run at all.
- Mljet on a ticket to Sobra. The catamaran to Sobra takes about an hour, but the national park is at the other end of the island; to Polače, from where you walk to the park entrance, it is about an hour and forty minutes, and that call is not made every day.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which trip from Dubrovnik is best with only one day?
Konavle if you want the hinterland and a long lunch, or the Elaphiti if you want the sea. Cavtat is the easiest and shortest, and good on a multi-ship day.
Do I need a passport for the Bay of Kotor?
Not always: EU citizens can cross into Montenegro and back with a national ID card; most other visitors need a passport. On peak summer days the queue at the Karasovići crossing can run to two or three hours.
Do boats to the Elaphiti run all year?
They do, but far less often out of season. From November to March the services thin out and some stop entirely — check the timetable before planning the day.
Ready for Dubrovnik?
Where to next
Where to stay in Dubrovnik
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