Croatia · City break

Dubrovnik City Guide

A complete ring of walls above turquoise water, red roofs to the horizon. Dubrovnik is the stone city by the sea. Lanes climb into the rock as staircases, the old town once ruled as the Republic of Ragusa, and Lokrum sits just offshore. One ready-made day route from the Pile Gate bundles walls, lanes and boat.

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Our walking tours of Dubrovnik

Ready-made routes from the station guide you through Dubrovnik, to the right spots from the very first step, with no planning needed.

City Walls, Old Town & Harbour

From the Pile Gate up onto the nearly two-kilometre city wall, with views over red roofs and open sea. Then through the old town, past the Franciscan monastery with its 1317 pharmacy, the polished Stradun, Sponza Palace and the Rector's Palace. In the afternoon on to the Old Port with the boat to Lokrum, across to Fort Lovrijenac and, if you like, up the Srđ by cable car.

Pile Gate. The Pile Gate is the main entrance to the old town and the point where every bus ends. Over a stone bridge and the old drawbridge you pass through two gates one behind the other, watched over by the city's patron St. Blaise. Behind them the Stradun opens up all at once, and just to the left the Large Onofrio Fountain of 1438 splashes away. Before 9am you still have room here; from midday the groups squeeze through the archway.
City Walls. The wall running nearly two kilometres around the old town is the highlight full stop, up to 25 metres high, metres thick on the landward side and walkable all the way round. You follow the ring in one direction, now above the red tiled roofs, now straight above the open sea, passing the mighty Minčeta Tower at the highest point. Allow an hour and a half to two hours and set off early (from 8am) or late. There is almost no shade up there. The ticket also covers Fort Lovrijenac, so keep it.
Franciscan Monastery. Just behind the Pile Gate sits the Franciscan monastery with one of Dalmatia's loveliest cloisters, paired Romanesque-Gothic columns from the 14th century around a quiet garden of orange trees. In the side wing, one of Europe's oldest continuously working pharmacies has been operating since 1317, and next to it a small museum shows old apothecary jars, manuscripts and instruments. A calm counterweight to the bustle on the Stradun. Half an hour is enough.
Stradun (Placa). The Stradun is the roughly 300-metre main street linking the Pile Gate with the Ploče Gate. And the place where the whole city meets in the evening. After the earthquake of 1667 the row was rebuilt to one design, which is why façades, doorframes and window arches match down to the detail. Centuries of footsteps have polished the pale limestone mirror-smooth, so it gleams like water in low light. It's at its best early, before the crowds, and after sunset.
Sponza Palace. At the eastern end of the Stradun stands Sponza Palace, built between 1516 and 1522 as the customs house and mint of the Republic of Ragusa. It is one of the few buildings that came through the great earthquake of 1667 almost untouched. Renaissance arcades below, Gothic windows above. Today it houses the city archives, and on the ground floor a quiet memorial room honours the defenders of the city during the siege of 1991/92. The courtyard is free to enter and costs you five minutes.
Rector's Palace. The Rector's Palace was the seat of the Rector of the Republic of Ragusa. A man who governed for just one month at a time and was barely allowed to leave the building during it. That is how the city stopped anyone from growing too powerful, for centuries. Above the entrance the old warning still stands, to forget private affairs and take care of public ones. Today the Gothic-Renaissance building houses the Cultural History Museum, and in summer the courtyard with its open staircase becomes a concert stage. And for later, behind the cathedral, up the lanes, a hole in the city wall leads to the Buža Bar. A drink in a plastic cup on the cliffs, the open sea right below you, loveliest at sunset.
Old Port & boat to Lokrum. The old port on the east side of the old town was for centuries the heart of the Ragusan merchant fleet, sheltered by Fort St. John and the Kase breakwater. Today excursion boats bob here instead of trading ships, heading to Lokrum in a quarter of an hour, on to the Elaphiti Islands or across to Cavtat. The Lokrum ferry runs about every half hour. Check the last return carefully, because nobody is allowed to stay on the island overnight. If you'd rather stay put, have a coffee on the quay and watch the boats.
Fort Lovrijenac. West of the city, Fort Lovrijenac sits on a 37-metre rock above the sea. The Ragusans called it their Gibraltar. Above the gate stands the line that explains the whole republic. Freedom is not to be sold for all the gold in the world. Up on the ramparts you look back at the old town with its complete ring of walls, and that is the best view in Dubrovnik. Your city wall ticket gets you in at no extra cost, but count on a lot of steps.
Cable car up the Srđ. To finish, if you still have the energy and the budget, the cable car pulls you up the 412-metre home mountain Srđ in four minutes. From the terrace at the top the walled old town lies below you like a model, with Lokrum and the Elaphiti Islands beyond. The postcard view, best just before sunset. Honestly, the price of the return trip stings; if you have time, take the switchback path on foot (about an hour uphill, hardly any shade). At the top the Napoleonic fortress holds a small museum on the siege of 1991.

Planning your visit

One day is enough. The route from the Pile Gate runs 3.5 kilometres and starts with the walk on the city wall, the most impressive part of the day. Then come the Franciscan monastery, the Stradun, the Sponza Palace, the Rector's Palace and the old harbour, from which boats leave for Lokrum. The cable car up the Srđ rounds it off. Walk the wall early in the morning, later the sun beats straight down on it. Five evening tips are ready.

Going out & nightlife

Rooftop bars

Restaurant Panorama (Srđ). Up at the cable car's top station, a good 400 metres above the city. From the terrace you look down on the walled old town, Lokrum and the islands offshore. For sunset, book weeks ahead. It's noticeably cooler up there. Bring a jacket.

Nightlife quarters

Altstadt (Prijeko und Stradun). In the evening everything shifts into the old town. People stroll the Stradun, while narrow Prijeko running parallel is one restaurant after another. Honest tip. This is where the city's pushiest touts work the doorways. If someone grabs you, keep walking and find a quieter lane.

Food & restaurants

Nautika. The city's fine-dining address sits right outside the Pile Gate, with two terraces above the water and a view of Fort Lovrijenac. Booking is a must. And eat early, by about 8pm, while it's still light and the view still counts.

Bars & clubs

Buža Bar. Buža means hole, and that's exactly the entrance. You step through an opening in the city wall and stand on the cliffs above the open sea. Drinks come in plastic cups, the seats are rock ledges, cash only. Closed when the swell picks up or it rains.

Stage & concerts

Stadttheater Marin Držić. The small city theatre next to the Rector's Palace is named after Dubrovnik's Renaissance playwright Marin Držić, and the auditorium ceiling was painted by Vlaho Bukovac. In July and August the Dubrovnik Festival takes over half the city anyway. Then the open-air stages in fortresses and courtyards are the better choice.

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Practical information for Dubrovnik

Public transport

Operator. Everything that runs as a scheduled bus in Dubrovnik belongs to Libertas Dubrovnik d.o.o., based at Ogarići 12 in Mokošica, phone +385 20 441 444. The company runs three networks side by side. First, the city timetable with lines 1A, 1B, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8A, 9 and 17. Second, the eastern suburban service to Cavtat, Gruda, Molunat and Vitaljina with lines 10, 11, 16, 16A, 23, 23A, 25, 27, 29 and 38. Third, the western suburban service to Slano and Ston as well as an island timetable for Šipan. There's no fare network in the German sense spanning all of these, instead the price list lists each municipality separately, with its own fares for Grad Dubrovnik, Općina Župa dubrovačka, Općina Dubrovačko primorje and Općina Konavle. The airport shuttle doesn't run under Libertas but under Platanus, which the airport authority names as the official shuttle on its website. Ferry services to the Elafiti Islands belong to the state-owned Jadrolinija, the boat to Lokrum is run by the nature reserve's own management.

Network. Buses only. The old town is entirely car-free and crossed in twenty minutes.

Modes of transport. Bus · Ferry · Cable car

Operating hours. Libertas runs separate winter and summer timetables and additionally distinguishes between weekday, Saturday, Sunday and public holiday. Line 1A between Mokošica and Pile serves as a good yardstick. From Pile it starts at 4:40am and ends at 1:20am, from Mokošica it runs from 4:50am to 12:50am. Between roughly 7am and 6pm departures follow at 20 to 25 minute intervals, late in the evening the interval widens to 25 minutes. The secondary lines run much less frequently, the intercity lines to Konavle sometimes only three to four times a day, and line 11 to Molunat doesn't run at all on Sundays and public holidays. Every timetable page notes that the schedule can change without notice, which is why the Libertas app is the more reliable source once you're there.

Night service. The current list of city lines shows no line labelled as a night line. In practice, though, service extends well past midnight, since line 1A still departs Pile at 12.25 am, 12.50 am and 1:20am and Mokošica at 12.20 am and 0:50am. Between 1:20am and 4:40am no bus runs. In September 2024, Libertas had also announced an additional night loop line Pile, Ulica Iva Vojnovića, Grawe, Kantafig, Komolac, Mokošica, with departures at 1:15am and 2:30am. Whether this loop line still runs today can't be confirmed from the line directory, it doesn't appear there as a separate line.

Buying tickets. Libertas runs seven sales points. POS Pile sits right at the western gate of the Old Town and is staffed daily from 7am to 11pm. POS Pile Nord a few metres further along opens Monday to Saturday from 8am to 3pm and again from 5pm to midnight, making it the latest-opening counter in the city. POS Lapad is open Monday to Saturday from 7am to 9pm, POS Grawe Monday to Friday from 7am to 2:30pm, POS Mokošica Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 2:30pm, POS Cavtat Monday to Saturday from 7am to 2pm. Libertas explicitly lists the sales point at the cable car as closed in its own contact list. On the bus itself, the driver only sells the single ticket at 2.50 euros. The hourly ticket, two-trip ticket, day ticket and three-day ticket are handled at the counters. All time-based tickets only start running once first validated on the device on the bus, not at purchase.

App and payment. The Libertas app is available for Android and iOS and provides the timetable, active lines and real-time arrivals. It doesn't include ticket sales, so it doesn't replace the counter. Payment on the bus, however, has been cashless since 2024. Libertas launched card payment on the Ston–Dubrovnik route on 11 March 2024, then extended it to all suburban lines and, on 3 April 2024, to all city lines. The driver still accepts cash. The 2.50 euro price applies regardless of payment method, there's no discount for paying by card.

Which ticket. For the Dubrovnik city area, the Libertas price list lists five tickets relevant to visitors. The ticket bought on the bus for one trip costs 2.50 euros. The hourly ticket costs 1.73 euros and expires one hour after first validation on the vehicle. The two-trip ticket costs 3.19 euros, each of the two trips is valid for 30 minutes from its own validation, working out to 1.60 euros per trip. The day ticket costs 5.31 euros and runs for 24 hours from first validation, the three-day ticket costs 11.95 euros and runs for 72 hours. That produces clear thresholds. The day ticket costs as much as 2.1 single trips bought on the bus, or 3.3 hourly tickets. The three-day ticket costs as much as 4.8 single trips bought on the bus, or 2.25 am day tickets. For 20 trips there's also a card at 21.24 euros, so 1.06 euros per trip, with each trip valid for 30 minutes.

Fare zones. The city fare ends at the city boundary. A single trip to Župa dubrovačka costs 2.90 euros, to Cavtat 4.00 euros, to Slano 3.70 euros, to Ston 6.40 euros. The price list lists the day and three-day tickets exclusively for the Dubrovnik city area.

Tip. The bus from Gruž port to the Pile Gate runs every few minutes.

Getting there

Main station

Location. Dubrovnik has no rail link. The transport hub is the coach station in Gruž.

Long-distance trains. The bus station in Gruž also serves as the terminus of the airport shuttle. Platanus departs there from platform 8, reaches the Grawe stop about five minutes later and the cable car stop near the Old Town about ten minutes after that. From Gruž the trip to the airport takes about 35 minutes, from the cable car about 25 minutes. There's no sale on board the bus, tickets are available online, at the counter in the bus station, at the cable car station and at the airport counter. A one-way trip costs 10 euros, a return 15 euros valid for 15 days, children under six travel free, one suitcase is included in the price. A few steps away is the Gruž ferry harbour. From there Jadrolinija runs line 831 to Koločep, Lopud and Suđurađ on Šipan. On Šipan itself, Libertas continues with its own island timetable.

Opening hours. The Autobusni kolodvor Dubrovnik in Gruž operates daily from 6:30am to 10pm. The counter and left-luggage office take two breaks, from 9am to 9:30am and from 4pm to 4:30pm. Outside operating hours there's no one at the counter. On public holidays such as Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, shorter hours apply.

Airports

DBV

Into the city. The Platanus shuttle takes about 30 minutes to the Ploče gate and 35 minutes to the Gruž bus station. By car the airport estimates 30 to 35 minutes, up to an hour during the summer months.

Frequency. The shuttle runs about 30 minutes after every landing, from the first flight in the morning to the last at night, every day including weekends and public holidays. In addition, Libertas lines 11, 27 and 38 serve the airport daily.

Local quirks

Cruise ships determine the day. When two ships are docked at the same time, the Old Town is packed in the morning. Early morning and late afternoon are quiet.
Pile and Ploče are two separate bus hubs. The official network map shows lines 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 6, 9 and 17 terminating at the western gate, Pile. At the eastern gate, Ploče, only lines 5 and 8 stop. The airport bus also serves Ploče, not Pile. Anyone waiting at the wrong gate is waiting for a line that never stops there. Between the two gates lies the Old Town, about fifteen minutes on foot.
The penalty ticket costs 13.27 euros. The Libertas price list lists the Kaznena karta, the penalty ticket, at 13.27 euros. That's more than five times a single trip. Validation happens on the device on the bus, including for the day and three-day tickets. Their validity only starts with this first validation, not with purchase at the counter.

Good to know

Currency: EUR €
Emergency number: 112
Plug type: C · F
Time zone: Europe/Zagreb
Driving: right

Speed limits. built-up areas 50 km/h, outside towns 90 km/h (expressway 110 km/h), motorway 130 km/h

The town sign alone isn't decisive. Within built-up areas, traffic signs can permit up to 80 km/h. From November 1 to March 31, dipped headlights or daytime running lights must be on even during the day. With an unbraked trailer, the limit is 80 km/h, and 90 km/h on the motorway.

Tipping. Ten percent in restaurants, rounding up in cafés.

Tolls. Motorways are tolled. Take a ticket and pay on exit. The Pelješac bridge is free.