Dubrovnik is often called ‘the Pearl on the Adriatic Sea’, it is a beautiful historic city right on the seafront. The old city is surrounded by an ancient wall and the centre is car-free and ideal for walking around, seeing the many sights and sitting on a terrace for a drink or an ice cream. A walk over the wide old city wall is also worth a visit. It offers beautiful views of the city, the blue Adriatic Sea and the nearby island Lokrum, you can buy an entrance ticket to the wall near the Pile gate or near the old harbour.
The climate is ideal for going on a city trip to Dubrovnik in May, June and September, it is already hot and there is plenty of sunshine and it is not so busy yet. Outside the old city, most hotels are found in the Lapad area of town, and besides hotels, here you also find a campsite, many restaurants, bars and beaches that you can walk to from your hotel or camp ground.
Transport
Since the walled historic city is car-free, it is difficult to get around by car and to find a paid parking space nearby on the streets, but outside the high season you can often find a spot. There is a new public car park (Javna garaža Dubrovnik) located at Ilija Glavica (Zagrebačka ulica bb), but this is not cheap (in the high season 5-6 euro per hour) and you can only pay cash. Here you find information from the tourist office about parking in Dubrovnik.
The bus service in Dubrovnik is well arranged and you can also come to the old city by boat in the summer months from places outside Dubrovnik. As many hotels are located in Lapad, there is a direct bus service to the old city, with bus 6, you can drive from Lapad to Dubrovnik’s old town in about 5 minutes. Here you will find more information about bus transport in Dubrovnik through the tourist office and this is the site for Libertas bus company in Dubrovnik. You can buy a ticket from the bus driver with exact change – in 2017 it is 15 kuna per ticket, or at the reception of hotels and kiosks (Tisak) for 12 kuna.
City and Beach
photo ©EMRE d.o.o.
A city trip to Dubrovnik is perfect from April to October, it is wonderfully warm and you can visit the historic city and combine it with a day on the beach. In and around the city there are beautiful city beaches, you can also go to the island of Lokrum, which is located near the coast of Dubrovnik, you can walk around there and sun and swim on the beaches. During the high season there is a boat from the old port every half hour, the boat trip takes about 15 minutes and on the island Lokrum there is enough to see.
When visiting Dubrovnik you can buy – the Dubrovnik Card – which gives you a discount on your entrance to the city wall, museums, buses and much more. It’s wise to first calculate what you want and whether it’s a good option for you, all current pricing information is on the Dubrovnik Card website. There are tickets for 1, 3 or 7 days for sale, you also get an additional 10% discount at many restaurants and excursions. You must first buy the card online and when you are in Dubrovnik you can pick up the card with the voucher at one of the tourist offices:
- Tourist Office PILE, Brsalje 5, at the entrance gate of the old town
- Tourist Office GRUŽ, Obala Ivana Pavla II 1, at the main port on the north side of the city
- Tourist Office LAPAD, Kralja Tomislava 7, in the district of Lapad
