--- title: "Things to Do in Dubrovnik" description: "City walls, island escapes, and Adriatic kayaking — the best experiences in and around Croatia's walled city." canonical_url: "https://atsiolevart.com/dubrovnik/things-to-do" last_updated: "2026-04-28T20:57:09.308Z" --- Dubrovnik is a city that earns its reputation. The medieval Old Town, encircled by some of the finest defensive walls in Europe, is genuinely extraordinary — a dense, limestone-paved settlement that's been continuously inhabited for over a thousand years and that somehow survived both an earthquake in 1667 and a devastating siege in 1991 to remain one of the most beautiful urban landscapes in the Mediterranean. But Dubrovnik is also more than its walls. The Adriatic coast here is spectacular, the nearby islands offer escape from the city's intensity, the Pelješac Peninsula provides wine, oysters, and one of Croatia's great coastal drives, and the surrounding region — from Kotor Bay in Montenegro to the Elaphiti archipelago — is rich enough to fill two weeks without repetition. This guide covers the essential experiences, from the obvious to the overlooked, with practical advice on timing, logistics, and how to avoid the worst of the crowds. ## Walk the City Walls The city walls are the defining experience of Dubrovnik and the one you should do first. The complete circuit is approximately 2 kilometres, running along the top of the medieval fortifications that encircle the Old Town, with views down into the city's rooftops on one side and out to the Adriatic on the other. The perspective is extraordinary — you're walking at the level of church bell towers and terracotta rooftops, looking across to Lokrum Island and the open sea, understanding the city's defensive logic and its relationship to the water in a way that's impossible from street level. The walk takes roughly 90 minutes at a comfortable pace, though photographers will want longer. There's one entry point at the Pile Gate (west) and another near the Ploče Gate (east), with the circuit running clockwise. The route includes several steep staircases and has limited shade. **Timing matters enormously.** The walls open at 8am in summer, and the first hour — before the cruise-ship passengers arrive — is transformational. The light is soft, the stone glows amber, and you'll have stretches of the wall to yourself. By 10am, the experience is fundamentally different: queues at the entrance, congestion on narrow sections, and a sense of being herded rather than exploring. If you can manage only one early morning in Dubrovnik, spend it on the walls. Tickets cost around €35 and are valid for one circuit (you can't re-enter). Bring water, sunscreen, and a hat — there's limited shade, and in summer the stone radiates heat. The Buža Bar, accessible from within the walls (look for the unmarked doorway on the southern wall), offers drinks with a sea view about two-thirds of the way through the circuit — a worthy pause. ## Lokrum Island Lokrum is the small, forested island visible from Dubrovnik's Old Town harbour, and it's the city's essential escape. A ten-minute ferry ride from the Old Port delivers you to a landscape of pine forests, botanical gardens, rocky coves, and a saltwater lake (the "Dead Sea") that's warm, calm, and perfect for swimming. The island is uninhabited and largely undeveloped — a handful of food kiosks and a visitor centre in the former Benedictine monastery, nothing more. Within minutes of the ferry dock, you're walking through dense Mediterranean forest in near-silence, the city visible across the water but its noise entirely absent. The Dead Sea, a small inland saltwater lake connected to the sea by an underground channel, is the highlight. The water is warmer and calmer than the open coast, and swimming here — warm salt water, pine trees overhead — is one of Dubrovnik's simplest and finest pleasures. The island also has roaming peacocks, a botanical garden established by the Habsburgs, and a nudist beach on the eastern shore. Ferries run every 30 minutes in summer from the Old Port. The island closes at sunset. Bring food and water; on-island options are basic. Half a day is sufficient. ## Elaphiti Islands Day Trip The Elaphiti archipelago — Koločep, Lopud, and Šipan — is a string of small islands northwest of Dubrovnik, easily reached by ferry and offering a taste of Croatian island life without the journey to Hvar or Korčula. A day trip to one or more of the Elaphiti Islands is among the best uses of a day in the Dubrovnik area. **Lopud** is the most popular, largely because of Šunj Beach — a broad, sandy crescent on the island's far side that's one of the few genuine sand beaches in the region. The walk from the ferry dock takes about 20 minutes. The island is car-free, and the atmosphere is unhurried in a way that Dubrovnik hasn't been for years. **Šipan** is the largest and quietest. Olive groves, vineyards, and a pace of life that moves at walking speed. There's excellent swimming off the rocks, a handful of family-run restaurants, and very little else — which is precisely the point. **Koločep** is the smallest and nearest island, just 20 minutes from Dubrovnik. Car-free and tiny — walkable end to end in under an hour — with lush forest and good swimming along the rocky coast. Ferries run regularly from Gruž harbour. The better approach is to take the regular ferry to one island and spend the day rather than booking an organised tour that rushes between all three. ## Pelješac Peninsula The Pelješac Peninsula is the long, mountainous finger of land northwest of Dubrovnik, connected to the mainland by a bridge at Ston. A day trip to Pelješac combines three of Croatia's finest experiences: the oysters of Ston, the wines of Dingač, and some of the most dramatic coastal scenery in the country. ### Ston and the Walls Ston is a small town at the peninsula's base, famous for two things: oysters and walls. The Walls of Ston — the longest fortification system in Europe after the Great Wall of China — stretch over 5 kilometres across the hills between Ston and its twin settlement, Mali Ston. Walking the full length takes about two hours and rewards with panoramic views of the salt pans, oyster beds, and the mountainous peninsula stretching into the distance. Mali Ston is where the oysters are. The tiny harbour is lined with restaurants that serve flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) pulled from the bay that morning — simply shucked, served with lemon, and eaten overlooking the water where they were grown. Captain's Club and Bota Šare's original location are the establishments to seek out. A dozen oysters with a glass of Pošip, feet from the water, costs €15–20. It's one of the great bargain meals in European gastronomy. ### Dingač Wine Pelješac's southern slopes, facing the open sea, produce Croatia's most celebrated red wine: Dingač, made from the Plavac Mali grape. The vineyards cling to steep, sun-baked hillsides above the Adriatic, and the combination of altitude, exposure, and poor soil creates wines of remarkable concentration and character. Several wineries along the peninsula offer tastings, including Matuško, Saints Hills, and Korta Katarina. A visit to one or two, combined with the Ston stop, makes for a full and satisfying day. The drive along the peninsula's spine offers continuous views of the sea on both sides. The Pelješac trip is best done with a car (rented or hired with a driver, as the designated driver misses out on the wine). The drive from Dubrovnik to Ston is about an hour. It pairs naturally with the [restaurants guide](/dubrovnik/best-restaurants) for understanding Dalmatian wine and seafood culture. ## Kayaking Around the Old Town Walls Sea kayaking is one of the best ways to experience Dubrovnik's walls — from the water, you see them as they were meant to be seen, rising sheer from the Adriatic with Fort Lovrijenac guarding the western approach and Fort Bokar anchoring the corner. Several operators run guided kayak tours, typically departing from Pile Bay and paddling along the southern wall to the Old Port, with a swimming stop at Betina Cave Beach (a small, rocky cove accessible only from the water). The tours take two to three hours and require no previous kayaking experience — the sea here is sheltered and the distances short. The morning tours are best: calmer water, softer light, and the satisfaction of arriving back to find the cruise-ship crowds just disembarking. Sunset tours are popular but busy — book ahead. Expect to pay €35–50 per person for a guided tour including equipment. ## Cable Car to Srđ Hill The Dubrovnik cable car ascends from a station near the Ploče Gate to the summit of Srđ Hill, 405 metres above the city. The ride takes four minutes. The view from the top is the defining panorama of Dubrovnik: the walled Old Town directly below, Lokrum Island in the foreground, the Elaphiti archipelago stretching northwest, and on clear days, the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north. The summit has a restaurant (Panorama, decent but overpriced), the Museum of the Croatian War of Independence in the Napoleonic-era Fort Imperial, and walking trails. The war museum is worth your time — it covers the 1991–1995 siege with photographs and testimony that put the city's more recent history into sharp, sobering focus. **Sunset from Srđ** is Dubrovnik's most popular vantage point, and rightly so. The Old Town shifts from limestone white to amber to pink as the sun drops behind the Elaphiti Islands. Arrive 30–45 minutes before sunset to secure a good position; the cable car queue can be long during peak season. The cable car runs roughly 9am to midnight in summer (shorter hours off-season). Tickets cost about €25 return. For the energetic, a hiking trail to the summit takes about an hour and offers a more immersive experience — bring water and sturdy shoes. ## Game of Thrones Locations Dubrovnik doubled as King's Landing in Game of Thrones, and the show's visual language drew so heavily on the city's architecture that the two are now inseparable for many visitors. Whether or not the show interests you, understanding the connection helps decode why certain spots in the Old Town seem inexplicably crowded. **Fort Lovrijenac** (the Red Keep) is the detached fortress west of the Old Town walls, accessible via a steep staircase from the Pile Gate area. The fortress predates the show by about a thousand years and is worth visiting on its own merits — the views from the upper battlements, looking back at the city walls and across to the old harbour, are superb. During summer, the Dubrovnik Festival stages performances here — Shakespeare in a medieval fortress, with the Adriatic as a backdrop. **The Jesuit Staircase** (the "Walk of Shame" staircase) leads from Gundulićeva Poljana up to the Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius — a beautiful baroque staircase irrespective of its television fame. The **Rector's Palace** served as the Spice King's palace in Qarth and is one of the Old Town's finest buildings regardless. If the show is important to you, book a well-reviewed small-group walking tour rather than the large bus operations — the best guides weave filming locations into genuine Dubrovnik history. ## Swimming at Banje Beach Banje Beach is Dubrovnik's most central swimming beach, located just outside the Ploče Gate with views across to Lokrum Island and back toward the Old Town walls. The beach is a mix of sand and pebble, the water is clean and clear, and the position — steps from the Old Town — makes it the default option for visitors wanting a quick swim. The beach has both a free public section and a private beach club (Banje Beach Club) that charges for sunbeds and umbrella hire. The club is overpriced but provides comfort; the public section is perfectly adequate. Swimming is good from the shore, but the best water is off the rocks to the left of the main beach, where the seabed drops away quickly to deep, clear Adriatic. For better beaches with fewer people, head to Šunj on Lopud (the Elaphiti section above) or the Copacabana Beach in Lapad. ## War Photo Limited War Photo Limited is a small gallery in the Old Town dedicated to conflict photography — not only from the Croatian War of Independence but from conflicts worldwide. The exhibitions rotate, drawing from the work of photojournalists who documented wars in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. The gallery is sober, powerful, and important. Dubrovnik's beauty and its tourist economy can obscure the fact that the city endured a seven-month siege in 1991–92, during which much of the Old Town was shelled and damaged. War Photo Limited ensures that history remains visible, contextualised, and understood. The rooftop terrace hosts a small bar with Old Town views — a quiet space to process what you've seen. Allow an hour. The gallery is on Antuninska ulica, in the Old Town. A visit here pairs naturally with the war museum on Srđ Hill. ## Day Trip to Montenegro: Kotor Bay The Bay of Kotor, in neighbouring Montenegro, is one of the most dramatic landscapes in southern Europe — a deep fjord-like inlet surrounded by steep mountains, with medieval towns clustered at the water's edge. It's about two hours from Dubrovnik by car, making it a feasible day trip. **Kotor** itself is a walled medieval town at the bay's inner end, smaller and less polished than Dubrovnik but arguably more atmospheric. The town walls climb steeply up the mountain behind the settlement — the hike to the top provides spectacular views down into the bay. **Perast**, a tiny village on the bay's northern shore, is perhaps even more beautiful: a single row of Venetian-baroque palaces along the waterfront, with two small islands — Our Lady of the Rocks and St. George — just offshore. A boat to Our Lady of the Rocks takes five minutes and costs a few euros. The border crossing can be slow in summer — allow extra time. If possible, rent a car and set your own pace rather than booking an organised tour that rushes between stops. ## Planning Your Days Three full days is the minimum to do Dubrovnik justice, and five to seven days allows you to explore without rushing. A suggested framework: - **Day 1:** City walls (early morning), explore Old Town, afternoon at Banje Beach or Lokrum Island, dinner at an [Old Town restaurant](/dubrovnik/best-restaurants). - **Day 2:** Pelješac Peninsula (Ston oysters, Dingač wine, Walls of Ston) — a full day. - **Day 3:** Elaphiti Islands (Lopud for Šunj Beach, or Šipan for quiet), evening cable car to Srđ for sunset. - **Day 4:** Kayaking around the walls (morning), War Photo Limited, Game of Thrones walk, dinner beyond the walls at Pantarul. - **Day 5:** Day trip to Montenegro (Kotor and Perast). The [where to stay guide](/dubrovnik/where-to-stay) covers the best areas for each type of visit and includes practical notes on transport between neighbourhoods.