Best Day Trips from Dubrovnik Croatia: What We Actually Did, What We'd Do Again, and What We Still Want To Do
- tailormadetravels
- 34 minutes ago
- 8 min read
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Dubrovnik is one of those cities that rewards the traveller who uses it as a base rather than just a destination. The old town is spectacular and it'll keep you busy. But step outside those ancient walls and the surrounding region opens up in ways that most visitors never discover.
We've been to Dubrovnik four times. The first time we arrived we found an outdoor internet park set up in a beautiful tree lined park beside the beach at Uvala Lapad. Individual desks, chairs tucked under the shade of the trees and a dial up connection you could rent by the hour. That park's gone now, replaced by beautiful homes along the waterfront. Dubrovnik's changed dramatically in a relatively short time. The day trips from Dubrovnik that made us fall in love with this corner of the world however are still very much there.
Here are the best day trips from Dubrovnik based on what we've actually done, what we genuinely recommend and one trip that involved our passports being held at an international border while we sat in a minivan doing our collective best to look like people who found this sort of thing completely normal.
How to Get Around on Day Trips from Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik sits at the very southern tip of Croatia, shares a short border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and sits just across the water from Montenegro. That means your day trip options extend well beyond Croatia itself.
For cross border day trips to Montenegro and Bosnia an organized tour is the easiest and most practical option. A local guide handles the logistics, the border crossings and the navigation so you can focus on actually enjoying the day. For island and local day trips the ferry system and the city bus network are both excellent.
If you prefer to explore independently renting a car gives you maximum flexibility. The coastal roads around Dubrovnik are spectacular. They're also winding. We'll return to this point.
Day Trip 1: Lokrum Island
The easiest and most accessible day trip from Dubrovnik is also one of the most surprising. Lokrum Island sits just 600 metres off the coast of the old town and the little boat from the inner harbour takes about 15 minutes.
Lokrum's a nature reserve. No hotels, no permanent residents, no cars. Just forests, walking trails, a ruined Benedictine monastery, a small saltwater lake called the Dead Sea where you can swim in super still water and peacocks. Quite a lot of peacocks. They wander the island with the casual confidence of animals who know they own the place.
Lokrum's also a Game of Thrones filming location. The scenes set in Qarth were filmed here. For the record the peacocks weren't in Game of Thrones but they're arguably more interesting.
One practical note before you go. Lokrum has clearly marked beach signs indicating which areas are for general swimming and which are designated naturist beaches. Check the signs before you settle in. We cover this in more detail in our complete Croatia tips guide if you want the full story.
Boats to Lokrum depart regularly from the old town harbour. Buy your return ticket on the boat. The island closes to day visitors at sunset.
Day Trip 2: Uvala Lapad Beach and the Klif Ecological Park Hike
This is the day trip that almost nobody in the travel guides mentions and it's one of our favourites. It's also the only day trip on this list that starts with a city bus.
Jump on the local city bus from Dubrovnik old town and head out to Uvala Lapad, the beach neighbourhood not far from the old city walls. This is where Dubrovnik's residents actually live, shop and spend their weekends. It's a completely different side of the city from the tourist filled old town and worth seeing specifically because it feels so ordinary and so genuinely Croatian.
The waterfront promenade at Lapad is lovely. Walk it, find a cafe, watch the locals play tennis. This is also where we found that outdoor internet park on our first visit all those years ago, now replaced by beautiful homes along the waterfront. The neighbourhood's changed massively. It's worth seeing what it's become.
From Lapad you can walk to the Klif Ecological Park, also known as Klif Przy Vlk Petka. It's a moderate hike with some uphill climbing but nothing too daunting. The trail's signposted and you genuinely can't get lost. We were the only people on it. The views are amazing. Bring water, wear good walking shoes and go early before the heat of the day arrives.
This is the more modern, residential, and very local side of Dubrovnik that most visitors never see. It's completely free, completely rewarding and takes less than half a day.
Day Trip 3: Montenegro — Kotor and Budva
When we booked this day trip we had absolutely no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We thought we were signing up for a scenic coastal drive, a cute walled town and a harbour full of impressive boats. We weren't wrong. We just didn't account for everything in between. Montenegro's has its tourism operation firmly in place now and this day trip runs smoothly for thousands of visitors every season. When we went it was a slightly more character building experience. The kind that becomes a story you tell for years.
The border crossing:
The drive to the Croatian and Montenegrin border was straightforward enough. What we hadn't anticipated was the no man's land.
The space between the two border crossings is wider than we expected. Considerably wider. Our tour operator pulled over, collected all of our passports with the brisk efficiency of someone who'd done this many times and disappeared into the border building. We waited. We waited longer than felt entirely comfortable. Conversations in the minivan became noticeably quieter. Someone checked their watch. Someone else checked it again thirty seconds later.
When our guide eventually returned to the van he didn't have our passports. This wasn't immediately reassuring. It turned out the border agent had taken them to the Montenegrin side for processing. A police escort appeared. We drove behind it in silence. The minivan remained very quiet. The kind of quiet that happens when everyone's thinking the same thing and nobody wants to be the one who says it first.
We stopped, and our guide disappeared again into a nondescript building on the Montenegrin side. We waited in the van. For a while. Eventually he returned carrying a stack of passports and wearing the expression of a man who considered this a completely normal Tuesday. We all exhaled at approximately the same moment. Then we went on our merry little way to Kotor.
Kotor:
Kotor's a small walled town built entirely of stone. The walls, the churches, the stores and the narrow streets between them. All stone. A walled path climbs directly up the mountain behind the town for those with the energy and appropriate footwear. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the old town, popping in and out of shops and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Kotor's charming and worth every minute.
Budva:
From Kotor the minibus continued to Budva. The harbour was lined with enormous superyachts moored one after the other, each more lavish than the last, the majority flying Russian flags. Montenegro at the time was very much on the radar of a particular kind of wealthy visitor and Budva's harbour made that entirely clear.
We ordered pasta. Specifically because pasta felt like the safest option given the communication challenges of the time. Our son's pasta arrived with a small quantity of unexpected meat in it. Not a lot. But as it turned out, enough.
The ride home:
The roads between Montenegro and Dubrovnik are winding. This point was made earlier in this post and it bears repeating because it's directly relevant to what happened next.
Our son doesn't get motion sickness. This is a fact we were confident about based on years of family travel. It turns out this confidence was situation dependent. About two hours into the return journey he quietly asked us what motion sickness felt like. I turned around. One look at his face told me everything I needed to know. I turned back, grabbed our day pack, emptied it with the speed of someone who's been a parent long enough to recognize that particular expression and thrust it in his direction just in time for him to, as he liked to describe it afterwards, catch his lunch.
Despite all of the above we had a genuinely fantastic day and this trip's absolutely worth doing. The winding roads are part of the scenery. The border crossing's considerably smoother now than it was when we went. And Kotor's one of the most beautiful walled towns in the entire region. Go.
Day Trip 4: The Elaphiti Islands
The Elaphiti Islands are an archipelago stretching northwest of Dubrovnik. Three of the thirteen islands are inhabited: Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan. They're on our list for next time. The reviews from travellers who've done the full day cruise are consistently strong and the combination of car free islands, historic ruins, swimming and lunch on board makes it one of the most appealing day trips in the region.
Day Trip 5: Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
About two and a half hours from Dubrovnik sits Mostar, centred around the famous Stari Most bridge, a reconstructed 16th century Ottoman bridge that arches over the Neretva river. It appears in almost every best day trips from Dubrovnik list for good reason and it's firmly on our list for a future visit. The tour below also includes a stop at Kravice Waterfalls and the medieval village of Pocitelj which makes for a truely full tour day.
Practical Tips for Day Trips from Dubrovnik
Book Montenegro and Bosnia tours in advance. These cross border day trips are extremely popular in summer. Book before you travel rather than trying to arrange it in Dubrovnik.
Take motion sickness tablets if you're prone. The coastal roads between Dubrovnik and Montenegro are winding. Consider this if you prone to motion sickness.
Start early for Montenegro and Bosnia. Both are full day commitments. The minibus picks up from hotels early in the morning. Don't book anything for the evening of either trip.
For Lokrum go early or late. The island gets busy in the middle of the day when the cruise ship passengers arrive. Go first thing in the morning or late afternoon for a completely different experience.
For the Lapad and Klif hike bring water and wear proper walking shoes. It's a moderate trail with some uphill sections. The signposting's good. The views are worth every step. Go early before the heat arrives.
Planning to visit Europe this summer? The EU Entry Exit System is now fully operational at all Schengen borders since April 2026. No pre-registration needed but budget extra time at border control on your first entry. Watch our full EES breakdown here and our ETIAS explainer here so you know exactly what to expect before you land.
For everything else you need to know about visiting Dubrovnik read our complete Dubrovnik guide here.
The Honest Bottom Line
Dubrovnik makes an amazing base for exploring one of the most geographically interesting corners of Europe. Within a single day you can cross into Montenegro, sail to a car free island where peacocks roam freely or hike a trail above the city with views that'll stop you in your tracks and nobody else on the path.
We've done most of these. One of them involved a passport situation that aged us visibly. Another involved a day pack deployed under pressure at speed on a winding coastal road.
Both were completely worth it. Even the unexpected parts make for a good story.
Have questions about day trips from Dubrovnik or planning your Croatia trip? Drop them in the comments below. I'm happy to answer everything I know.
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