Best Day Trips from Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik sits at the far southern tip of Croatia, which means two other countries are within a couple of hours. The easy trips are by boat, the ambitious ones cross a border. Plan them differently.

Lokrum

The closest escape. Boats leave the Old Port about every half an hour in summer and take ten minutes. The island is a nature reserve: pine and holm oak woods, peacocks descended from birds brought over in the 19th century, the ruins of a Benedictine monastery, and a salty lake known as the Dead Sea where children can paddle. Climb to Fort Royal for the view back at the walls. No one may stay overnight, so watch the time of the last boat. Half a day is enough.

The Elaphiti islands

Koločep, Lopud and Šipan are served by Jadrolinija's passenger boat from the Gruž ferry port, not the Old Port. Lopud is the pick: car-free, with a sandy beach at Šunj, a walk across the island. Organised "three islands" boat trips are fine but rushed. Doing it yourself on the ferry is cheaper and slower in the right way.

Cavtat and Ston

Cavtat is a small harbour town south of the city, forty-odd minutes by boat from the Old Port, good for a lazy lunch and a swim. Ston, an hour north-west, has a ring of medieval walls more than five kilometres long, climbing over the hill above the town, plus salt pans still in use and oysters at Mali Ston.

Kotor, Montenegro

The Bay of Kotor looks like a fjord, with mountains dropping straight into the water. Kotor's walled old town and the church islet off Perast are the highlights. It's around two hours by road without delays, but the land border at Karasovići can add hours on summer days, and non-EU travellers are processed through the EU's Entry/Exit System on the way out and back in. Leave early, carry your passport, and if you're driving a rental car, check it's insured for Montenegro before you set off.

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

The rebuilt Old Bridge (Stari Most), with young men diving from it into the green Neretva, is the famous image, and Mostar's Ottoman bazaar lanes are the other half of the visit. It's about two and a half hours each way, which makes a long day. Tours usually add Počitelj, a hillside Ottoman village, or the Kravica waterfalls. Bosnia uses the convertible mark, though euros are widely accepted.

Which one to choose

With one spare day in summer, choose Lokrum or Lopud over a border crossing. With two, add Kotor and leave at dawn. A tour takes the stress out of the border but not the queue. Our three-day itinerary builds Lokrum into day two, and the getting there guide covers driving routes.