7 Amazing things to do in Dubrovnik, Croatia – A guide for first time visitors

Dubrovnik has quickly become one of Europe’s most popular destination holidays in recent years, particularly in the wake of the success of Game of Thrones, having used Dubrovnik as one of its main filming sites.

We recently returned from our second trip to Dubrovnik and were keen to see what had changed in the many years since our last visit.

One thing you can be certain of is that you won’t struggle to find things to do in Dubrovnik. From the Game of Thrones filming sites, to incredible mountain top views and sunset views, there is something for everyone here.

Equally, if you are keen to add a few extra stamps to your passport, Dubrovnik is possibly one if the best bases to use in Europe. You can easily take two incredible day trips to other countries, with Montenegro and Bosnia both less than two hour drives away by car.

To be honest, even if we weren’t desperate to go back to Dubrovnik itself, the appeal of those two day trip options alone would be enough to sell it to us.

Generally speaking, the best things to do will tend to be found around the Dubrovnik Old Town area, meaning you won’t have to walk too far to find some great activities, sights and views during your stay there.

Where to stay in Dubrovnik

Where you choose to stay in Dubrovnik will largely come down to the type of trip you would like to have and budget.

For more detailed advice, you can read our guide on where to stay, with a breakdown of the best areas and hotel recommendations for each one.

If you only have a day in Dubrovnik, we would always recommend booking a hotel as central as possible to avoid losing time getting to and from key attractions.

• Old Town – This is where you will find most of the cities best attractions like Rector’s Palace, The Jesuit Steps & West Harbour. A central base with lots to do. Our favourite hotel in the Old Town is Dominus Little Palace
• Lapad – This area probably has the perfect balance overall. Easy access to the Old Town with a more relaxed feel, great for families.. We would recommend staying at Hotel Dubrovnik Palace
• Babin Kuk – This is where we chose to stay on our most recent visit to Dubrovnik. It is a little bit further out but still very accessible, less expensive than the Old Town and great for family stays. We would recommend Valamar Tirena

1 – Rent kayaks at sunset

One of the most unique ways to experience Dubrovnik is by renting kayaks.

This can be done from West Harbour, just outside Pile Gate at the entrance to the Old Town.

We would recommend doing it at sunset through this group tour option, which will take you around the perimeter of the Old Town and gives you a completely unique perspective of the area.

Kayaking here takes you out towards Lokrum Island and again you get to have a unique experience by snorkelling at Betina Cave, a place that is only accessible by water.

Although our experiences of kayaking have often tested the strength of our marriage because of our inability to paddle in the same direction, we still love doing activities like this for a fun, ideally relaxing and unique way to experience the area.

2 – Game of Thrones Tour

While Dubrovnik had already been a popular tourist destination, being used as one of the main filming locations of the TV show ‘Game of Thrones’, has seen a huge spike in visitors in recent years.

It is estimated that the show accounted for around half of the cities year on year growth in tourism, with Dubrovnik becoming so popular, that it threatened its status as a UNESCO heritage site.

Aside from that, if you are looking for the best things to do in Dubrovnik, it is hard to look past taking the Game of Thrones tour.

Even if you aren’t a fan of the show, the filming locations themselves are at some of the most picturesque parts of the city, so through that alone, you will get escorted to the best views and photo spots in Dubrovnik.

3 – Day trip to Montenegro or Bosnia

One of the biggest selling points of Dubrovnik, to us at least, was the possibility of going on two amazing day trips, both of which were only 2 hour drives away.

To the South, you can visit Montenegro, taking in Perast and Kotor. The journey from Dubrovnik to Montenegro only takes around two hours but do bear in mind that it involves crossing an international border, so you will need to take your passport with you.

We wrestled with the idea of going by public transport but ultimately decided that this guided tour would be the best option, when all of the logistics were taken into consideration.

As much as Dubrovnik itself is incredible, if you have the time, a day trip to Montenegro will be the highlight of your trip.

This guided tour includes stops at Budva and Kotor and unlike many guided tours that can feel a bit rushed, we were able to spend over 3 hours in Kotor, which was plenty of time to enjoy it, rather than just using it as a photo opportunity.

Alternatively, you can also take a trip to Bosnia, visiting the capital of Mostar, as well as Kravica waterfalls. While we didn’t get the opportunity to do this one, it looks equally as worthwhile as Montenegro and we came very close to choosing this option.

Either way, this is one of the standout aspects of a trip to Dubrovnik, the fact that you can easily visit 3 countries in one without a huge effort.

4 – Explore the Old Town

The Old Town in Dubrovnik is where you will find most tourists congregate and is where you will find a lot of the main things to do in Dubrovnik.

Some of our favourite things to do inside Old Town Dubrovnik were to take a walk down Stradun, which is the main street that runs down the centre of the Old Town from Pile gate to Rector’s Palace and Saint Blaise’s Church.

The Old Town is also generally where you will tend to go for your food & drink while you were in Dubrovnik and we would recommend a number of places here. For breakfast, the main delicacy here is called Burek, a savoury filled pastry. Try out Holy Burek if you would like to try it out.

For dinner we really like Bura Bistro, an Italian restaurant with outdoor seating and great views of the cathedral.

One thing we would say is that we did find the Old Town to get quite overcrowded at times. it is a relatively small area, with narrow streets and steep staircases so if you are there during peak times of the day it can become a bit more difficult to navigate and enjoy.

We tended to visit the Old Town either first or last thing in the day and this generally meant avoiding the bigger crowds.

if you want to get a birds eye view of the Old Town and the beautiful surroundings we would also recommend taking this tour, which will take you directly to the summit of Mt Srđ and includes a guided walking tour of the area with incredible panoramic views of the Old Town below. 

5 – Old Town Walls

Naturally, it would be difficult to take a trip to Dubrovnik and not explore the Old Town Walls but as is the running theme here, it can be quite expensive.

Tickets for the Old Town walls on their own are €40 so we would instead recommend buying a Dubrovnik Day Pass for the same price which lasts for 24 hours.

The benefit here is that the pass covers multiple other tourist attractions, such as Rector’s Palace, several museums and galleries, as well as your public transport.

The other suggestion we would have for exploring the city walls, is to avoid doing it during peak times during the day. The walls involve climbing up steps, large crowds and potentially high temperatures, not a combination that will make it the most enjoyable part of your trip.

Instead, make the walls the first or last thing you do in the day to enjoy smaller crowds, lower temperatures and better light for photos as well.

6 – Watch the sunset in Ploče

One of our favourite things to do in Dubrovnik was to grab an ice cream from Peppino’s and take the short walk to Ploče gate to watch the sunset.

The views here are stunning throughout the day but even more enjoyable as the sun starts to fade. A lot of people will also recommend Buza Bar for perfect sunset views but we liked the fact that we could pick 3-4 different spots near the gate and get a completely different view and perspective.

From the gate itself you will get a great view looking back towards the cathedral, with the small boats lining the harbour along the way. This is a great place to go for a pre-dinner drink, with several bars having outdoor seating overlooking the pier.

Alternatively, we also loved Ul. Iza Grada, which is less than a 5 minute walk from the gate and is a great place to watch people cross the bridge as the sun starts to fade in the background.

7 – Have a beach day at Banje Beach

If you are looking to spend a day at the beach while you are In Dubrovnik, then the main option we would recommend is Banje beach.

The beach is less than a 10 minute walk from Ploče Gate, to the East of the Old Town and has beautiful views looking back towards the town itself.

The beach is relatively small but perfect if you are visiting outside of peak months or if you get there early enough in the day.

The beach also has great views looking directly out at Lokrum island but as with anything in this world, it comes with a price. Sun loungers and umbrellas here are very expensive, with two sunbeds at umbrellas costing €70 (2026), which is extortionate in our view.