Dubrovnik Questions (new thread)

We'd like some advice about planning our visit.

We're pleased to discover that our ship is in Dubrovnik for a full day on a Saturday at the end of September, arriving at 8 and leaving in the evening.

We'd like to walk the city walls (probably at a slower speed than when I last did it 55 years ago!) and also visit Cavtat, perhaps for a scenic stroll and lunch.

We like to use public transport where possible but don't know the logistics...which should we do first?

Thank you.

We'd like some advice about planning our visit.

We're pleased to discover that our ship is in Dubrovnik for a full day on a Saturday at the end of September, arriving at 8 and leaving in the evening.

We'd like to walk the city walls (probably at a slower speed than when I last did it 55 years ago!) and also visit Cavtat, perhaps for a scenic stroll and lunch.

We like to use public transport where possible but don't know the logistics...which should we do first?

Thank you.

Consider the ferry, rather than a bus, to or from Cavtat.

Broadly an hourly service, journey time about an hour, runs from Dubrovnik's old town waterfront.

http://www.adriana-cavtat.com/rbl.php?lang=E

On the question of which to do first, it's six of one & half-a-dozen of the other

...... walking the wall is a lot cooler if you do it first thing.

...... but it'd be safer to do the distance / ferry first in case of any hold-up which might risk missing your sailing. You can abandon the idea of walking the wall, or do just part of it, if you get back from Cavtat later than you planned.

JB :)

We like the idea of travelling to Cavtat by ferry if it's not too rough.

Does anyone know the nearest bus stop to the ferry departure point, travelling from the cruise port?

We like the idea of travelling to Cavtat by ferry if it's not too rough.

Does anyone know the nearest bus stop to the ferry departure point, travelling from the cruise port?

The ferry pier is inside the city walls. Buses (and taxis?) aren't permitted in the walled city, I've only ever seen one or two delivery panel vans.

Buses from the cruise port stop near the Pila (Pile) Gate, you walk through the gate & straight ahead past shops, cafes, etc to the ferry pier. About 600 yards, 6 to 7 minutes if you don't dawdle (which you will ;)).

Hopefully someone like Dubrovniklady can tell you if buses stop at a closer city gate, but I doubt they do.

Ticket booths are at the beginning of the pier. There are several booths & there can be a line for tickets so make sure you join the right line & give yourselves plenty of time.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/42.6419912,18.1061608/Dubrovnik+Boat+Rentals,+Jadranska+ul.,+20000,+Biograd+na+Moru,+Croatia/@42.6415395,18.1077904,18z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x134c0b337b3a1985:0x75f6624764e8c546!2m2!1d18.1117837!2d42.6409307!3e2

JB :)

Thank you for the link....now I've got a clearer idea of the city layout and distances involved.

We like the idea of travelling to Cavtat by ferry (after walking some/all of the city walls).

Will we be able to buy some good local wine there to take back to our ship at the end of our day out? Any recommendations? Should we try a supermarket in Cavtat for this? Then we would plan to catch the bus straight back to the cruise port.

Rather than carry bottles around, there is a branch of supermarket Konzum next to the bus station at the port gate.

Exit the port, turn right into the bus station, walk to the exit at the other end and you arrive at the supermarket.

Also convenient for anything else you might want to stock up on.

Should have mentioned that if taking the bus back to Gruz you will exit it at the terminus inside the bus station, so even closer to the supermarket.

Hi all, looking for suggestions on how to plan our day in Dubrovnik late November. I know the weather will determine everything, but humor me and let's plan for a nice day, shall we....;)

We arrive in Gruz at 11am and depart at 6pm, so it's a short day. If time allows, we'd like to walk the city walls and go up the cable car. The entrance to the walls closes at 3pm and the cable car closes at 5pm (we'd want to be back at the port by this time anyway). We were planning to use the public bus to get around.

Should we take bus 8 from Gruz to the Buza gate, enter the walls from there so we can exit there after we walk around and therefore be close to the cable car? If we enter and exit from Pile gate, it will be farther to the cable car, correct? From what I've read, you can't use your ticket to re-enter the walls so we wouldn't be able to enter at Pile, exit at Buza for the cable car, then re-enter at Buza after the cable car to finish the walk at Pile.

Or is our time too short to try to do both, and we should just go to Pile gate, walk the walls, enjoy the city, then return to the ship? I should mention that we are pretty physically able so we can walk the wall briskly if we want to. However, dh is a photo buff which means we will be taking our time.

Hi all, looking for suggestions on how to plan our day in Dubrovnik late November. I know the weather will determine everything, but humor me and let's plan for a nice day, shall we....;)

 

We arrive in Gruz at 11am and depart at 6pm, so it's a short day. If time allows, we'd like to walk the city walls and go up the cable car. The entrance to the walls closes at 3pm and the cable car closes at 5pm (we'd want to be back at the port by this time anyway). We were planning to use the public bus to get around.

 

Should we take bus 8 from Gruz to the Buza gate, enter the walls from there so we can exit there after we walk around and therefore be close to the cable car? If we enter and exit from Pile gate, it will be farther to the cable car, correct? From what I've read, you can't use your ticket to re-enter the walls so we wouldn't be able to enter at Pile, exit at Buza for the cable car, then re-enter at Buza after the cable car to finish the walk at Pile.

 

Or is our time too short to try to do both, and we should just go to Pile gate, walk the walls, enjoy the city, then return to the ship? I should mention that we are pretty physically able so we can walk the wall briskly if we want to. However, dh is a photo buff which means we will be taking our time.

I think I've answered my own question......since you walk the walls counterclockwise, we'll start the wall walk at Pile and exit at Buza for the cable car if time and weather allows, then just re-enter the city at Buza gate and skip the last part of the wall walk. If we can't do the cable car, then we'll walk all the way around.

There is not exit as Buza, it is just a hole in the wall to enter and exit the old town. There are entrances/exits at Pile gate, which is normally the beginning of a counter clockwise walk. The first exit is at Sveti Ivan (Saint John), but if you exit there you will miss the old port. Next is the Ploce (plo-cha) exit, which is the half way point and that is the exit you should take. It is the closest to the Ploce gate exit of old town, which is the closest to the cable car. Exit Ploce, turn left and walk along the wall until you reach a small road to the left. The fire department is on one corner, parking lot is on the other. Walk up the small road, just a few meters and follow the road to the right to the cable car entrance just a few meters ahead. Enjoy and I do hope for good weather, however don't count on it.

There is not exit as Buza, it is just a hole in the wall to enter and exit the old town. There are entrances/exits at Pile gate, which is normally the beginning of a counter clockwise walk. The first exit is at Sveti Ivan (Saint John), but if you exit there you will miss the old port. Next is the Ploce (plo-cha) exit, which is the half way point and that is the exit you should take. It is the closest to the Ploce gate exit of old town, which is the closest to the cable car. Exit Ploce, turn left and walk along the wall until you reach a small road to the left. The fire department is on one corner, parking lot is on the other. Walk up the small road, just a few meters and follow the road to the right to the cable car entrance just a few meters ahead. Enjoy and I do hope for good weather, however don't count on it.

Thanks for the info and for the good weather wishes!

At the end of September we plan to walk the walls then travel by ferry to Cavtat, returning to Gruz by bus.

If the weather is too windy for me to feel comfortable on a boat, which is the nearest No 10 bus stop to the old city so we can travel to Cavtat by bus from there?

Thank you.

If you are inside the old town the closest bus stop for Cavtat is in front of the cable car entrance. The boats will be running, weather permitting, from the old port. All closest to the Ploce entrance, which is the point to get off the wall. I do hop our weather is still good, which is likely, but our winds can happen at any time. Be prepared and expect the best. Enjoy your time here.

Could someone who has visited before please advise if there are any car rental offices at or near the Gruz cruise terminal? I am finding conflicting information online.

 

I'm guessing we will have to take the shuttle to old town and walk to one of the offices around there?

I thought I would update this post for anyone interested in car rentals since it was very difficult to find information online.

We decided to rent a car on the first day of our overnight in Dubrovnik (Gruz). While some of the larger companies like Hertz have offices outside the walls in Old Town, that is not a great starting point for a day-trip given the travel time back and forth from Gruz. There are a couple of small car rental offices only a few blocks across the street from the cruise terminal exit. We used one of these (Fleet) and booked online in advance through a separate travel company.

Our day trip was fantastic but experience with the rental company was mediocre. A few things to be aware of:

--Leave lots of extra time. Posted business hours are more like guidelines and these offices open whenever someone decides to show up. In our case this was 45 minutes after we were supposed to pick up our rental.

--We drove into Bosnia-Herzegivina to see Kravica Falls and Mostar. I highly recommend this itinerary but there are 2 border crossings on this route for which you need separate approvals. The Neum corridor is easy - anyone with Dubrovnik regional plates was just waved through without a passport check (although you should confirm this with your rental company - our contract had a separate line noting that we were approved to drive through the corridor). The "real" border crossing is at Metkovic and here you will be stopped for a passport check. You need to present them with a green card authorizing you to drive in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Confirm with your rental company that they will provide the green card -- they are used to tourists just asking about the Neum corridor so make sure they know you are actually going into Herzegovina. The visa costs about 70 EUR.

--Traffic at each of the border crossings above, particularly at Metkovic, can be brutal. We waited almost two hours to enter. However, the line back into Croatia only took about 20 minutes. Again just plan extra time.

Hope this is helpful for anyone looking to drive out on their own. It really is a beautiful drive and well worth doing.

Hi we dock 8am in Dubrovnik and depart at 5am, is anyone aware of a tour that can get gets us to Medjugorje within this timeframe? Thanks.

Hi we dock 8am in Dubrovnik and depart at 5am, is anyone aware of a tour that can get gets us to Medjugorje within this timeframe? Thanks.

First of all, I assume that you mean 5 PM, not 5 AM. Since you have to be back on board 30 minutes before the ship leaves, this means that you have a maximum of 9 hours on land - not counting the slack at each end. According to Google maps, it takes 2 1/2 hours each way to drive to your destination and return leaving you 4 hours in Medjugonje.

I am not sure that I would want to take any tour where I spend more time getting to and from the tour site than actually at the site.

DON

Unless the ship offers a tour - which I very much doubt - I don't think you'll find a shared tour within your time-frame, they're geared to visitors staying in hotels etc around Dubrovnik with an early start and a late return.

As Don say, it's 2.5 to 3 hours e/w by car so with a private transfer at, say, 8.30 am you could spend about 2 to 3 hours there. Some of the drive is very scenic but the roads are slow

Unless it's on your bucket-list it's really not worth the travel time and cost.

And it'd be a great shame to miss a day in Dubrovnik.

JB :)

I don't see this as possible with the amount of time you have.

Keith

Thanks all, I prob should have mentioned, yes, I'm happy enough to spend min two hours there, TBH, I can return again with my Mother. Just a place I want to visit,catch a mass, light a candle etc and happy to do at breakneck speed. Ive visited Dubrovnik on a previous cruise, so ok to forsake.thanks again

Just a quick FYI , I was able to book via Medjugorje tours , Zana CEO, accommodating the tight schedule .

We looked into doing exactly what you are asking about a few years ago. We were advised by a person who lives in Croatia that the travel distance and potential border crossing delays would make this a very dicey thing to try. We decided against it.

Just a quick FYI , I was able to book via Medjugorje tours , Zana CEO, accommodating the tight schedule .

Sorry. Didn't see this before posting. Have a good trip -- enjoy.

Article about overcrowding of Dubrovnik....

http://www.traveller.com.au/overcrowded-tourist-cities-dont-send-anymore-tourists-to-dubrovnik--city-considers-limiting-number-of-visitors-gy2k9w

Article about overcrowding of Dubrovnik....

 

 

http://www.traveller.com.au/overcrowded-tourist-cities-dont-send-anymore-tourists-to-dubrovnik--city-considers-limiting-number-of-visitors-gy2k9w

Please read my reply at the end of this article. Thank you.

Our stop in Dubrovnik isn't until June 2018, but I'm already getting excited to plan our day! We will only be in port from 1pm until 7pm, but fortunately it looks like our ship will be the only one in port that day.

The things we'd like to do are - take a taxi to the top of Mt. Srd and enjoy the views (I understand this takes about an hour), take the cable car back down, and then walk the wall. We'd also love to have a snack and a drink at a local restaurant. Are we being too ambitious given that we only have 6 hours in port? What would you suggest for the best order of activities to avoid backtracking and make the best use of our time? Also, we will be in port on a Sunday. Might that impact the availability of any of the things we'd like to do?

Thanks!!