As befitting a city of this size and location, public Transport in Dubrovnik comprises buses – both the orange buses running city and suburban routes, and airport buses – taxis, boats and ferries. And let’s not forget the cable car that will take you ‘up the hill’ for gorgeous views of the city and beyond! Here’s some detailed information on how to get around Dubrovnik using public transport.
Public Transport in Dubrovnik – Local Buses
There are normally 13 bus lines that operate within the city of Dubrovnik itself – lines 1A, 1B, 1C, 2, 2A, 3, 3A, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. You can see a map of these routes here: Dubrovnik bus routes map.
Similarly, you can see timetables of bus departures (meaning, departure times from either end of a line) here: Dubrovnik bus timetables.
You can see live information on bus arrivals on the Vehicle Announcement page of the Libertas Dubrovnik website. For Android phone users, there is a Dubrovnik Bus app that will also provide you with this info.
Pile Gate, the western entrance/exit of the Old Town, is a busy place for Dubrovnik buses. Almost all of Dubrovnik’s bus lines either pass through or start/end here. They are:
- 1A – Mokosica – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 1B – Mokosica – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 2 – Gorica – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 2A – Glavica – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 3 – Nuncijata – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 4 – Hotel Palace – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 5 – Viktorija – Babin Kuk: bus passes through
- 6 – Babin Kuk – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
- 9 – Hospital (Opca Bolnica) – Pile: bus starts/terminates at Pile Gate
You can take lines 1A, 1B, 3 or 8 to travel from the Old Town (Pile Gate) to the main bus station and/or the port, and vice versa.
If you’re staying in the Babin Kuk area of Dubrovnik, you can take buses 2A, 5 and 6 to travel to the Old Town (Pile Gate) and return.
From the Lapad area, buses 2, 4, 5, and 9 go to the Old Town (Pile Gate) and return.
When staying in Dubrovnik, it’s best to ask at your place of accommodation (or locally) for the best bus(es) for you to take to get around.
Buying tickets
You can purchase tickets from newspaper kiosks or from the Libertas stalls (by Pile Gate, for example). Some travel agencies and hotels may also be able to sell you tickets. The price of one ticket is €1.73. (It’s advisable to buy a bunch if you’re planning on doing a fair amount of bus travel.). These tickets must be validated in the machines upon boarding the bus.
It is also possible to buy a bus ticket from the driver upon boarding. These tickets cost €1.99.
The Dubrovnik Card which includes free entry to a number of Dubrovnik’s top sights and museums also includes free bus public transport. The 1-day card allows free bus travel for the full 24 hours. The other cards (3- or 7-day) offer a certain number of free bus rides.
Public Transport in Dubrovnik – Suburban Buses
Several routes operate from the main bus station in Dubrovnik to the little towns west and east of the city.
To the west, for example, bus lines 12, 15, 21, 22 and 35 travel to Zaton Mali and Zaton Veliki; 12, 15, 21 and 22 go to Slano; 12 and 15 go to Ston at the base of the Peljesac Peninsula and 21 goes (not very regularly!) to Orebic.
To the east, for example, one of the most popular and useful is bus line 10 which runs to Cavtat. Lines 10 and 16 go to Mlini and Plat, whilst number 11 goes to Molunat.
You can look at the Dubrovnik suburban lines maps or the Dubrovnik suburban lines timetables for more information.
It would also be advisable to ask locally for timetable details if you’re planning on using these suburban buses to make sure you have the correct departure times.
Example ticket prices – a one-way ticket to Ston costs €5.31, whilst to Cavtat it is €3.32. You can buy tickets from the bus driver.
Public Transport in Dubrovnik – Airport Buses
There are regular shuttle buses connecting Rudjer Boskovic Dubrovnik Airport with the city. The bus makes two stops on the way to Dubrovnik – by Ploce Gate, just outside the Old Town, and at the main bus station.
You can see the timetable of the shuttle bus on the Platanus website, although buses are generally timed to coincide with flight arrivals. (And departures, for buses going to the airport.)
A ticket costs €10 for a one-way journey (€14 for a return ticket) and can be purchased from the driver once you board the bus. You can also buy tickets in advance on the Platanus website. Journey time is about 30-40 minutes.
For the return journey to the airport, the bus makes additional stops/pick-ups. After departing from the main bus station it stops at the Grawe bus stop, just outside the Old Town (by the base station of the cable car) and in front of the One Suite Hotel in Srebreno.
Sightseeing Bus
Dubrovnik also has a sightseeing bus, the open-windowed cabrio bus, which offers sightseeing tours of the city on a 1 hour and 20-minute route. There are several locations around Dubrovnik from where you can be picked up, and the tour offers some of the main sights of the city. More info is on the Dubrovnik Sightseeing website.
Taxis
There are numerous taxi ranks around the city, including at the main traffic points such as Pile Gate (by the Old Town), the bus station and the port, and of course at the airport too. Taxis are metered and the meter must be switched on before the journey commences, otherwise, the fare does not have to be paid.
Uber and Bolt also operate in Dubrovnik, if you already use those apps in other destinations around the world.
Dubrovnik Cable Car
The Dubrovnik Cable Car is one of the more modern elements of public transport in Dubrovnik! Or rather, the cable car that you can travel on today is – for this one was only opened in 2010. There used to be another cable car in the city; that one was opened in 1969 but destroyed in the war in the early 1990s.
Today’s cable car is a lovely modern and very orange affair, taking passengers up to the top of Mount Srd (405m above sea level) in only four minutes. At the top, you’ll enjoy amazing views looking down onto the Old Town, as well as across to other parts of Dubrovnik (see below) and out to sea including over to the islands such as Lokrum. There is a restaurant here should you be in need of some refreshments.
Also here is the impressive Fort Imperijal, built by Napoleon (Dubrovnik was, at that time, under French control), making it over 200 years old. The Fort houses the Dubrovnik in the Homeland War Museum, showing photographs and video displays of the city during the war.
The lower station of the cable car is just ‘above’ Dubrovnik Old Town, taking about 8 to 10 minutes to walk there. (Follow the signposts.)
A return ticket for the cable car costs €26.54, whilst a one-way ticket costs €14.60. For children aged between 4-12, a return ticket is €6.64 one-way is €3.98. Children under age 4 go free. It is easy to just turn up, buy your tickets and board but you can also pre-buy tickets on the Dubrovnik Cable Car website.
Public Transport in Dubrovnik – Boats and Ferries
Obviously, as a busy coastal city, quite a bit of public transport in Dubrovnik relies on boats and ferries to help you reach the local islands!
There are regular boats from the Old Town harbour to the island of Lokrum. The Lokrum Island website details the timetable of sailings to and from the island.
Other ferry or catamaran lines from Dubrovnik include the G&V Line catamaran line that connects the city with the islands of Sipan, Mljet and Lastovo (year-round) and also Korcula in summer.
Jadrolinija runs lines to the three main Elafiti Islands of Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan. In the summer months, they also have a longer-range catamaran that connects Dubrovnik with Mljet, Korcula, Hvar, Brac and Split.
Kapetan Luka also runs a couple of longer-range catamarans. One route operates from Dubrovnik to Mljet, Korcula, Hvar, Brac and Split; the other from Dubrovnik to Mljet, Korcula, Makarska, Brac and Split.
Dubrovnik Port
Should you need to know more information about Dubrovnik’s port, Port Gruz (or Luka Gruz in Croatian), you can do so on the Dubrovnik Port Authority website. Perhaps of most interest is the number of cruise ship arrivals in any one month – this will roughly tell you how busy Dubrovnik Old Town will be! You can look this up under the ‘Traffic’ menu (‘Arrivals/Departures’).
Driving in Dubrovnik
Should you have your own (rental) car in Dubrovnik, do be aware that there is now a special traffic zone in operation around the Old Town. This is in place to reduce congestion in the area. Really, getting to the Old Town is much easier by public transport or on foot!
More information
As mentioned, information on bus routes in the city can be found on the Libertas Dubrovnik website.
The Dubrovnik Bus Terminal website displays timetables of intercity routes from Dubrovnik to other places in Croatia. It is also possible to purchase tickets for some lines on this site.