Opening hours, prices and boat times are from general knowledge, not checked live; confirm the walls, Lokrum boats and kayak times on the official sites in spring 2027.
Old town in the morning, sea in the afternoon, and a market morning before the 17:00 flight.
Land at 13:00, check-in is usually from 15:00. Lunch with the bags in Ploče, a first swim at Banje, then the old town after dark.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →about €10 per adult30–40 min
The shuttle waits outside arrivals and leaves after each flight; get off at the Ploče Gate stop, about five minutes on foot (roughly 500 steps) from the flat.
about €70–90 for fourflat walk with bags
A middle-range terrace café with tables outside and the sea below; there is room for suitcases if you ask for an edge table. The cafés on the road above Banje are pricier than the old-town lanes, but they are flat and close to the flat.
from 15:00, usual
Check-in from 15:00 is the usual hour, not a confirmed one: message the host the day before with your landing time.
The town beach nearest the old town, known for its view of the walls and Lokrum.
free; loungers about €25–40 eachpebbles3 min from the flat
The public part of the beach is free; the front rows of loungers belong to a beach club and are paid. By 16:00 the sun is lower and families thin out towards 18:00. There are showers and a kiosk for drinks.
Stradun is the old town's main street, a straight limestone street between Ploče and Pile gates.
dinner about €80–110 for fourslippery paving
Enter by Ploče Gate, about five minutes (500 steps) from the flat, and walk the street to Pile Gate and back, about 15 minutes each way. Most cruise passengers have gone by early evening. For dinner, try a middle-range konoba with tables in the lanes off Stradun; the polished stone is slick, so wear shoes with grip.
The walls at 08:30, before the stone heats up and the cruise groups arrive. A rest at the flat, then a guided sea kayak to Betina cave.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →The complete medieval ring around the old town, about 2 km, walked along the top; the town's best-known sight.
Day's highlight€35 adult · €15 child (2024 prices)Opens 08:00Allow 2 hours
From the flat it is about 10 minutes on foot, 1 000 steps, to the entrance by St Luke's tower near the old port. This side has shorter queues than Pile Gate. The loop runs one way only, anticlockwise, with steep steps in places and little shade.
Allow two hours with stops; there are exits at Pile and at the old port if the children tire. Being at the gate for the 08:00 opening gives the emptiest, coolest half hour.
The old republic's seat of government, now the city museum, with a courtyard and furnished rooms.
About €15 adult, less for childrenDaily ~09:00–18:0045 minutes
Cool rooms and an arcaded courtyard, five minutes from the walls exit at the old port. Included in the Dubrovnik Pass, so if you bought one for the walls, show it here. Forty-five minutes is enough with children.
€80–110 for four
Prijeko is a stepped lane of konobas, plain family restaurants with tables outside. Reviews say several have hard-sell waiters and tourist prices; pick one with a short menu and local fish or black risotto, and check prices before sitting.
About 1 000 steps home
Back to Ploče for the hottest hours; leave by 15:00 for Pile with swimsuits on.
A guided paddle along the outside of the walls to Betina, a small pebble beach inside a sea cave reachable only from the water.
Day's highlightAbout €40–50 per personBook aheadAbout 3 hours
Tours leave from the small beach below Pile Gate, about 25 minutes on foot from the flat. Choose an operator with double kayaks and a guide; each child goes with a parent. Most tours include snorkel gear and a swim stop at the cave.
Book a few weeks ahead for June, directly with an operator on Pile. Tours are cancelled in strong wind; ask about refunds or a next-day slot when booking.
€100–140 for four
Middle-range restaurants with tables over the harbour; prices are higher than in the lanes, by the reviews. From here it is 10 minutes home through Ploče Gate.
A short boat to Lokrum for swimming, peacocks and the salt lake. Back by late afternoon, then the cable car up Srđ for sunset at about 20:25.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →≈ €70 for four, incl. island entry15 min
Boats leave the old port about every half hour from 09:00; the return ticket includes island entry, roughly €27 per adult and much less per child (re-check on lokrum.hr). Buy it at the kiosk on the quay and keep it for the way back.
A wooded nature reserve ten minutes off the old town, known for its free-roaming peacocks and the old Benedictine monastery garden.
Shady pathsNo overnight stays
From the harbour it is a 5-minute walk (about 600 steps) to the monastery and botanical garden; the peacocks wander between there and the paths. Allow about an hour.
The rocks on the island's east side are a signposted naturist area, so keep to the south and the salt lake with the children.
A small saltwater lake in the rocks on Lokrum's south side, joined to the sea underground and calm when the open water is not.
Calm water for the 9-year-oldNo café at the lake
About 10 minutes from the monastery (roughly 1 200 steps), signposted. The water is calm and a little warmer than the sea; you get in off flat rocks, the sides are steep, and the middle is deep.
There is no shade right at the water's edge and no kiosk, so carry drinks. Older children often jump from the low rocks at the edge. Check the depth first, and swim the open sea off the rocks nearby when the lake gets busy after noon.
≈ €80 for fourIsland prices
A middle-range restaurant with tables under the trees, the only sit-down place on Lokrum; there is also a snack bar by the harbour, and snacks from home are allowed.
After lunch, swim again or rest in the shade, and take a boat back between 15:00 and 16:00 (the last one is in the early evening, so check the time on the quay).
The cable car to the 412 m hill above the old town, the place most aerial photos of Dubrovnik are taken from.
≈ €75 for four, returnSunset ≈ 20:254 min ride
The lower station is a 10-minute walk from the flat (about 1 300 steps, partly uphill on steps). Return tickets cost about €27 per adult and less for children (re-check), sold at the station or online. There is no time slot to book.
Cars run every few minutes until late in June. Expect a queue of 15–20 minutes before sunset. At the top there is a terrace with a low wall, and a small museum in the fort that is closed in the evening. Allow an hour, and come down after the lights come on.
≈ €100 for four
Something easy near the flat: the terrace cafés above Banje or a plain grill on the Ploče road. If the children are flagging, eat before the cable car, from about 18:30.
Check out by 10:00 and leave the bags by Ploče Gate. Gruž market, the fort above Pile, lunch, then the 14:00 shuttle for the 17:00 flight.
🗺 The whole day in Google Maps →~€5–10 per bagbook online
Check-out is usually by 10:00; confirm with the host. Book a bag-storage shop by Ploče Gate the day before on Bounce or Radical Storage, about €5–10 per bag for the day. Check its closing hour covers a 13:40 pickup.
Dubrovnik's working market on the Gruž harbour, where locals buy fruit, cheese and fish.
bus ~€2 pp each waysnacks ~€15mornings only
Walk 12 minutes, about 1 000 steps, along Stradun to Pile, then any bus to Gruž (1A, 1B, 3 or 8), about 15 minutes. Stalls run from early morning and pack up by early afternoon; the fish hall is busiest before 11:00.
Buy cherries, figs or dried fruit for the flight; €15 covers snacks for four. Allow 45 minutes, then the same buses back to Pile.
The fort on a 37-metre sea rock outside Pile Gate; it stood in for King's Landing in Game of Thrones.
~€15 adult, less for childrensteep steps45 minutes
Entry is included in the city walls ticket, but that ticket may only cover the day it was used; otherwise buy at the gate, about €15 an adult, re-check. Open from about 08:00 into the evening in June.
The climb from Pile is a long stone staircase in full sun; take water and hats. Allow 45 minutes; the top terrace gives the view of the walls and Bokar fortress you walked two days ago.
~€60 for four
A middle-range pizzeria with tables outside, quick service; pizza and drinks for four come to about €60. Ask for the bill by 13:20.
Walk the length of Stradun to Ploče Gate, 12 minutes, about 1 000 steps, pick up the bags, then up the short slope to the bus stop by the cable car.
~€10 ppflight 17:00
Shuttle from the stop by the cable car, about 40 minutes, reaching the airport around 14:45 for the 17:00 flight.
City buses are run by Libertas. You need them for Gruž market and maybe the hill roads; the old town and Ploče are on foot.
Contactless bank card payment on board has been introduced on some Libertas buses, but do not count on it for every bus or every foreign card. The sure way is a ticket bought before you board, or the Libertas mobile app.
Tickets bought from the driver cost more and need cash in euros, preferably small notes. Each person needs their own ticket, children included. Libertas fares in recent years have been around €2 from a kiosk and €3 from the driver; re-check before the trip.
Uber and Bolt both work in Dubrovnik and take a card in the app. Street taxis usually take cards but ask before you get in; Pile to Gruž is roughly €10–15.
The airport shuttle bus (Platanus / Atlas, timed to flights) runs between Dubrovnik airport, Pile Gate and the main bus station in Gruž.
The shuttle waits outside arrivals and leaves after the main flights land. Tickets are sold at the counter in arrivals, by the bus, or online on the operator's site; in recent years around €10 per adult one way, children less, card usually accepted. Re-check the fare and timetable before you go.
For Ploče, get off at the stop above the old town by the cable car or at Pile Gate and walk about 10 minutes to the flat. With four people and bags, a taxi or Bolt for about €35–45 is the easier choice.
The shuttle back leaves from the stop by the cable car station above Ploče Gate and from Pile, on a timetable built around departures. Take a bus about three hours before the 17:00 flight, so around 14:00; the ride is 30–40 minutes and the coast road can jam in summer.
Buy the return ticket on the day from the driver or online, or the return ticket when you arrive if it is offered cheaper.
The walls ticket and the Dubrovnik Pass are both sold by the city; for this route the Pass usually works out cheaper.
The Dubrovnik Pass includes the city walls, the Rector's Palace, Fort Lovrijenac and several other city museums, plus local bus rides. A 1-day Pass in 2025 cost around €35 for an adult, with lower prices for children; re-check the 2027 prices on the official site, as they rise most years.
Buy it online at dubrovnikpass.com (dubrovnikpass.com) and show the QR code on a phone at the gate; this skips the ticket queue at the walls. The walls open at 08:00 in June; the Ploče side gate by St Luke's tower usually has a shorter queue than Pile.
Keep the walls ticket: it also gets you into Fort Lovrijenac on the same day or within the validity period. Check the rules when you buy.
In June the afternoon is around 27–30 °C, and the walls and Stradun's stone hold the heat.
Dubrovnik beaches are pebble or rock, not sand; Banje is fine pebbles, Lokrum is mostly rock.
Water shoes sell for €10–15 a pair in the beach shops along Ploče and inside the old town.
Croatia uses the euro. Most cafés, restaurants, ticket offices and shops take cards.
For this trip €100–150 in cash is enough for the family. Use bank ATMs (PBZ, Zagrebačka banka, Erste) rather than standalone Euronet machines, which charge high fees. When the card terminal offers to charge in your home currency, choose euros.
For two adults and two children (9 and 12), 4 days and 3 nights in Dubrovnik in June. Covers the stay, every meal, sights, boats, the kayak, the cable car, local transport including the airport both ways, bag storage, city tax, tips and a buffer. Flights are not included.
| Item | Economy | Comfort | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat in Ploče (mid-range, family-sized) | €540 | €840 | €180–280 per night × 3 nights, June high season |
| Lunches and dinners (the planned stops) | €585 | €705 | Prices from the days' stops for four: 4 lunches, 3 dinners and the Gruž market snacks |
| Breakfasts, coffee, ice cream, water, snacks | €155 | €260 | Breakfast €25–40 for four × 3 mornings, plus €20–35 a day × 4 days for extras |
| Walls, Rector's Palace, Fort Lovrijenac | €150 | €190 | Dubrovnik Pass or separate tickets for 2 adults and 2 children. The walls cost €35 per adult and €15 per child at 2024 prices; expect increases by 2027 |
| Sea kayak, Lokrum boat, Srđ cable car | €305 | €360 | Kayak €40–50 per person × 4, Lokrum about €70–80 for four, cable car about €75–80 for four |
| Airport shuttle both ways and buses | €76 | €96 | Shuttle about €10 per person × 4 × 2 trips, less if the children pay a reduced fare; Gruž bus €2 per person each way |
| Beach loungers at Banje | €0 | €80 | Optional: 2 loungers at about €25–40 each |
| Bag storage by Ploče Gate | €20 | €40 | €5–10 per bag × 4 bags |
| City tax | €23 | €30 | About €3 per adult per night × 3 nights, reduced for the 12-year-old; often added by the host |
| Tips | €60 | €90 | About 10% at sit-down meals, plus something for the kayak guide |
| Buffer for the unplanned | €100 | €150 | Taxi in the heat, a gelato round, a forgotten swimsuit |
| Total | €2,014 | €2,841 |
Realistic figure: €2,200–2,500 for the family of four, flights excluded
Croatia uses the euro. Cards are accepted almost everywhere, including restaurants, the cable car and the walls. Keep about €50–100 in cash for the Lokrum boat kiosk, loungers, market stalls and small cafés. Tipping is not obligatory: round up or leave about 10% for good table service, and a few euros for the kayak guide.
All of them: the WayFriend guide library.
