Hiking in Dubrovnik, Croatia: 8 Best Walks and Island Trails

You rarely need boots for hiking in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The walled old town sits below Srđ, a bare 412 m hill, and a zigzag path climbs to the French fort on top. From there you look down on the roofs inside the walls and out to Lokrum.

The rest of the walking is on the islands, so you plan most days around a boat. Lokrum's pine woods are fifteen minutes from the old port, and Šipan's vineyards and Lopud's sandy bay are an hour or so away on the Elafiti ferry.

Further west, the loop round Mljet's two salt lakes is one of the best walks in Croatia. Eight walks are worth doing, and on the island days you can usually stop for a tavern lunch and a swim.

The essentials:

• Where: the old town, Mount Srđ above it, Lokrum, the Elafiti islands and Mljet.

• What: eight walks from the 1,940 m walls circuit to a 12 km loop round the Mljet lakes.

• Difficulty: easy; the biggest hill is Srđ, with 255 m of elevation gain on the path.

• When: April to June and September to October.

Why Walk From Dubrovnik

Most visitors see Dubrovnik from the walls and Stradun, then leave. The old town works better as a base than as the walk itself. Within an hour of the gates you can stand on Srđ at 412 m, cross a nature reserve on Lokrum, or walk an island with no cars at all.

The ground suits walkers rather than mountaineers. Paths are old mule tracks, island lanes and park trails through pine and holm oak, and every walk is marked or follows the only lane on the island. Šipan and Mljet see a fraction of the old town's crowds, and on Lopud the only traffic is the odd electric cart.

The 8 Best Walks in Dubrovnik

On the eight walks you climb to three hilltop forts and pass three monasteries, one of them on an islet in the middle of a salt lake.

The walking week comes first because it strings three of the island walks together with the hotels, ferries and luggage arranged. The other seven follow from the city outwards, with the islands in order of how long the boat takes.

1. The Dubrovnik and Islands Week: Šipan, Mljet and Srđ

• Walking: 29.7 km over three island days of 10, 12 and 7.7 km

• Elevation gain: 630 m in total, with 320 m on the Montokuc day

• Nights: four in Dubrovnik, two on Mljet, all with breakfast

• Grade: 1 out of 5, self-guided with a guidebook and GPS app

• Season: April to September

Our seven-day Dubrovnik and Croatia Islands walking holiday is a self-guided week based in the city, with two nights on Mljet. You walk Šipan, the Mljet lakes and Montokuc, and the ferries, hotels and luggage are booked before you arrive.

The daily distances are short on purpose. The longest day is 12 km with 170 m of elevation gain, which leaves time for lunch in a tavern and a swim. It is graded 1 out of 5 for both fitness and terrain, our easiest grade in Croatia.

Šipan lies north-west along the Elafiti chain and Mljet further west, both reached by boat from Gruž, so no day needs a car. The two Mljet nights save a return crossing and leave you inside the park when the day visitors' boats have gone.

The price covers six nights in 3-star hotels with breakfast, the luggage transfers, the digital guidebook, the GPS app and support during the trip. The guided city walk on day 2 and the tourist tax are paid separately.

The other seven walks are ones you can do yourself from the city. Three of them are the days of the week, walked independently with a ferry timetable. One starts above the old town, one is on the walls and five need a boat.

2. Mount Srđ by the Serpentine Path

• Distance: 2.1 km one way, with 255 m of elevation gain

• Time: 40 minutes to an hour up; the cable car back down is optional

• Start: the path off Jadranska cesta, the road above the old town

• At the top: Fort Imperial, 1810, and the Homeland War museum

Srđ is the hill behind Dubrovnik and the reason the city looks the way it does from above. The path starts on the road above the old town and climbs in tight zigzags, with Stations of the Cross along the way. There is almost no shade after the first bend, so go early or late.

At the top stands Fort Imperial, built by the French in 1810 and shelled during the siege of 1991. It now holds a museum of the Homeland War. The cable car station is next to it, so you can walk up and ride down for €17 one way.

3. Lokrum Island

• Size: 0.8 km² of pine and holm oak, with no cars and no overnight stays

• Boat: about 15 minutes from the old port, every 30 to 60 minutes in season

• Ticket: €30 in 2026, including the return boat and the reserve

• Sights: the monastery, Fort Royal, the botanical garden, the Dead Sea

Lokrum sits 600 m off the old port, so you can be walking there within twenty minutes of leaving your hotel. The whole island is a nature reserve, with no cars and no overnight stays.

The paths join a Benedictine monastery first recorded in 1023, a botanical garden planted in 1959 and Fort Royal on the 96 m summit. The French began the fort in 1806 and the Austrians finished it in 1835. The Dead Sea is a small salt lake joined to the open sea, the calmest swim on the island.

4. The City Walls

• Distance: 1,940 m round the old town, up to 25 m high

• Time: 1.5 to 2 hours with stops

• Ticket: €40 in the 2026 main season, including Fort Lovrijenac

• Entrances: Pile Gate, Ploče Gate and St John's Fort by the old port

The Dubrovnik wall walk is the one everyone does, and it is short. The circuit is 1,940 m and takes 1.5 to 2 hours, most of it on steps. The walls are the most crowded walk in Dubrovnik. The ticket covers Fort Lovrijenac outside the Pile Gate as well.

The walls open at about 8am for most of the year. Arrive then, or enter at St John's Fort rather than the Pile Gate, and you can have the seaward side almost to yourself. The Minčeta tower, finished in 1464, is the high point of the circuit.

5. Šipan: Suđurađ to Šipanska Luka

• Distance: 10 km return, with 140 m of elevation gain

• Ferry: Jadrolinija line 807 from Gruž, 70 to 80 minutes, €5.40 in summer

• Terrain: a quiet lane through the valley between the two villages

• Our week: day 3, see entry 1

Šipan is the largest of the Elafiti islands and one of the quietest, with two villages at either end of a long green valley. The ferry lands at Suđurađ, where the Skočibuha family built a fortified summer house in the sixteenth century.

The walk crosses the valley floor through vineyards, olive groves and pine to Šipanska Luka at the far end. There is barely a hill in the whole 10 km. Lunch at a tavern in Šipanska Luka is the traditional halfway point, and on our week it is part of the day.

6. Mljet: The Salt Lakes Loop

• Distance: 12 km, with 170 m of elevation gain

• Ferry: catamaran from Gruž to Pomena, about 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30, May to October

• Ticket: €20 from October to May, €30 from June to September

• Our week: day 4, see entry 1

Mljet National Park covers the western third of the island and has been protected since 1960. At its heart are two salt lakes, Veliko and Malo jezero, joined to each other and to the sea by narrow channels.

The trail runs round both lakes on a flat shore path under pine. The ticket includes the solar boat to St Mary's islet, where a Benedictine monastery stands in the middle of the larger lake. The loop makes a long day trip from Dubrovnik, so on our week you stay the night.

7. Montokuc, the Mljet Viewpoint

• Distance: 7.7 km, with 320 m of elevation gain

• Summit: about 250 m, with a wooden viewing tower

• Start: Polače or Pomena, both on the park's marked trails

• Our week: day 5, see entry 1

Montokuc is the high point above the lakes, a forested hill of Aleppo pine. The marked path climbs from the lakes or from Polače on the north coast, and the last stretch is steep enough to feel like a hill walk.

From the top you see both lakes, St Mary's islet and the long ridge of the Pelješac peninsula across the channel. The walk is inside the national park, so the same park ticket covers it.

8. Lopud: Šunj Bay and the Fort

• Time: about 20 minutes each way on the direct lane, 45 by the fort

• Terrain: a village lane and a hill path, no cars anywhere on the island

• Ferry: Jadrolinija from Gruž, just under an hour via Koločep

• Sights: the Franciscan monastery, 1483, and the Sutvrač fort, 1563

Lopud has no cars, so every trip on the island is a walk. The ferry lands at the village, where the Franciscan monastery has stood over the bay since 1483.

Two paths cross the island to Šunj, the only sandy beach on Lopud. The direct lane takes about twenty minutes. The longer path climbs to the ruined Sutvrač fort of 1563 on the island's high point, and it gives the best view of all the Elafiti islands. Take one route out and the other back.

Boats, Tickets and Timetables

The Elafiti ferry calls at Koločep and Lopud on its way to Šipan, so from the deck you see all three inhabited islands of the chain.

Five of the eight walks start with a boat, and each leaves from one of two harbours. The harbour matters more than the timetable, because the old port and Gruž are 3 km apart.

When to Go Hiking in Dubrovnik, Croatia

In an average May or October only three to five days in Dubrovnik reach 25°C, against almost every day in July, so you can walk at midday.

April to June and September to October are the walking months. The right one depends on what you want most, because heat and crowds peak in the same weeks.

In winter the walls stay open with shorter hours. The Mljet catamarans stop, and the Lokrum boats run a limited service or none.

Sleep, Eat and Walk

Every morning farmers from the villages around Dubrovnik sell fruit and vegetables on Gundulić Square behind the cathedral, so you can stock up before an island walk.

The week bases you in 3-star hotels in Dubrovnik for four nights and on Mljet for two. On the islands, lunch in a konoba is part of the walk, and on Šipan it is the traditional halfway stop.

Dubrovnik's food is Dalmatian with a few dishes of its own. These four are worth looking for after a day on the paths.

Getting There

You can do every walk from Dubrovnik without a car, because each one starts within walking distance of the old town or at a ferry quay.

Dubrovnik airport is at Čilipi, 22 km south-east of the old town. The Platanus shuttle bus meets every flight and reaches the Ploče Gate in about 30 minutes, then continues to Gruž. A one-way ticket costs €10, or €15 return.

On the week the airport transfers are available on request and every ferry is booked in advance. Independently, check the Jadrolinija timetable the day before, because summer and winter sailings differ.

How Much It Costs

The path up Srđ costs nothing, and the walks on Šipan and Lopud cost only a ferry fare of a few euros each way.

The week includes six nights in 3-star hotels with breakfast, the luggage transfers, the digital guidebook and GPS app, and support throughout. The guided city walk and the tourist tax are extra. Airport transfers and single rooms are available on request.

Independently, the tickets cost more than the boats. The 2026 prices:

What to Pack

Trail shoes with a firm sole are enough for every walk here, because the limestone is sharp but the paths are good. Add a sun hat, sun cream and at least a litre and a half of water per walk, since Srđ and Montokuc have no taps on the way. A small torch helps on Lokrum's fort tunnels.

Swimwear belongs in every day pack, because Lokrum, Šunj and the Mljet lakes all end with a swim. A light layer helps on the morning ferries. Cash pays for island taverns that do not take cards, and there are few cash machines on Šipan and Mljet.

Ready to Walk Dubrovnik?

The Dubrovnik and Croatia Islands walking holiday walks Šipan, Mljet and Srđ from April to September. It includes:

• Six nights in 3-star hotels with breakfast, two of them on Mljet

• Luggage transfers between the hotels

• Ferry bookings for the island days

• The digital guidebook, GPS app and support during the trip