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

Hiking in Dubrovnik rarely needs boots. The city sits under a 412 m hill with a zigzag path to the top, and the best walking starts at a ferry ticket office. Lokrum is fifteen minutes away by boat, and the Elafiti islands and Mljet are an hour or so beyond it.

This guide lists the eight walks worth your time, from the walls to the islands. Each comes with its distance, elevation gain, 2026 price and the boat that gets you there. It is the Dubrovnik chapter of our best walks in Croatia, for anyone looking for a Dubrovnik hike that ends with a swim rather than a scramble.

Why Walk From Dubrovnik

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

The ground suits walkers, not climbers. Paths are old mule tracks, island lanes and park trails through pine and holm oak, and the highest point on this list is Srđ at 412 m. Nothing here needs a map-reading course, because every walk is marked or follows the only lane on the island.

The islands are also quiet in a way the city is not. Šipan and Mljet each see a fraction of the old town's crowds, and on Lopud the only traffic is the odd electric cart.

What You Need to Know at a Glance

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

• The biggest climb: Mount Srđ, 412 m, about 255 m of elevation gain on the path from the upper road.

• Boats: Lokrum from the old port; Šipan, Lopud and Mljet from Gruž harbour, 3 km west of the old town.

• Tickets in 2026: walls €40, Lokrum €30, Mljet National Park €20 to €30; Šipan, Lopud and Srđ are free.

• Season: April to June and September to October; July and August are hot and crowded on the walls.

• Our week: three island walking days, 29.7 km and 630 m of elevation gain, graded 1 out of 5.

The 8 Best Walks in Dubrovnik

The list is numbered for navigation, not ranked. Our own 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: two walks you can start from your hotel door, the walls, then the islands in order of how long the boat takes.

1. Our 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.

The map shows why Dubrovnik works as a base. Šipan lies north-west along the Elafiti chain and Mljet further west, both reached by boat from Gruž. No day needs a car, and the one inland walk is the path up Srđ on the free day.

The two Mljet nights save a return crossing and put you inside the national park at the quiet end of the day. The last boats of the day take the visitors away, and the lakes are yours for the evening.

The Montokuc day is the only one with a real climb, 320 m over 7.7 km. Even that is on a forest path with a wooden viewing tower at the top instead of a summit cairn.

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 seven walks below are the ones you can do yourself from the city. Three of them are the days of our week, walked independently with a ferry timetable, and four more fit the free afternoons. Two start at the old town gates, one on the walls and four need a boat, so each entry lists the crossing, the ticket and the time it takes.

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 only paid and crowded walk on this list. 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.

When to Go Hiking in Dubrovnik, Croatia

April to June and September to October are the walking months. The days are warm, the sea is swimmable from late May, and the ferries run their full timetables. October is the best month for Srđ, when the heat has gone and the light is clear.

July and August bring 30°C afternoons and the cruise-ship crowds, which fill the walls from mid-morning. Walk Srđ at dawn and the walls at opening, and save the islands for the hottest hours, when the boats carry a breeze.

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

Getting There

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.

For the walks, two harbours matter. The old port, inside the walls, has the Lokrum boats. Gruž, 3 km west, is where the Jadrolinija ferries leave for Koločep, Lopud and Šipan and the catamarans for Mljet. City buses link the Pile Gate and Gruž in about fifteen minutes.

On our 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

Our 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 add up. The walls cost €40 in the 2026 main season and Lokrum €30 with the boat. The Mljet park is €20 or €30 by month, and the cable car €30 return.

Ferries are the cheap part, a few euros each way to the Elafiti islands. The Mljet catamarans cost more and should be booked ahead in summer.

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.

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, and cash pays for island taverns that do not take cards.

Ready to Walk Dubrovnik?

Dubrovnik's best walks start at a ferry ticket office, not a trailhead. Three of them, with the hotels, boats and luggage arranged, make up our Dubrovnik and Croatia Islands walking holiday, from April to September.