Day trips from Dubrovnik by car: ten days out with a driver, with distances and timings

From Dubrovnik, the Pelješac peninsula, the islands and Split lie to the north-west, Konavle and Montenegro to the south-east, and Bosnia and Herzegovina inland. With a driver, all of them are within a day, and nobody in the group has to worry about the road, the parking or the border queue. This guide picks ten days out, roughly in order of distance, with what each involves. Distances are by the fastest road from Pile Gate, without stops or queues.

How a day out with a driver works

There are two ways to book. A route from the price list suits a journey with one destination, one way or as a return at twice the one-way price. Hourly hire suits a day with several stops: at least 3 hours at €50 an hour by car, a half day of 4 hours for €190, or a full day of 8 hours for €360, with 300 km of driving included. Either way the price is per vehicle, not per person, so four people share one fare.

The driver collects you at your hotel, apartment or the port, waits while you visit and drives on when you are ready. On a border day, everyone in the car needs their documents in hand at each check; the driver handles the queue.

1. Cavtat and the villages of Konavle

Cavtat is about 19 km south-east of the Old Town through Župa dubrovačka. It is a small harbour town and the closest resort to the airport. For Cavtat alone you do not strictly need a car: Libertas bus 10 runs there 38 times a day each way for a €4 ticket. A driver pays off beyond it, in Konavle, the municipality around the airport, where the suburban lines 11 and 27 leave the city only three times a day and not at all on Sundays. Our Cavtat page covers the area, and a car from the city to Cavtat costs €50.

2. Trsteno

About 20 km north-west on the D8, under half an hour away, Trsteno has an arboretum that already existed by 1492, created by the Gučetić family and managed by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1950. Its gardens stood in for the Red Keep gardens in seasons 3 and 4 of Game of Thrones, as Wikipedia’s article on Trsteno Arboretum records. It pairs well with Ston on the same morning, which makes it a natural half day with a driver.

3. Ston and Mali Ston

About 55 km north-west, just over an hour away, is Ston. The Walls of Ston were begun in 1358 by the Republic of Ragusa, Dubrovnik’s old republic, to protect the town and its salt pans; about 5.5 km survive of more than 7 km, and the salt pans are still worked, as Wikipedia’s article on the walls records. It is the easiest full day out that stays inside Croatia, and the best choice on a summer day when the borders are slow. A route to Ston costs €130 by car.

4. Herceg Novi

The first Montenegrin town after the border, about 49 km from the Old Town and about an hour’s driving before any wait, Herceg Novi sits at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor beneath Mount Orjen. It was founded in 1382 by the Bosnian king Tvrtko I and is known for its fortresses, Kanli Kula, Forte Mare and Španjola, according to Wikipedia. It is the short version of a Montenegro day, but it still involves two passport checks each way: Croatian police at Karasovići and Montenegrin police at Debeli Brijeg, about 2.5 km apart.

5. Kotor and Perast

The classic. Kotor is about 92 km round the Bay of Kotor, or about 80 km using the Kamenari–Lepetane car ferry. Perast, about 78 km from the Old Town, lies on the bay road; in summer, visitors’ cars park at either end of the village, according to Wikivoyage, so the driver sets you down at the edge. Off Perast lies Our Lady of the Rocks, an artificial islet built up since sailors found an icon there on 22 July 1452.

Kotor is the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed in 1979. Its old town is closed to cars and entered through three gates, and about 1,350 steps climb the walls to the fortress of St John, some 260 to 280 m above the town; most visitors take 45 to 60 minutes. The ticket costs €15, a price set by the town in 2023, as Boka News reported.

Our Kotor and Montenegro guide has the documents, the border plan and a timed day.

6. Lovćen and Njeguši

Above Kotor, the old R-1 road to Cetinje climbs the Lovćen massif in 25 hairpin bends and passes Njeguši, about 22 km from Kotor, home of the smoked ham Njeguški pršut and birthplace of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty, as Wikipedia’s article on the road describes. Lovćen National Park charges €3 a person a day on the national parks’ price list, and the Njegoš Mausoleum on Jezerski vrh is reached by 461 steps, according to the national tourism organisation. It is a long add-on to a Kotor day and suits hourly hire, so the driver can take the bends while you take the view. The Kotor cable car, an adult return of €20, is the other way up the mountain.

7. Budva

Budva is about 92 km from the Old Town using the Kamenari–Lepetane ferry, about 2 hours 10 minutes, or about 114 km round the bay. Its walled old town stands on a small rocky peninsula and is pedestrian only; most of the walls date from Venetian rule, and the town was rebuilt by 1987 after the earthquake of 15 April 1979, according to Wikipedia. Sveti Stefan, the fortified island village joined to the coast by a causeway, is about 10 km further on. A car to Budva costs €275.

8. Orebić and Korčula

From Ston the road runs the length of the Pelješac peninsula to Orebić, about 110 km from the Old Town and just under two hours away. From there the car ferry crosses to Dominče on Korčula, about 3 km from Korčula town, in about 20 minutes (Orebić). The timetable changes through the year, so the crossing is planned for your date when we confirm the booking. Korčula makes a long day; Orebić and the peninsula alone make a relaxed one.

9. Mostar, with Kravica or Međugorje

About 146 km by the fastest road, crossing the Pelješac Bridge and then the border at Metković–Doljani, Mostar is about 2½ hours away before any wait. The Old Bridge, Stari Most, was completed in 1566–1567, destroyed in 1993 and reopened after rebuilding in 2004, and its area has been on the World Heritage List since 2005. On the way, the Kravica waterfall, about 25 m high, is about 122 km from the Old Town and Međugorje about 128 km. Our Mostar guide has the papers and the day plan.

10. Split

About 235 km and roughly 3¼ hours by the fastest route, over the Pelješac Bridge and onto the A1 at Ploče, Split is a very long day trip and works better as a one-way journey or with an overnight stay. Since the bridge opened on 26 July 2022 there is no border on the way. Our guide to the Dubrovnik to Split drive compares the routes and the stops.

What the days cost

Every route has one price per vehicle, whatever the number of passengers, with fuel, tolls and VAT included. These are the 2026 prices one way; a return costs twice the one-way price, and a day with several stops is often cheaper as hourly hire.

For a group, the arithmetic changes quickly: a minivan to Kotor shared by eight people costs €335 in total, however the group splits it. The price list has every route, including the airport runs and Sarajevo.

A timed day in the Bay of Kotor

This is how a summer day to Kotor fits together when the border is the slowest part of it. The timings are a plan, not a promise: the queue decides the morning.

1. Pick-up before 07:00. Leaving the city early puts the car at Karasovići before 08:00, the time guides recommend for crossing in summer. The border is about 38 km from Pile Gate.
2. The two checks. Croatian police first, then Montenegrin police about 2.5 km on. Have every passport, or EU identity card, ready in the car; non-EU visitors who flew in to Dubrovnik need only the face check.
3. Herceg Novi or straight on. The road follows the bay through Herceg Novi; a coffee stop by the water adds little time.
4. Perast mid-morning. The village is small enough for an hour, including the boat to Our Lady of the Rocks.
5. Kotor by late morning. The walk up the walls takes most people 45 to 60 minutes; going early in the day avoids the worst of the heat on the steps.
6. The return in the late afternoon. Leaving Kotor around 16:00 or 17:00 brings you back to the border in the early evening; on the busiest days, a later return after about 21:00 can be quicker.

With hourly hire the driver stays with you all day; with the Kotor route, the driver takes you there and the return is booked as a second journey at the same price. Tell us your plan, and we suggest the cheaper of the two.

Borders and documents

Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are outside the EU and the Schengen area, so every crossing has a check on each side. Since 10 April 2026 the EU Entry/Exit System registers non-EU visitors with fingerprints and a facial image on their first crossing; visitors who flew into Dubrovnik were registered at the airport and need only a face check.

• Montenegro: EU citizens may stay up to 30 days on a national identity card and up to 90 on a passport; British, American, Canadian and Australian visitors need a passport and no visa for up to 90 days, according to the Government of Montenegro.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: British visitors may stay up to 90 days in six months, with a passport valid for 90 days after they leave, says the UK travel advice. Bring a passport.
• On the way back: re-entering Croatia means entering the EU, and meat and dairy products bought outside it may not be brought in, under the EU’s Your Europe rules.

When to go

Summer changes the plan more than anything. A border guide puts the usual wait at Karasovići at 15 to 30 minutes from November to April, 30 to 60 minutes in spring and autumn, and two to five hours on the busiest days of July and August, and advises crossing before 08:00 or after about 21:00. The airport warns that its own 30 to 35-minute drive from the city can take up to an hour in summer. In July and August, the days that stay inside Croatia, Ston, Trsteno and Pelješac, are the relaxed choice; the border days start early.

Planning tips

• Tell us the plan when you book. For a day with several stops, the order and the timings decide whether a route or hourly hire is cheaper.
• Children travel in proper seats. Croatian law requires a child seat or booster for every child under 150 cm; ours are free when you give us each child’s age and height.
• Euros work on both coasts. Croatia and Montenegro both use the euro, as Wikipedia notes, and small change helps for boats and entrance fees.
• Wear shoes for steps. Kotor’s walls, Ston’s walls and Dubrovnik’s own side streets are all stairs.

The day trips section of the homepage lists the routes with their prices per vehicle, and the Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina sections have the crossings in detail.