7 Best Day Trips From Dubrovnik by Car

The city itself is only half the show. Within a 30-minute drive of the old town you can be tasting Malvasija in a Konavle winery or standing under 500-year-old plane trees in Trsteno; within two and a half hours you can be watching divers leap off Mostar’s Old Bridge in another country. We hand over keys to guests every day who ask the same question — where should we actually drive? — so here are the seven trips we recommend most, with real distances and honest timings.

Which day trip should you pick?

Pick by how much driving you want, not by what looks closest on the map. Two of the seven cross an international border, one involves a ferry, and the rest are simple coastal runs. This table is the short answer; the details follow.

Destination	Distance	Driving time (one way)	Best for
Cavtat & Konavle	19 km	30 min	Easy first drive, wineries
Trsteno Arboretum	24 km	30 min	Half-day gardens
Ston & Pelješac	54 km	1 h	Oysters and wine country
Mljet National Park	60 km + 45-min ferry	~2 h door to park	Lakes, cycling, quiet
Kotor, Montenegro	90 km	~2 h incl. border	Bay views, UNESCO walls
Mostar, Bosnia	140 km	~2 h 30 min	Old Bridge, Ottoman bazaar
Neretva delta	100 km	1 h 45 min	River safari, tangerines

1. Cavtat and Konavle — 19 km, about 30 minutes

Cavtat is the easiest first drive you can do from the city: 19 km south on the D8, palm-lined waterfront at the end of it, and far calmer swimming than anything near the walls. Walk the loop around the Rat peninsula, climb to the Račić Mausoleum for the view, and have lunch on the harbor. Then push 15 minutes further into the Konavle valley — family wineries around Gruda pour the local Malvasija, and the Sokol Grad fortress watches the whole valley from its cliff. If you are staying down this way rather than in the city, we also do pickups locally — see our Cavtat rental page.

2. Ston and Pelješac wine country — 54 km, about 1 hour

Ston, 54 km up the coast, gives you three things in one stop: 5.5 km of medieval defensive walls climbing the hillside, salt pans that have been worked since the Middle Ages, and oysters pulled straight from the Mali Ston bay and served twenty meters from where they grew. From Ston the Pelješac wine road runs west past the steep Dingač and Postup slopes where Plavac Mali grapes ripen almost into raisins. One firm rule: Croatian law is zero-tolerance on alcohol for drivers under 25 and 0.5‰ for everyone else, so the driver tastes nothing — buy bottles for the evening instead.

3. Mljet National Park — ferry from Prapratno

Yes, you can take the car to an island and be back for dinner. Drive 60 km to Prapratno bay just past Ston, roll onto the Jadrolinija ferry, and 45 minutes later you land at Sobra on Mljet, one of the greenest islands in the Adriatic. The national park sits at the western end: two connected saltwater lakes, a 12th-century monastery on an islet in the larger one, and flat shoreline paths that are perfect on a rented bike. Aim for the first morning ferry and check the return timetable before you commit — sailings thin out outside summer.

4. Trsteno Arboretum — 24 km, the closest quick trip

If you only have half a day, drive 24 km north to the Trsteno Arboretum, the oldest arboretum in this corner of Europe. The Gučetić family started the garden in the late 15th century, and the two giant Oriental plane trees by the village road have been growing for around five centuries. Inside you get a Renaissance garden, an aqueduct-fed fountain, and a viewpoint over the sea that Game of Thrones borrowed for the Red Keep’s gardens. You can be back in the city for a late lunch.

5. Kotor, Montenegro — 90 km plus a border

Kotor is the trip guests talk about most afterwards. It is 90 km south, roughly two hours each way including the crossing at Karasovići/Debeli Brijeg, and the payoff is a fjord-like bay with stone towns stitched along the waterline. Kotor’s old town and its fortifications have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979; the 1,350-step climb to the St. John fortress earns you the classic bay photo. Leave by 8 a.m. in July and August, because the border queue grows with the morning. Full route, border paperwork, and a Perast detour are in our Montenegro driving guide.

6. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina — 140 km

Mostar is the longest day on this list — 140 km and about two and a half hours each way, border included when it is quiet — and still worth it. The Old Bridge, rebuilt in 2004 after the war and UNESCO-listed, arcs over the green Neretva while local divers collect tips before leaping 24 meters into the river. Around it spreads the Ottoman bazaar, minarets, and grilled ćevapi that cost half what lunch does on the coast. Start early, park on the east bank, and give yourself four hours in town. We break down the route in our Mostar day trip guide.

7. Neretva delta — 100 km of river channels and tangerines

The Neretva delta, about 100 km north near Opuzen, is the trip almost no one expects: a flat green wetland of channels and mandarin orchards that locals call Croatia’s little California. Book a river safari in a traditional flat-bottomed lađa boat, watch for herons, and finish with eel-and-frog brudet, the delta’s signature stew. In October and November the orchards open for pick-your-own tangerines — kids love it. Since the Pelješac Bridge opened in July 2022 you drive the whole way on Croatian roads, with no border stop at Neum.

Do you need paperwork to drive into Montenegro or Bosnia?

Yes — a green card, and we handle it. Our cars may cross into both countries with a €45 cross-border pack that includes the mandatory green card insurance; tell us when you book so the paperwork is in the glovebox on pickup day. Croatia joined Schengen in January 2023 while Montenegro and Bosnia are outside it, so carry passports and expect a stamp-and-go check that can stretch to a queue on peak summer mornings. Trips 1–4 and 7 never leave Croatia, so they need nothing extra at all.

Which car handles these routes best?

Any car on our fleet does — these are all paved, well-kept roads, and every rental includes unlimited mileage, so a 280-km Mostar round trip costs nothing beyond fuel. If you are used to driving automatic, stay with it: the coastal D8 is full of curves and viewpoints, and an automatic lets you enjoy them instead of shifting through them. The second driver is free on every booking, which matters on the longer runs to Kotor and Mostar where splitting the wheel time keeps everyone fresh.

We are a local car rental company based in Gruž, with meet-and-greet pickup at Dubrovnik Airport as well, and day trips like these are exactly what our all-inclusive pricing is built for: unlimited mileage, full insurance, and free cancellation up to 48 hours before pickup. If one of these seven routes has made it onto your itinerary, check dates and prices here and we will have the keys ready.