Uber, Bolt and taxis in Dubrovnik: what a ride costs and where the cars may go

Getting around Dubrovnik by car without driving yourself comes down to three choices: a licensed taxi, a ride app such as Uber or Bolt, or a car with a driver booked in advance. Each has its place. This guide sets out what each one costs, which cars may drive into the zone around the Old Town, and the national rules that change taxi and app prices from 1 January 2027.

Do Uber and Bolt work in Dubrovnik?

Yes. Uber and Bolt both take bookings in Dubrovnik, and both have been part of the City’s long argument about traffic around the Old Town. Ride apps have had a legal basis in Croatia since 2018, and a driver who takes an app ride works under a taxi licence and a local taxi permit, like any taxi driver in the city.

The 2018 Road Transport Act let taxi fares be set through an app that shows the maximum price and the planned route in advance, and it stopped municipalities from capping the number of taxi permits. That is how app-based rides arrived in Croatian cities.

The amendments published in July 2026 tightened the rules. Since 23 July 2026, booking platforms may pass rides only to operators with a licence and a local permit, whose drivers hold valid taxi driver cards, and the platforms have six months to comply. For an app ride you must see the maximum price and the planned route on your own phone before you get in, the app stays on for the whole ride, and the terms you accepted may not change.

The City has not always welcomed the apps. In August 2025 the Mayor said Uber and Bolt had “not shown readiness to cooperate” and proposed changes to national law, including county-level taxi licences and a maximum price per kilometre.

What does a taxi cost in Dubrovnik?

There is no single city tariff: each licensed carrier sets its own price list. The head of the city’s taxi association said in April 2026 that a ride within the city typically costs €5 to €9, and that the cars display a maximum of €25 for a city ride. Meters run on a start fee plus a rate for each kilometre.

The City’s 2018 taxi decision regulates only the taxi permit, not the fares. For a sense of the rates, Plavi Taxi, the carriers’ association whose president describes it as the cheapest in the city, charges a €2 start fee and up to €2.10 a kilometre in a standard car, or €3.50 a kilometre in a van, according to its president in June 2026.

The €5 to €9 typical fare and the €25 maximum come from the taxi association’s statement of April 2026, which is an interested party’s figure. Metered taxis must also show, on their front doors and in Croatian and English, the highest tariff they may charge and the maximum price of a sample ride of 5 km and 15 minutes, under the national tariff ordinance. Read the door before you get in.

How much is a ride from the airport to the Old Town?

Travel guides checked in 2026 put a taxi from Dubrovnik Airport to the Old Town at about €35 to €60. App prices are shown before you book and change with demand. The official shuttle costs €10 a person, and a car with a driver booked in advance costs €50 for the whole car, whatever the hour.

Taxis wait at the rank in front of the arrivals building. The airport shows the price list at the taxi information window in the terminal and reminds passengers that drivers must issue a receipt. The airport is about 22 km from the city, a drive of 30 to 35 minutes on average, though the airport tells travellers to allow up to an hour in summer.

Uber lists Dubrovnik Airport among the airports it serves, and Bolt takes airport rides too; the app shows where to meet the car. The official shuttle run by Platanus leaves about 30 minutes after every arrival and stops at Ploče Gate and the main bus station in Gruž only. Our arrival guide follows the whole route from passport control to the city.

Can taxis and app cars drive into the Old Town?

Only some of them, and only in season. From 1 April to 31 October the streets around the walls form a traffic zone. Licensed taxis may enter if the operator leases a reserved City taxi stand, works for the port or the airport, or holds one of the City’s zone passes; app drivers need a City permit, so an app ride may end at the zone’s edge.

The season was fixed by an amendment adopted on 26 February 2026. The zone covers the area around the Old Town from Ilijina glavica to Viktorija and from Pile to Boninovo, under the City’s decision on vehicle access, which also sets the conditions under which a licensed taxi may enter. Outside the season, all road users may drive around the Old Town under normal traffic rules.

Taxi access is rationed. In July 2025 the City gave zone passes to 70 more taxi vehicles, one per operator, tied to one licence plate and valid for two years, and the Mayor put the most the zone could take at about 750 taxis. When the zone started in June 2025, the Mayor said Uber and Bolt could assign rides inside it only to drivers with a City permit.

The City’s taxi-stand tender lists five reserved stands: two in Lapad, one by the swimming pool in Gruž, one at the port opposite the Jadrolinija office, and one on Ulica Frana Supila at Ploče. None is at Pile. A car with a driver goes to the nearest point where it may stop, which our Old Town drop-off page explains.

What changes on 1 January 2027?

National maximum fares start to apply: €10.00 to start, €2.50 a kilometre, €0.50 a minute of driving and €0.50 a minute of waiting, all 40% higher for vehicles with seven or more passenger seats. App rides fall under the same caps, and the highest total price an app shows before you confirm may not rise afterwards because of demand.

The tariff ordinance, published in the Official Gazette on 30 September 2026, describes these figures as last-resort protective thresholds, not recommended prices, and they will be adjusted every year in line with inflation. Fixed prices on frequent routes, such as the airport run, stay allowed, but they may not exceed the metered fare at the car’s displayed maximum tariff. On those rules the ceiling for a fixed taxi fare between the airport and the Old Town works out at roughly €84 to €89 in a standard car, about twice what the market charges today.

From the same date, the ordinance bans compulsory booking fees, platform fees and vehicle-entry fees. Tolls, ferry tickets and parking may be added only at their real cost, and only when the passenger was told beforehand. For rides ordered only through an app, you must see the route, the distance, the estimated time, every compulsory fee and the highest total price before you confirm.

Demand pricing is why that matters. On 30 September 2026, N1 reported app fares in and around Zagreb more than tripling during a public-transport strike. From 2027, the price shown may not go above the national cap.

Taxi, app or a driver booked in advance?

For a short ride across town, a taxi or an app is usually the cheapest and quickest choice. For the airport, a family with luggage, a landing after midnight or a day out of the city, a car with a driver booked in advance gives a price fixed before you travel, child seats already fitted and a name sign in the arrivals hall.

Our taxi or driver section compares the three side by side, and the price table lists every route per vehicle. If the plan is a day out rather than a ride, the guide to day trips from Dubrovnik has distances and timings for ten of them.