On our recent trip to Croatia, one of my favourite experiences of the whole holiday was walking the Dubrovnik Old Town City Walls. However, ahead of walking them, we struggled to find helpful information online about how best to do it, so hopefully this page can be useful if you’re doing the same.
History of the Dubrovnik City Walls
Let’s start with a bit of history. Dubrovnik old town is completely surrounded with defensive walls and forts, and the walls run uninterrupted for 1,940 meters and reach a maximum height of 25 meters. They are undoubtedly Dubrovnik’s most famous feature, and were were initially built when there was a danger of foreign attacks on the Dubrovnik Republic (1300-1800). The current shape dates all the way back to between the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the 1667 earthquake. Dubrovnik, over time, has been attacked by the Saracens, the Italians, Austrians, Ottomans, and of course Napoleon – as well as being bombed most recently in 1991 by the Yugoslav army.
It’s hard to believe that so much war has besieged this incredible city when you see it today – now a tourist haven with the walls serving a much less sinister purpose. It’s hard to imagine that in most local’s lifetimes they’ve seen it at war, bombed and part destroyed.
Entrance Locations & Price
Today, Dubrovnik is well and truly on the tourist trail. The walls get very, very busy, especially in summer.
The walls open at 08:00-19:30 (June & July), 08:00-18:30 (April, May, August & September), 08:00-17:30 (October) and 08:00-17:30 (November – March). I really recommend getting there for 8am if you can, or at the latest 8.30am because by 9am the cruise ships have descending adding 2,000+ people to the walls (unless of course you visit in winter, but then most of the city has shut down and very few restaurants are open and boat trips don’t run).
There are 3 entrances to the walls:
- Pile Gate – the entrance is situated just to the right of Pile Gate as you look at it from within the Old Town on Stadrun
- St John’s Fortress – the entrance is right next to the Maritime Museum so you can follow it to there
- Ploče Gate – the entrance is just to the left of restaurant 360, to the right of a church
Pile Gate is the main entrance and on our September visit, had queues by 8am. My strong, strong recommendation is to get on at Ploče Gate, which was quiet for us.
The wall goes one way (counterclockwise), and you’ll be turned around if you go the wrong way. You can walk the full wall loop from any of the entrances, but be careful not to accidentally exit as you cannot get back on with the same ticket once you have.
The price of the tickets is the same at each entrance, and they all allow you to complete the walk. You can walk the walls for free if you have the Dubrovnik Pass. At the time of writing this is EUR35 for a day and includes entrance to a small number of other sites too.
Purchasing just wall tickets also costs EUR35 per person (and the price seems to have gone up every year looking at previous pricing!), and a walls ticket also gets you access to Fort Lovrijenac within 48hrs of purchase (whereas the Dubrovnik Pass doesn’t – and costs EUR15 per person to visit in its own right).
In short – if you’re not bothered by Fort Lovrijenac then get the Dubrovnik Pass, and if you are – probably buy the wall tickets.
The Walk
The other benefit of getting on at Ploče Gate is that you will get to walk the best section of the walk first, without the crowds. It’s in this section that you get to look out over the stunning red roofs of the old town, and climb the tallest part of the wall at Minčeta Tower.
After Minčeta Tower the second side of the wall takes you past Pile Gate for some great shots of the Old Town (and be prepared for the crowds to be joining at this point as it’s the main entrance), and then the look out points to Fort Lovrijenac which are truly magical.
The next side of the walls faces out to the sea, with views of Lokrum Island. There’s also a lovely little bar on the route where you can pause for a drink and shade from the heat – although it’s not cheap. This was probably my least favourite section of wall.
The final side of the wall takes you around the harbour, with views out to St John’s Fortress and the boats leaving the bay. It also provides some pretty views out over the many churches of the city.
Other helpful tips
- Walking the full wall loop takes about 1.5-2hrs depending on how many photos you want to take. You can get off at all the entrances as well if you don’t want to walk the full route, but I don’t recommend that unless you absolutely don’t have the time to do it.
- Wear sun-cream and take a hat and water as the walls get VERY hot in the summer (June to September) and there’s little shade on the walk.
- There is no accessible entry to the walls – if you can’t climb stairs, the wall would be virtually impossible to manage. I also don’t think it would be possible to take pushchairs etc up there either.
I hope this guide was helpful for anyone wanting to walk Dubrovnik’s incredible walls. What do you think of them?
If you’re visiting Durbovnik, you may be also interested in:
- Dubrovnik 2 Day Itinerary
- Trsteno Arboreturm
- Elaphiti Islands
- Peljesac Peninsula
- Split and Trogir
- Hvar (post coming soon)
Thanks for reading – stay safe and happy travelling!
Barney Travel Technologies
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