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Walking the City Walls of Dubrovnik things you need to know

The thing to do when you visit the UNESCO world heritage site of Dubrovnik is to walk the walls. The circular one-way route takes you around the perimeter of the old town of Dubrovnik. Giving you amazing views of the entire old town, the rocky coastline and the Adriatic sea. Including the UNSECO Island of Lokrum. We knew we wanted to do it however travelling with kids aged 6 and 10 at the time. And it was on average 34 degrees a day we did wonder if it would be worth the hassle. And the Dubrovnik City Walls ticket price which is on the high side! But I am so glad we did! It is most definitely the highlight of our visit.

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Walking the Walls in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik was the last stop in on our two-week Croatia holiday which meant that we had climatized well to the heat by this point. Depending on the time of year you are visiting, if it is hot I would try to avoid doing this on your first day. We decided to do it as soon as the walls opened at 8 am. It was quiet as many of the people n the cruise ships had not arrived yet. And meant that we were not on it for the hottest part of the day. Which was generally between 12 pm and 3 pm when we visited.

How long does it take to walk around Dubrovnik City Walls?

It took us around two and a half hours to walk the ancient city walls of Dubrovnik. And that includes a twenty-minute stop for refreshments. We found especially the first part of the walk took longer as there were a lot of photo opportunities. Although we had the place to ourselves for most of the first half of the walk. Only really gathering more people once we passed the entrance on the Stradun. Which will slow you down a bit. Especially if you are like me and don’t want any strangers in your photos. You also walk right past the entrance to the Maritime Museum.

If you frog marched round and didn’t keep stopping like we did or climb the Minceta Tower then you may get it done in a little over an hour. But I think that would be a push especially if you arrive at a busy time of day. If you are time-limited then I would suggest just picking one or two of the sections of the walls and spending a little more time on these. Rather than whizzing around the whole route. The views are spectacular and it will take you longer than you anticipate.

The high walls on the sea side, give you views of Fort Lovrijenac and King’s Landing.

How much does it cost to walk around the walls in Dubrovnik?

The price for Dubrovnik city walls tickets is 250kn (£30) for adults, 100kn (£12) for children (7-14) and Harry was free because he is under 7. From reading other information I think the price of Dubrovnik city walls tickets increased recently. This could be because Croatia will be joining the Euro in September and entrance tickets are increasing in anticipation of this. Or that the entrance fee depends on the season and we visited during peak season. It also means that you should check the website for up-to-date prices. Which you can do here [link]. It is possible to pay both cash and credit card. The ticket also allows you access to the Lovrijenac Fortress (Fort Lawrence), although we didn’t manage to fit it in.

When we visited we brought a Dubrovnik Card or city pass for three days. There are only available for adults. It cost 300kn (£35) for each of us, so only 50kn (£5.80) more. The walls are included and it meant that we could enter other museums and exhibitions for free. It also gave us a 20% discount on the return ferry ride to Lokrum.

The ticket office There is a one-day pass which is 250kn (£35) or a five-day pass for 350kn (£42). You can buy the Dubrovnik city pass online from the website. It is all very easy to do, from here you can download the ticket with a QR code or email it to yourself as a PDF. I did try to save it to my home page on my phone but it didn’t work and relied on the email pdf during our stay. I did try to save it to my home page on my phone but it didn’t work and relied on the email pdf during our stay.

What times do the walls of Dubrovnik open?

When we visited the walls are open at 8 am and close at 7.30 pm which is a real shame as it would be a great place to watch the sunset. Sunset was around 8.30 pm when we visited. We did notice that at 7.30pm there were no one on the walls at all. So bear this in mind if you want to walk the whole route and allow yourself two hours to do so. From looking at the signs the times do change depending on the time of year. At each entrance (see below) there is a large sign which gives you the opening and closing times. You will not miss them if you are walking around the city.

Where do I enter the city walls in Dubrovnik?

There are three entrances to the city walls, two of which are close to the main entrances to the city they are Ploce Gate and Pile Gate. With the third being at Fort St. John.

We chose to enter the walls at the entrance closest to the Ploce Gate. Doing it this way really worked for us for three reasons.

This entrance is not as busy as the one by the main entrance, Pile Gate. As most people will opt to enter from Pile Gate. It meant that we had the first third of the walls almost all to ourselves which is great for photo opportunities. Walking the mainland side meant that we caught the old city of Dubrovnik in the early morning sun and the Dominican Monastery tower in all its glory. Which is very close to Ploče Gate.
It also meant that when walking the sun was behind us. So it made getting those photos so much easier. By the time we got to the other side, the sun was higher and so although photos were being taken into the sun it wasn’t quite so dazzling.
Plus it gets the highest points of the walls over with early on, where everyone (including the adults) has more energy and it is cooler. Of course, you do not have to climb the Minčeta Tower but we wanted to explore all of it. And the tower is one of the filming locations for Game of Thrones fans.

Taking this route you exit by the old city harbour giving you the opportunity to stop for a drink or snack in the old port. Before exploring the medieval fortifications further.

Is it worth it – walking the walls in Dubrovnik?

YES! You get to see the whole city from the medieval walls. It is not cheap although we fast discovered that many of the tourist activities were not cheap. Combining it with the city pass makes it more palatable especially if staying for a few days. But it really was the highlight of our trip. If it is this or the cable car [link] choose the walls. If it is walking the walls or a trip to Lokrum choose the walls. You will not be disappointed.

Walking the walls – what to expect

There is no shade on the top of the walls, and very few places to escape the sun or the heat.
Wear decent shoes, flip flops are probably not sufficing unless they are the sort that go behind your heel. Some of the steps and walkways are slippy as they are made from white marble. I saw several people carrying flip-flops and walking around in bare feet. The marble gets hot so I would not recommend this either.
There are a few places to stop on the walls to get a drink and ice cream. Expect to pay 20kn (£2.35) for a bottle of water and fresh juice varies depending on your choice by somewhere between 37-49kn (£4.35-£5.80). Iced coffee was 32kn (£3.80). We sat in a bar which was full undercover with views out across the sea. We noticed an inside one too.
The side of the wall closest to the sea is probably the most uninteresting bit which worked for us as the boys were getting tired by this point. Because of where we entered this was the last part of our walk.
If you buy a city pass then you can not re-enter the walls. You have to walk the whole circular route in one go. I am not sure if this is the case for normal tickets as there was no sign-up referring to this. So I would double check. As there are three entrances and so you could potentially break the walk-up if you wanted.

Tips for walking the walls in Dubrovnik with kids

The best time to wall the Dubrovnik walls is at 8 am when they open. As mentioned above it took us two and a half hours to walk to the walls with a twenty-minute stop for refreshments. This means we were done at about 10.30 am. It was hot by this time and you could tell the kids were getting tired. Even in the late afternoon when we visited it was still very hot.
Once down we headed straight to get gelato as a well-done treat our favourite ice cream parlour is at the end of the Stradun – Gelato Dubrovnik
The boys are aged 10 and 6 and I would suggest average height for their ages. They could see over the walls at most points during our visit. Although the heights of the walls do vary and at some points we had to keep an extra eye on Harry who is pretty accident prone.
Don’t forget to take water with you or a fully charges phone or camera gear. I took way more photos than I was expecting to of the breathtaking views.

Have you visited Dubrovnik’s city walls? I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments below.