Dubrovnik Day Trips: 2 Day Itinerary
Two days is enough for exactly two of Dubrovnik’s gateway day trips, not four rushed ones. Day 1 is the Elaphiti Islands by public ferry, an easy warm-up; Day 2 is Kotor and Perast in Montenegro, the single best day trip on this whole list and worth building the rest of the trip around. This is the short slice of a longer family; see the 3-day through 7-day versions, or the full Dubrovnik day trips guide for Peljesac wine, Cavtat, Mostar, Korcula, and Mljet. Check visitdubrovnik.hr for any current transport or border advisories before locking in dates.
Book these before you go
- A Kotor and Montenegro day tour for Day 2, especially in July and August.
- An Elaphiti Islands boat tour for Day 1, or take the public ferry instead (see below).
- Where to stay in Dubrovnik , your base for both nights.
| Day | Focus | Travel time from Dubrovnik |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Elaphiti Islands (Kolocep, Lopud, Sipan) | ~25-60 min by public ferry |
| Day 2 | Montenegro (Kotor and Perast) | ~2h drive plus a 10 min to 2h+ border queue |
Day 1: Elaphiti Islands
Ferry lines 807 and 831 leave from the Old Port, not the main Gruz harbour, and reach Kolocep in about 25 minutes, Lopud in 35 to 40, and Sipan in up to an hour, roughly EUR 5 each way. Skip the organised “three islands” booze-cruise boats that charge EUR 30-75 or more per person for a rushed lunch-and-swim loop; the public ferry covers the same islands for a fraction of the price with no fixed schedule herding you back aboard. Ride it out to Lopud, walk 15 minutes across the island to Sunj Beach, and check jadrolinija.hr for the current timetable, which thins out fast outside July and August. Be back in Dubrovnik by early evening and get to bed early: tomorrow starts before sunrise.
Day 2: Montenegro (Kotor and Perast)
Leave Dubrovnik by 7 to 7:30am. Montenegro is outside Schengen, so the crossing at Karasovici and Debeli Brijeg is a genuine international border, passport required, and the queue can run anywhere from 10 minutes off-peak to multiple hours at a summer midday; an early departure is the single best thing you can do for this day. An organised tour runs roughly EUR 30-68 per person and removes the driving; an independent bus from Gruz costs about EUR 25-33 one-way, with departures as early as 7:15am. Stop in Perast first, a Baroque waterfront village, for the short boat out to the Our Lady of the Rocks islet and its church of 17th-century votive offerings (sometimes included, sometimes a EUR 5-10 add-on). Kotor itself has a walled Old Town and a fortress climb above the bay for around EUR 15 (free November to April). See the Bay of Kotor for why this bay rivals Dubrovnik’s own with a fraction of the crowd, and montenegro.travel for current Kotor opening hours. Aim to be back across the border before the evening rush builds again.
Is two days enough to add a third day trip?
Not comfortably. Squeezing Cavtat or Peljesac into a two-day trip already built around an early Elaphiti ferry and a long Montenegro border day leaves no slack if either runs late, and border queues in particular don’t run on your schedule. Add a third day trip on the 3-day version instead, where it gets proper room.
Do you need a passport for both of these two days?
Only for Day 2. The Elaphiti Islands are Croatian territory, so Day 1 needs nothing beyond a normal ferry ticket. Day 2 crosses into Montenegro, which is outside Schengen, so a passport is mandatory for that crossing regardless of what document got you into Croatia itself.
Buy Elaphiti ferry tickets at the Old Port kiosk the same morning rather than online; the lines run frequently enough in season that pre-booking buys you nothing.