Dubrovnik Day Trips: 7 Day Itinerary
Seven days is the full version of the 6-day spine, closing with Mljet National Park as a deliberately slow last full day. Days 1 through 6 stay the same: Elaphiti Islands, Montenegro, Peljesac wine and Ston, Cavtat, Mostar, then Korcula. Day 7 is Mljet, saltwater lakes and pine forest, the one day on this itinerary built around doing less. This is the complete ranked list from the Dubrovnik day trips guide ; for shorter versions, see 2 through 6 days .
Book these before you go
- A Kotor and Montenegro day tour for Day 2.
- A Peljesac wine and Ston tour for Day 3.
- A Mostar and Kravice Waterfalls tour for Day 5.
- A Korcula day tour for Day 6, or the ferry direct if you’d rather go independently.
- Where to stay in Dubrovnik , your base for all seven 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 3 | Peljesac wine and Ston | ~1-1.5h via the Peljesac Bridge |
| Day 4 | Cavtat | ~30-45 min by bus |
| Day 5 | Mostar, Bosnia | ~2.5-3.5h each way plus a second border |
| Day 6 | Korcula | ~2h by ferry |
| Day 7 | Mljet National Park | ~1.5-2h by ferry or boat tour |
Day 1: Elaphiti Islands
Ferry lines 807 and 831 leave from the Old Port 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 and take the public ferry to Lopud instead, then walk 15 minutes to Sunj Beach. Check jadrolinija.hr for the current timetable.
Day 2: Montenegro (Kotor and Perast)
Leave by 7 to 7:30am for the non-Schengen crossing at Karasovici and Debeli Brijeg, passport required, with queues that swing from 10 minutes off-peak to multiple hours at a summer midday. An organised tour runs roughly EUR 30-68 per person; an independent bus from Gruz costs about EUR 25-33 one-way. Stop in Perast for the boat to the Our Lady of the Rocks islet, then Kotor for its walled Old Town and fortress climb, around EUR 15 (free November to April). See the Bay of Kotor for the comparison to Dubrovnik’s own bay, and montenegro.travel for current hours.
Day 3: Peljesac wine and Ston
No border today: just the Peljesac Bridge, opened in 2022 to bypass the old Bosnian detour at Neum. Wine tours run roughly EUR 130-150 per person for two or three wineries growing Plavac Mali, plus a stop in Ston for centuries-old salt pans and oysters. Check tzdubrovnik.hr for current Ston hours.
Day 4: Cavtat
Bus Line 10 reaches Cavtat in 30 to 45 minutes for EUR 4-5, or a seasonal ferry (June to October) covers it for EUR 15-20 return. The Racic Mausoleum, by sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (1922), is the one planned stop; otherwise this is a slow-lunch marina town, the recovery day before tomorrow’s longer trip to Mostar.
Day 5: Mostar, Bosnia
Mostar is 2.5 to 3.5 hours each way and a second non-Schengen crossing into a country outside the EU entirely, the longest day of this trip. Tours run EUR 45-55 per person and typically pair Mostar with Kravice Waterfall or Medjugorje. The centrepiece is the Stari Most, the Ottoman-era Old Bridge rebuilt after 1990s war damage, part of the Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar UNESCO listing and the Old Bridge itself. Expect a 10 to 12 hour day door to door.
Day 6: Korcula
The ferry to Korcula runs about EUR 30 one-way, roughly two hours, with some routes stopping at Mljet on the way. Korcula Town’s claim to be Marco Polo’s birthplace is a genuine local tradition, heavily promoted and historically unverified; enjoy the story without treating it as settled fact. Take an early ferry, keep the list to the walls, one winery, and one swim, and accept this is the day of the trip that would improve most as an overnight if you ever have the extra night to give it.
Day 7: Mljet National Park
Mljet is the deliberate change of pace after six days of borders, bridges, and ferries. The national park protects two saltwater lakes, a Benedictine monastery on a small islet in the larger one, and dense pine forest that keeps the whole island noticeably cooler than the mainland in August. Adult entry runs roughly EUR 20-30, check current pricing at np-mljet.hr , separate from whatever ferry or boat tour gets you there. Plan to do less here than on any other day of this trip; that’s the point of scheduling it last.
Should Split be Day 8 of this trip?
No. Even at seven days deep into Croatia’s south coast, Split doesn’t become a day trip; driving via the Peljesac Bridge still runs 3 to 4 hours one-way, and the ferry or bus options run 4.5 to 6 hours one-way. Adding it as an eighth day trip means 6 to 12-plus hours of transit for a rushed few hours in the city. If you want Split, extend the trip by a night or two and treat it as its own stop, not a bolt-on to this itinerary.
Is a full week of day trips from Dubrovnik too much?
It’s a lot, but the spine is built to spread the load: two genuinely demanding border days (Montenegro, Mostar) are separated by easier ones (Peljesac, Cavtat), and the week closes on Mljet specifically because it asks the least of you. If it still feels like too much, drop Day 6’s Korcula; nothing later in the week depends on it.
Reconfirm your passport’s validity before this trip; Days 2 and 5 are both genuine international border crossings, and a passport nearing expiry can be refused at either one.