How do I get around Dubrovnik?

Your feet do 80% of the work here. The walled Stari Grad runs about 500 meters from Pile Gate on the west to Ploče Gate on the east, and the Stradun, the main limestone street, connects them in a flat, polished-stone corridor that gets dangerously slippery when wet. Every side street off the Stradun climbs steeply. The steps up to St. Ignatius Church near Gundulićeva Poljana will remind you that Dubrovnik is built on a hillside. Wear shoes with grip, not sandals. At the moment it's nearly 30°C, and the stone radiates heat well past 6 PM. You'll feel the warmth through thin soles. No cars, no bikes, no scooters inside the walls. The sound is footsteps, conversation, and the occasional gull overhead.

Outside the walls, Libertas runs about 11 bus routes connecting Lapad, Gruž port, Babin Kuk, and the Pile Gate hub. A single ride from a Tisak newsstand costs around 2 EUR. Buying on the bus runs closer to 2.50 EUR and requires exact change or a contactless card. Routes 4 and 6 from Lapad to Pile Gate take about 15 minutes and run every 10-15 minutes during summer. If your hotel is in Lapad or Babin Kuk, and many are since Stari Grad has limited accommodation, this is your daily commute. The buses get packed between 9 and 11 AM with cruise-ship passengers heading to Pile Gate. Leave before 8:30 or wait until after 11.

Uber and Bolt both work in Dubrovnik, and they're the right call for the Čilipi Airport transfer. The airport sits 22 km south of Stari Grad. An Atlas shuttle bus costs about 10 EUR per person and stops at Pile Gate or Gruž bus station, but it runs on flight schedules, not yours, and the wait can stretch 30-40 minutes. An Uber from Čilipi to Pile Gate tends to run 25-35 EUR. Split that 2-3 ways and you're at shuttle parity for a door-to-door ride. Download both apps before landing. Regular taxis at the airport rank quote 40-50 EUR for the same trip. Surge pricing hits when multiple flights land between 3 and 5 PM in peak July and August, so a morning arrival saves you 10-15 EUR on the transfer alone.

The Old Port on Stari Grad's east side runs small ferries to Lokrum Island every 30 minutes in summer, about 15 EUR return for a 15-minute crossing. Lokrum is the only beach trip that doesn't eat a full day. For the Elafiti Islands, Koločep, Lopud, and Šipan, ferries leave from Gruž port about 2 km northwest. Jadrolinija runs the scheduled catamaran to Lopud in around 50 minutes for roughly 5 EUR one way. The Dubrovnik Cable Car climbs 405 meters to the summit of Srđ in under 4 minutes, about 27 EUR return. Go in the last hour before sunset. The limestone walls turn copper, and from the summit you can trace the full Stari Grad roofline, Lokrum to the south, and the Elafiti chain stretching northwest.

Skip renting a car unless you're leaving for Montenegro or Mostar. Parking near Stari Grad costs 8-10 EUR per hour in summer, the roads above Ploče are single-lane switchbacks shared with tour buses, and there is nowhere to drive inside the walls. If you're staying more than 3 nights and plan day trips to Ston (60 km north) or Mostar (140 km), pick up a rental the morning you depart, not on arrival day. One thing nobody mentions is the public elevator near Ploče Gate. It drops you from the upper road level down to Stari Grad and saves a steep flight of limestone steps. Free to use.