Dubrovnik Croatia in 5 Days: Budget Day Trips

Five days: both border crossings plus a wine day

Five days adds the second border crossing to the three-day basics: Mostar in Bosnia, a longer day than Kotor, plus the Peljesac wine peninsula and Ston, no border needed for that one. Need less time? See the 2-day or 3-day plans. Need more? The 6-day and 7-day plans extend this same spine with Mljet and Cavtat.

Book these before you go:

Day Trip Travel time (one-way) Cost
Day 1 Dubrovnik Old Town, City Walls n/a, home base EUR 40 Walls ticket (EUR 15 winter)
Day 2 Elaphiti Islands (Lopud) 15-60 min by ferry EUR 5 ferry / EUR 30-75+pp tour
Day 3 Montenegro (Kotor) roughly 2h to the border area EUR 25-33 bus / EUR 30-68pp tour
Day 4 Mostar, Bosnia 2.5-3.5h each way EUR 45-55pp tour
Day 5 Peljesac wine + Ston 1-1.5h by car via the bridge EUR 130-150pp tour

Day 1: Arrival, the City Walls, and how day-tripping works from here

Morning: settle into Lapad or the Old Town, then walk the City Walls at opening, roughly 8am in peak season, before the heat and the queues. The circuit runs EUR 40 in peak season (EUR 15 in winter) and takes 1.5-2 hours; it is genuinely the one Dubrovnik sight worth doing before anything else, even on a day-trip-focused visit. Afternoon: learn the city’s two departure points, since every day trip in this itinerary starts from one of them. The Old Port, a short walk past the Pile Gate, is where the Elaphiti and Lokrum boats leave. Gruz, a 10-15 minute bus ride northwest, is the real transport hub: the main bus station and the ferry/cruise port, and where Kotor, Mostar, and most organized-tour pickups happen. Evening: dinner in the Old Town or Lapad, and an early night if tomorrow’s trip has an early departure.

Rough spend, 2 people: EUR 110-150, mostly the Walls tickets.

Day 2: The Elaphiti Islands, ferry over tour

Morning: Jadrolinija ferry (lines 807/831) from the Old Port to Lopud, roughly EUR 5 each way and 30-50 minutes depending on the sailing. No cars anywhere on the island; walk 15-20 minutes across to the sandy Sunj beach for a swim, or wander the ruined forts and gardens near the ferry dock. Afternoon: a second island, Kolocep or Sipan, if the ferry schedule allows a same-day connection, or a longer stretch on Lopud’s beach if it doesn’t. Evening: return ferry to the Old Port, then dinner back in town.

Rough spend, 2 people: EUR 60-90, mostly food; the ferry itself costs next to nothing next to the EUR 30-75+pp three-island tour boats, which trade the savings for a packed single-day, multi-island, lunch-included format.

Day 3: Montenegro and Kotor, passport required

Morning: earliest available departure, ideally 7-7:15am from Gruz, for the crossing into Montenegro at Karasovici/Debeli Brijeg. This is a genuine non-Schengen international border: passport required, and the wait swings from 10-20 minutes this early to multiple hours at peak summer midday. Independent bus fare runs roughly EUR 25-33 one-way; an organized tour covering transport, a guide, and stops in Kotor and Perast runs roughly EUR 30-68pp. Midday: Kotor’s own walled Old Town and a climb of its fortress walls, roughly EUR 15 (free November-April), plus time in Perast if the tour includes the Our Lady of the Rocks boat trip. Evening: the return crossing, which can run long regardless of how early the morning leg went; build in slack rather than booking a tight evening return.

Rough spend, 2 people: EUR 90-160, the widest range in this itinerary depending on independent bus versus guided tour.

Day 4: Mostar, a second border and a longer day

Morning: an organized day tour, roughly EUR 45-55pp, is the realistic way to do Mostar as a day trip; independent public transport isn’t practical for a round trip inside one day. The crossing into Bosnia and Herzegovina is a second non-Schengen border, and Bosnia isn’t in the EU at all, so bring the passport again. Midday: Mostar’s Stari Most , the rebuilt Ottoman-era bridge at the center of its UNESCO-listed Old Town, plus whichever add-on the tour includes, commonly Kravice Waterfall or the pilgrimage town Medjugorje. Evening: the drive back, 2.5-3.5 hours each way depending on traffic and the border, making this genuinely a 10-12 hour day start to finish.

Rough spend, 2 people: EUR 90-110, almost entirely the tour cost.

Day 5: Peljesac wine country and Ston, over the bridge

Morning: a guided wine-tour day trip, roughly EUR 130-150pp, crossing the 2022 Peljesac Bridge onto the peninsula that grows Plavac Mali, Croatia’s best-known red grape, on the steep Dingac and Postup slopes. The bridge itself is worth noting: it replaced the old detour through a short strip of Bosnian territory at Neum that used to interrupt the coastal drive. Midday: 2-3 winery stops with tastings, plus Ston, the walled town known for oysters and salt pans that have been worked for centuries. Evening: return to Dubrovnik in the early evening, an easier finish than either border-crossing day.

Rough spend, 2 people: EUR 260-300, the priciest single day in this itinerary but the one with the least public-transport alternative.

Do you need a passport for Kotor or Mostar?

Yes, both. Croatia joined Schengen on 1 January 2023, but Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina are not Schengen members, and Bosnia is not in the EU at all. Both trips are real international border crossings with passport control, and summer midday queues can run to several hours at either.

Is 5 days enough for Kotor, Mostar, and Peljesac wine?

Yes, and it’s a reasonable ceiling for how many big travel-heavy days most people want back to back. Two of the five days involve 5+ hours of round-trip transit each; the 6-day plan adds Mljet specifically as a lighter, lower-transit day to balance that out.

How much does 5 days of day-tripping cost?

Figure roughly EUR 700-950 total for two people: four nights in Lapad or Gruz, the Walls ticket, the Elaphiti ferry, a Kotor tour or bus, and the two priciest single days, the Mostar tour and the Peljesac wine tour. The wine day alone can equal the other four days combined; skip it if the budget is tight and put the Elaphiti Islands or Cavtat in its place instead.

General visitor information is on the official tourist board site and tzdubrovnik.hr ; check ferry timetables on jadrolinija.hr before Day 2.