From most vantage points in the walled Old Town of Dubrovnik, you can see a small green island just offshore, surrounded by clear turquoise waters – this is Lokrum Island. If you turn around and look the opposite way, you will see Mount Srd towering over Dubrovnik and its coastal waters. Here’s how to combine the two and spend the perfect day taking the ferry to Lokrum Island before riding the cable car up Mount Srd for sunset views over Dubrovnik.
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Why visit the Island of Lokrum?
Lokrum Island is an undeveloped jewel which is easily accessible from the Old Port of Dubrovnik. When it’s hot and busy in Dubrovnik Old Town, then Lokrum Island seems to be calling to you from across the water. In summary it offers:
- a haven of peace and tranquillity away from the bustle of the city.
- shady walks through pine trees and forested paths of the Forest of Holm Oak.
- the chance to spot wild peacocks and tortoises roaming the island.
- endless coves and inviting swimming spots – don’t forget your swimming stuff!.
- Game of Thrones filming sights.
Legends of Lokrum
For those interested in historical legends, the island of Lokrum has a few, including one suggesting that Richard the Lionheart was shipwrecked here on his way back from the 12th century Crusades, after which he built a chapel on the island as thanks (although no hard evidence exists).
Other legends suggest that the island was cursed by Benedictine monks, after the French closed their monastery in 1808 when the Ragusa Republic was dissolved. This curse is said to have been the reason why French rule over Dubrovnik didn’t last long, why Austro-Hungarian Archduke Maximillian who bought the island in 1859 was later assassinated, and why the next owner Crown Prince Rudolph committed suicide in 1889.
Also in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie planned to spend the summer there. However, they headed to Sarajevo first where they were assassinated (which was the catalyst for World War I). Curse or just coincidence?
Catching the ferry to Lokrum Island
It’s easy to catch the ferry to Lokrum Island from the Old Port of Dubrovnik. Some of the boats just go to Lokrum, and some continue to Cavtat further down the coast. They regularly leave every hour during summer months.
There’s a small ticket office just as you enter the port where you can buy tickets, if you haven’t already bought them on-line from the Croatia Ferries website.
Note – you can receive a discount on your ferry tickets to Lokrum if you show them your Dubrovnik Pass. The amount you will save depends on which Dubrovnik Pass you have (3 day or 7 day). Otherwise, the cost of the ferry to Lokrum Island is quite steep at around 27 Euros per adult, return journey.
Once you have your tickets, then you can board any ferry with available seating. It’s only a short 10-minute ride to Lokrum island but you get lovely views of the Old Port and St John’s Fortress as you leave.
Exploring Lokrum Island
When you disembark the ferry at Portoč, look for the map near the jetty and take a photo of it to help you navigate your way around the island. Lokrum Island is only about 1 mile long and so is easily explored.
After taking the ferry to Lokrum Island, we decided to walk to the furthest part of the island and then work our way back to our starting point to seek refreshments.
Take the ‘Path of Paradise’ to Fort Royal
From the ferry jetty, follow the signs towards Fort Royal along the Path of Paradise. We rechristened it the ‘Path of Pain’ as it was quite a long, hard slog up the hill to Fort Royal in the heat of the day. That said, once we arrived at Fort Royal we were rewarded with some pretty views!
The circular Fort Royal was built by the Napoleon as a key defensive structure to help protect Dubrovnik from attack. Although it is now in ruins, you can go inside and climb the small number of steps to the roof for the best views.
From Fort Royal, we took the path behind the fort downhill. After a few meters you’ll find a super viewpoint looking across to the walls of Dubrovnik Old Town.
Continue walking downhill, and then at the bottom turn right, so you are along the coastline back in the direction of the ferry jetty.
Not far from the bottom of the hill, we found a lovely, sheltered spot for swimming, or sunbathing, with great views across to the Old Town of Dubrovnik. Take advantage of this opportunity for your first swim stop!
Forest of Holm Oak
Once back on the forest path, enjoy strolling through the Forest of Holm Oak – catch sight of the azure blue waters through the branches, breath in the scent of the lovely Aleppo pines and enjoy being serenaded by the sound of cicadas. These shady paths offer a welcome relief from the sun and a very calming environment for a walk.
Once the path arrives back at the ferry jetty, then you’ll probably be ready for some refreshments.
Refreshments in the ruins of the monastery
There are two restaurants on the island, one under the trees near the ferry jetty and one in the remains of the cloisters of the Benedictine monastery, which was later bought by Archduke Maximillian in 1859 for his summer residence.
Spot wild peacocks
If you sit under the trees for drinks or lunch, you’ll probably be joined by a peacock or two wandering around. We were visited by a ‘mama peahen’ and her two chicks. From the ‘Do not feed the animals’ signs, we gathered that the island also has tortoises, but sadly we didn’t see any of those.
Take a dip in the Mrtvo More (Dead Sea)
After lunch head to the nearby Mrtvo More (Dead Sea), a shallow salt-water lagoon filled with clear warm water. It has a higher salt content that normal sea water giving added buoyancy, so perfect for another swim or float!
Note – there is a nudist beach on the island so avoid this if it is not your thing.
Botanical Gardens
Make sure that you take 15 minutes to stroll around the lovely Botanical Gardens which are full of cacti and other tropical plants. It looks wild rather than manicured but I quite liked that.
Dinner in Dubrovnik
After catching the ferry back to the Old Port in Dubrovnik, you might be ready to have an early dinner. We found a good place called Bistro Revelin, near the Ploče Gate, which had seats under the pine trees in a small square overlooking the port. It was all very relaxed and didn’t matter that we’d been in the sun and sea all day and weren’t looking particularly smart!
Take the Dubrovnik Cable Car up Mount Srd
If you time your dinner right (5.00pm – 6.30pm), then you might be able to make it up to the top of Mount Srd (412 m above sea level) for sunset. Note – check the sunset times for your visit when planning your day.
From Bistro Revelin it’s only a 5-minute walk up hill to the Dubrovnik Cable Car station, from where you can take the red cable car up to the top of Mount Srd.
Word of warning – we thought the cost of the Dubrovnik Cable Car was expensive given the short 5-minute journey at 30 Euros per person (return). Although it was a pretty view on the way up, I wish we’d taken taxis to the top, or the local bus – we could still have enjoyed the views from the top and it would have been much cheaper.
You can walk up on the zig-zag path known as the ‘Serpentina’ but you need an hour and that wouldn’t have fit with our timings.
At the top, there was a crowd of people all jostling for a good view of the sunset. It was very pretty and very Instagrammable but wasn’t the holiday highlight I envisaged (too expensive and too many people).
There is a very smart restaurant at the top of the cable car station, called the Panorama Restaurant, so if you like the look of the menu, this could be a special place to eat and enjoy the sunset rather than eating at the bottom of the hill. We thought it would be too smart for us after a day of sun and swimming on Lokrum Island.
During the summer, there’s a programme of free events at the top of Mount Srd such as Sunset Grooves, Movie Nights, and face painting. On the night we visited there was a Sunset DJ playing tunes in a small amphitheatre which was fun to watch for a while, although again, one round of drinks was very expensive and so we quit and headed back to our accommodation to continue the party.
Note – if you explore Mount Srd earlier in the day, then there are options for activities such as the Zip Wire and ATV Safaris.
Final thoughts…
These two activities, the ferry to Lokrum Island the Dubrovnik Cable Car up Mount Srd, combined well and provided a great day out during our week in Dubrovnik. The only criticism really is that it wasn’t cheap – we thought the cost of the ferry, the Dubrovnik cable car and the round of drinks at the top of Mount Srd were overly expensive.
This highlighted the ‘tourist trap’ element of Dubrovnik and how expensive summer in the city can be. Definitely best to invest in the Dubrovnik Passes for a discount on the ferry to Lokrum Island – every little helps!
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