Dubrovnik. Met at the airport and driven to the right Old Town gate, the marina or Montenegro.
Dubrovnik Airport is at Cilipi, twenty five to thirty five minutes from the Old Town on a quiet road. We plan what follows as well: the gate nearest your address, the luggage on the walk in, and the border if the trip goes on to Montenegro.
The airport
Dubrovnik at a glance
- CodesDBV / LDDUAt Cilipi, in the Konavle valley about twenty kilometres south east of the Old Town, on the coast road towards the Montenegrin border.
- RunwayOne, about 3,300 metresLong enough for every class of business jet, including ultra long range aircraft arriving direct from the Gulf or the United States.
- Private arrivalsA general aviation terminal on the fieldSeparate from the main passenger building, with its own handling. Confirm with your handler which door your passengers will use on the day.
- SeasonSharply seasonalTraffic concentrates between late May and early October. Outside that window the airport is quiet and the roads are empty.
Dubrovnik is a practical gateway to three different places: the walled city, the Elafiti islands and the Peljesac coast to the north west, and Montenegro to the south east. They pull in opposite directions, so it is worth deciding which one the trip is really about before the car is booked.
Journey times
From Cilipi by road
| To | Quiet roads | Peak season |
|---|---|---|
| Dubrovnik Old Town, Pile or Ploce gate | 25 to 35 minutes | 40 to 60 minutes |
| Ploce and the hotels east of the walls | 25 to 35 minutes | 35 to 55 minutes |
| Lapad and Babin Kuk | 30 to 40 minutes | 45 to 65 minutes |
| ACI Marina Dubrovnik at Komolac | 35 to 45 minutes | 50 to 70 minutes |
| Cavtat | 10 to 15 minutes | 15 to 25 minutes |
| Herceg Novi, Montenegro | About 50 minutes plus the border | Border waits of two hours or more are normal in July and August |
| Porto Montenegro at Tivat | About 1 hour 45 plus the border | Allow half a day in the peak weeks |
Realistic ranges, not promises. The single coast road into Dubrovnik carries everything, including the cruise traffic, and there is no alternative route when it stops.
The city itself
No car goes inside the walls
The Old Town is pedestrian. Cars reach the gates and stop there: Pile at the western end, Ploce at the eastern. Which of the two you use is not a detail, because the walk from one gate to an address at the far end of the Stradun is a good ten minutes over worn limestone, with steps, and in July it is ten minutes through a crowd. If the hotel or the house is inside the walls, we want the address before the day, not on it, so the car goes to the right gate and the luggage is handled once rather than three times.
The hotels east of the walls at Ploce and the villas on the shoulder above them are reached by car, and the marina at Komolac, up the Ombla inlet, is a separate drive again. Cruise days are the variable everyone underestimates. When two or three ships are alongside at Gruz, the city and the road serving it slow down together, and a transfer that took thirty five minutes in May takes an hour in August.
Our own cars and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, and a trusted global network covers everywhere else. In Croatia, cars are arranged through operators we know, and we brief them the way we brief our own: the gate, the pin, the luggage, and who is meeting whom.
South to Montenegro
The border is the whole calculation
A great many people fly into Dubrovnik because they are actually going to Montenegro. It is a reasonable plan: the airport takes larger aircraft than Tivat, it operates after dark when Tivat in practice does not, and Herceg Novi is under an hour away on paper. The border at Debeli Brijeg is the reason it sometimes goes wrong. Out of season the crossing takes fifteen to thirty minutes. In late July and August, queues of two to five hours are a normal Saturday, and no amount of planning on our side shortens them.
What does help is timing. The crossing is quietest very early, and a car that leaves Cilipi at six in the morning is a different journey from the same car at eleven. Where the trip allows it, a transfer by sea from Dubrovnik into the Bay of Kotor avoids the road entirely, and for anyone joining a yacht that is usually the better answer. See Tivat, Porto Montenegro and Montenegro.
Be honest with yourself about which country the trip is in. If almost every night is in Montenegro, flying into Tivat and accepting its daylight limitation is usually calmer than flying into Croatia and crossing a land border twice with luggage.
Onward
Around an Adriatic trip
Request a proposal
Tell us where you are really going
Dates, the flight or tail number, how many of you, the luggage, and the exact address including which gate if you are inside the walls. Tell us if Montenegro or a yacht is part of it. We will set out the cars, the honest timings for the season, the border if there is one, and the aircraft if you would like us to arrange that too. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Dubrovnik arrivals
How far is the airport from the Old Town?
About twenty kilometres, which is twenty five to thirty five minutes on a quiet road and up to an hour in the peak season or on a heavy cruise day.
Can the car take us into the Old Town?
No. The walled city is pedestrian. Cars reach Pile gate at the west or Ploce gate at the east, and the walk continues from there. Tell us the address in advance so we use the right gate.
Is Dubrovnik a good way into Montenegro?
Often, yes, because the runway takes bigger aircraft and the airport works after dark. The land border at Debeli Brijeg is the risk: fifteen to thirty minutes out of season, but two hours or more on a midsummer weekend. See Tivat.
Which aircraft can use Dubrovnik?
The runway is about 3,300 metres, so every class of business jet including ultra long range aircraft. See ultra long range jets and private jet charter.
Are these your own cars?
Our own fleet and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester, and a trusted global network covers everywhere else. In Croatia cars are arranged through operators we know.
Can we reach the islands from here?
Yes, by sea. The Elafiti islands and the run north to Korcula and Hvar are done by boat rather than by road. We can arrange that alongside the cars. See yacht charter.
One contact, wherever you are