The best areas to stay in Dubrovnik are, besides Old Town, Ploce, Lapad, Bubik Kuk and Gruz .
Dubrovnik, a town belonging to Croatia and capital of Dubrovnik-Neretva County, is a walled city located on the coast, washed by the Adriatic Sea.</Formerly this city was called “the pearl of the Adriatic” for its uniqueness and beauty.
Today, it is an important focus of tourism in the Republic of Croatia, both for its reputation as a well-preserved medieval town and its Mediterranean beaches.
In Dubrovnik you will find many interesting places to see, especially fortresses and religious temples in the old town, World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The best places to stay in Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik is a small town, covering about 22 square kilometres and with a population of about 53.000 inhabitants, well connected by a public bus network with cheap prices and connecting all the points of interest in the town and its neighbourhoods.
If you prefer, you can use a taxi or rent a car, but public transport is more than enough to get you around the city or to Dubrovnik airport.
Having said that, it is worth mentioning that one of the advantages of staying in Dubrovnik is that, no matter what the season, there is a possibility to get really affordable accommodation, even in the Old Town area.
The city centre is the place where you can find the most variety of accommodation in terms of apartments and guest houses. If you are looking for hotel chains or resorts, the areas of Cavtat, Lapad, Ploce, Babin Kuk and Gruz have more variety in this type of accommodation.
For really cheap prices, you can book your room in Old Town well in advance or you can stay in Gruz, close to the centre and with good prices in accommodation.
It is up to you to choose something more central or to choose a beach area far from the city, but Dubrovnik is a very well connected city with short distances between points of interest and any neighborhood has good food and souvenir shopping possibilities.
Below you can learn a little more about each city district and which one is the best to stay in Dubrovnik according to your preferences.
1.Old Town
Dubrovnik’s Old Town is the nerve centre of the city and the biggest focus of tourists.
This is the place where you will probably spend the most time during your visit to Dubrovnik, since visiting the whole city walls can take more than one day. There are many interesting places, although in the morning the streets are full of tourists, in the evening there is not much to do, so you can rest without any problems if you stay in this area.
Here you will find a good concentration of shops where you can do some shopping.
Several buses leave from the outskirts of Old Town, making it a good place to stay.
As it is the city centre, it is logical that prices are high and even exorbitant. Don’t worry, fortunately Dubrovnik is a rather cheap city compared to other tourist cities.
When it comes to accommodation in Dubrovnik, you should know that guest houses, hostels and apartments predominate here over hotels. Many of these accommodations are run by families.
In low season you can find offers in 4-star hotels under 60 euros, while in high season it is impossible to find them for less than 150 euros.
On the other hand, in low season prices in little hotels are around 30 euros per night and in high season you can find a room for around 80 euros. Prices are more than affordable for the centre of this wonderful medieval city.But beware, if you don’t book in advance, you may not be able to sleep in Old Town.
– Accommodation in Old Town
2.Lapad
Lapad is a residential area located on the Dubrovnik peninsula, near the Old Town.It is a quiet area, surrounded by beaches and less crowded than Old Town.
Here you will find several restaurants where you can stop to eat something. There are also some shops, especially with handicrafts and food. Its coast forms a very calm bay, ideal for beginners in water sports or swimming.
The advantage of staying in Dubrovnik in this area is that you can quickly walk to the beach, so if you want to relax and have a drink at a beach bar after a walk downtown, this neighborhood is an excellent choice. In the low season it is possible to find accommodation for around 60 euros a night.
Apartments and guest houses predominate, although along the coast there are several chain hotels and luxury hotels with swimming pools and sea views with significantly higher prices.
The good thing about Lapad is that there is quite a lot of accomodation offer whatever time of the year.if you want to save on your accomodation in Dubrovnik, Lapad is a good area.
– Accomodation in Lapad
3.Ploce
The neighborhood of Ploce is located east of Old Town and it is easy to walk from one area to another if you don’t mind walking a bit, although you have public bus.
The advantage of Ploce is that it is close enough to Old Town and close enough to the coast to have the two most important tourist attractions of Dubrovnik at hand: the medieval town and Banje, one of its best beaches.
In this area there are several restaurants where you can go out for lunch or dinner, as well as cafes and places to have a drink.it is not as busy as Old Town, so you can disconnect from the crowds if you decide to stay here.
In the low season, you can find accommodation for about 40 Euro a night.In high season things change, for less than 80 euro a night it is difficult to find accommodation available in this district, very similar to Old Town.
Moreover, the offer of accommodation is smaller than in other areas, so it is advisable to book in advance if you have chosen this area to sleep in Dubrovnik.
When it is time to stay in Dubrovnik, Ploce is a good idea if you want to be close to the center without having to suffer from the large crowds or if you have decided to rent a car, as road traffic is allowed here.
Also keep in mind that here you will find several luxury hotels with private beach.
– Accommodation in Ploce
4.Babin Kuk
Babin Kuk is located in the north of Lapad, on the same peninsula.</As an alternative to city tourism, it is the best option if you want to relax or if you are travelling with your family for a few days.
Here you have several restaurants to choose from, although there is less offer than in other areas of Dubrovnik.Babin Kuk is the beach of Copacabana (yes, like the one in Rio de Janeiro), the biggest in the city and offers the possibility to rent sun beds and umbrellas.
In this place you can choose between several beachfront resorts, far from the city and surrounded by nature, but well connected by bus to Old Town. Most hotels in the area offer leisure options for children of the family.
There are fewer guest houses or apartments in Babin Kuk than in Old Town, but in the low season it is possible to find hostel rooms for 30 euros a night. In the high season, prices go up, with accommodation costing around 60 euros a night in an apartment or 100 euros a night in the hotels in the area.
– Accommodation in Babin Kuk
If this article about where to stay in Dubrovnik is being useful for you, you will probably be interested too: Where to stay in Split
5.Gruz
Next to Lapad and Babin Kuk there is a very charming harbor district which many visitors choose because of its proximity to Old Town and beaches.</Here is the most important port of Dubrovnik, where ships arrive from various parts of the Mediterranean Sea and ferries leave for the neighbouring islands.
The central bus station is also located in Gruz and from here you can take a bus to any place in Dubrovnik.
If you want to stay in Dubrovnik and you are looking for a place with good connections, the Gruz district is the right place for you.
In low season you can find very affordable accommodation, from 30 euros per night in an apartment or from 40 euros for a hotel room on the coast. Of course, in this area there are also luxury accommodations, with higher prices. In high season prices double and reach 80 euros per night.
– Accommodation in Gruz
6.Cavtat
Cavtat is not the most popular district for tourism in Dubrovnik, as it is located 20 kilometers from the capital, but it is the most suitable if you want to stay near the airport, located 6 kilometers from Cavtat.It is a very quiet area, with less crowding than Old Town and with a view of the sea.
If you want to get in touch with the local people and learn a bit of their culture, Cavtat is the perfect place to stay.it has good beaches and a port that invites to long walks.don’t worry about your dose of medieval tourism, you can go to the centre of Dubrovnik by bus or by boat from Cavtat.
Prices in Cavtat are around 70 Euro per night in high season, but there are plenty of hotels to choose from for being so far away from Old Town, and if you book in advance you can get good deals.
In low season, prices drop to 30 or 40 Euro a night, making it very affordable to stay in this area.
What is the best area to stay in Dubrovnik?
The walled old town is the wonder of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the place where we would all dream to stay, although it is almost impossible, because within the old town of the beautiful Croatian city there are only two hotels and they are quite expensive.
Therefore, a good option if you travel to Dubrovnik is to stay near the old town , in the surroundings of this one (Lapad and Ploce neighbourhoods), where there is a wide range of hotels adapted to all budgets, as well as spectacular crystal-clear beaches that delight swimmers, and from there you can go on foot or by bus to the most famous fortification of the Adriatic.There are many restaurants and bars at its gates and within a radius of it, although the best ones are located inside the city walls, a fairytale place where you can get lost in history while you go shopping, enjoy a terrace or taste the exquisite Dalmatian gastronomy.
If you are interested in knowing where to stay in Dubrovnik , you may also be interested in knowing where to stay in Split, where to stay in Hvar or where to stay in Zagreb.
The Old Town, the best area to stay in Dubrovnik
Touring the Old Town of Dubrovnik takes its time, as it is composed of 16 towers from which you have a spectacular view of the Adriatic Sea and the beautiful and touristic city, considered the pearl of the Adriatic.
Although the origin of the walls dates back to the 10th century, when they were built to protect against pirate attacks, they were restored in the 17th century.they can be accessed through the historic Pile Gate, which shows the old drawbridge that served as a protection for the access to the walled enclosure.once you cross it you enter Stari Grad (old town), a huge museum that was heavily bombed during the Balkan War, but is now completely restored.
On both sides of the main street, called Stradun, there are souvenir shops, ice-cream parlours, cafés and charming restaurants with terraces where you can enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
The old city also has emblematic buildings, such as the Rector’s Palace, in the Baroque style, the Baroque church of San Blas (which houses the city’s patron saint), the Sponza Palace, in the Renaissance and Gothic style, which today houses a historical archive with more than 7.In addition to the aforementioned, the old city has a Franciscan and a Dominican monastery, the enormous and circular Fuente de Onofrio, from which the stone masks from which the water flows are originally preserved, located next to the Convent of Santa Clara.
Within the walls, which are home to a network of narrow, picturesque streets in which to lose oneself, there are numerous shows by street performers, as well as with animals, and live music livens up the evening for those who eat or dine in one of the restaurants there.And behind the famous Ploce Gate in the Old Town is Gradska Plaza beach, known as the City Beach, where it is worth taking a swim while you can see the fortification of Dubrovnik and admire the beautiful island of Lokrum, a nature reserve accessible by ferry in just 10 minutes and which houses the ruins of a Benedictine monastery, a botanical garden and a rocky beach for nudists.
The adjacent neighborhoods of Lapad, Gruz and Ploce
On both sides of the walled enclosure, following the coastline, there are two neighborhoods which, due to their proximity to the historical center of Dubrovnik, are ideal for accommodation and allow the visitor to reach the old part by taking a walk of about 20 minutes or by taking buses 5 and 8, which take you to the gates of the walls.
To the northwest of the walls, in the western part of the old town, is Lapad, a district that stands out for the enormous beauty of its Gothic buildings and has a wide range of hotels and an exceptional location on the coast and at the foot of Mount Petka.There you can also find the best coastal beaches in Dubrovnik, unparalleled landscapes, and emblematic buildings, such as the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Modern History.
North of Lapad, adjacent to it, is the district of Gruz, in whose bay is located the main port of Dubrovnik, its largest market and the central bus station.
And east of the old town is the beautiful district of Ploce, which houses a wide range of hotels with a privileged location with respect to Stari Grad. In Ploce there are also many important buildings, such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Revelin Fort, from which formerly took off the funicular to Mount Sergius and which is located the Imperial Fort, created by Napoleon in 1808, from where you can enjoy incredible views of the city.
