What budget for activities and outings Dubrovnik?
A one-way ticket costs €20 (€10 concessions) and entitles you to visit nine museums over a seven-day period: Rectors' Palace, Ethnographic Museum, Museum of the Navy, Revelin Fortress, Marin Držić House, Museum of Modern Art, Dulčić Gallery, Masle, Putika, Museum of Natural History. Here's the link: www.dumus.hr
Not to be confused with the Dubrovnik Pass, which costs €55 and lasts seven days. It allows you to visit ten different museums over seven days: the city walls, the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum of the Navy, the Revelin Fortress, the House of Marin Držić, the Museum of Modern Art, the Dulčić Gallery, Masle, Putika, the Museum of Natural History, the Franciscan Monastery Museum, and the Konavle Heritage Museum in Cavtat. It provides discounts on transport and other benefits. Single-day (€35) and three-day (€45) passes are available. Ask at the tourist office. You can also buy the card online: www.dubrovnikpass.com
Hiking and mountain bike trails are becoming increasingly common in the Dubrovnik region and on the islands. They are often an excellent way to discover the surrounding area and meet the locals. Tourist offices can provide you with detailed maps.
The most interesting designer boutiques and stores are located in the old town or very close to the city walls. This means that prices are rather high. If, on the other hand, you're looking for food products such as wine and olive oil, it's best to leave the medieval city behind and head inland to meet the producers. Credit cards are accepted in virtually all stores.
Nightlife is mostly concentrated between the walls of the Old Town, spilling over to Pile-Boninovo Gate and Ploče, to a lesser extent. As Lapad is far from the Old Town, the district has its own bars (notably on the promenade leading to the sea) and a few discos (in the larger hotels).
Going out is quite expensive in Dubrovnik, and you should expect to pay at least €40 per head for an evening out.
What budget to eat Dubrovnik?
Dubrovnik has many pizzerias and at least as many fish and seafood restaurants. A word of clarification on restaurant menus: salads tend to be served as side dishes, and are rarely mixed salads that constitute a meal in their own right. As elsewhere in the Dubrovnik region, risottos (black and seafood) are offered as starters and main courses. Formulas or menus are very rare - except in two or three establishments in the old town at lunchtime - and everything is à la carte. The city's restaurants all have terraces, sometimes overlooking the sea.
Meals are far from cheap, and every year prices rise (with the highest prices going to the restaurants in and around the old town). Expect to pay at least €25 per person. They go very well with local wines. House wine(domaće vino) can be both a good and a bad bet! A place setting of around €2 is sometimes charged, and translates into a fish pâté served as a starter.
The cafés in the old town, especially those along the Stradun, are very expensive. The situation changes as you move away from the city walls, but in general, consider that Dubrovnik is much more expensive than the rest of Croatia (even in the neighboring regions of Pelješac and Konavle). A coffee can cost between €1 and €3, depending on the location of the bar, while a pint of beer can reach €8 in the most popular places. Please note: credit cards are not accepted everywhere.
What is the budget for accommodation Dubrovnik?
Even if the cost of living remains lower than in France, the resounding success of Dubrovnik as a destination and the prospect of the changeover to the euro are changing the situation, with a clear tendency to inflate the cost of living. Prices soar in July and August. You can't really negotiate with the owner inside the city (although you may be offered accommodation when the bus or ferry arrives).
For low-budget accommodation in Dubrovnik, allow €40 per person per night.
For a medium budget, allow €60 for accommodation. This is the minimum price in the old town during the high season.
Fora high budget, allow €150 (and more) for accommodation.
Campsites and youth hostels. There is only one campsite in Dubrovnik itself (in Lapad). Others can be found in neighboring towns on the southern riviera, such as Molunat, but also to the west, on the other side of the new town, in the towns of Orašac, Trsteno, Zaton or Slano. Youth hostels are in short supply.
Homestays offer the best value for money. In the Old Town alone, there are tens of thousands of beds in rooms ( soba) and apartments(apartman).
We strongly advise you to book in advance (and check the seriousness of the address). If you haven't booked anything, try your luck early in the morning, as there are many tourists wishing to stay in the medieval town, especially at the height of the season. All accommodation providers are required to register your presence in Croatia. If you are not asked for your passport, it's because you're staying "under the table". In this case, it's up to you to register at the police station within 48 hours. The Dubrovnik Tourist Office website has also set up a "quality-guarantee pact" system: the accommodation listed online has been carefully checked. Don't hesitate to contact travel agencies, which have their own catalogs. Private accommodations are moderately comfortable but practical (furnished rooms, small fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom), often air-conditioned (appreciated in summer) and with Internet access. Breakfast is the exception rather than the rule. Hosts may be able to arrange parking (often) and suggest excursions in the area. It is sometimes possible to pay in euros, but rarely by card.
As everywhere else in the region, a surcharge (of around 20%) applies almost systematically to stays of less than three days, including - in some cases - homestays.
Travel budget Dubrovnik and cost of living
Beware, spending a vacation in the Dubrovnik region is far from being cheap (it's the most expensive region in Croatia)! Accommodation and catering make up the bulk of your expenses. Museum entrance fees are not cheap either. The price of accommodation doubles in July and August. What's more, if you stay less than three or four nights in the same establishment, you'll be heavily "deducted" (an additional 20-30% per night). Finally, prices for everyday consumer goods in supermarkets are more or less the same as in France (20% cheaper at best), with VAT at 25%. Tip: shop at the market to save a few euros! It's worth noting that there's little difference between the cost of living on the islands and in Dubrovnik, even if accommodation and food budgets are a little lower on the islands. Some current prices:
A coffee: 2-3 €.
A pint of beer: €4-6.
A pizza: €8-10.
A night in a youth hostel in Dubrovnik: minimum €35.
A night with a local in Dubrovnik's old town: at least €50 per person in high season.
Zagreb-Dubrovnik plane ticket, one-way, full fare: around €100.
Even if the cost of living remains lower than in France, the resounding success of Dubrovnik as a destination and the prospect of the euro changeover are changing the situation and are clearly pushing up the cost of living. Here are a few examples of budgets for your stay:
For a low-budget stay in Dubrovnik, count per person per day: €5 bus fare, minimum €30 for two restaurant meals, €40 accommodation, €10 museum entrance fee. Total cost: €85.
For an average budget, allow €5 for transport, €50 (or even €60) for two meals in a restaurant, €50 for accommodation, €10 for admission to museums. Total cost: €115.
For a high budget, allow €25 for cab transport (from Babin Kuk to the old town), €100 for two meals in a restaurant, €150 (and more) for accommodation, €10 for admission to museums. Total: €285.
