Walls by the metre, a fortress with a motto, a pharmacy from 1317

Everything here starts at Pile Gate, downhill from the garage. With one day I'd do the walls early, Lovrijenac on the same ticket, and Lokrum after lunch.

1. Walk the walls at 08:00

The city walls run about 1,940 m around the old town. Guides give the 2026 ticket as €40, including Lovrijenac; the walls society's own site doesn't print the price. In summer they open at 08:00, and that first hour is the cool one.

2. Read the motto over Lovrijenac's gate

Lovrijenac stands on a 37 m rock outside the western walls. Over the gate: Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro, freedom is not sold for all the gold. Go late in the day, when the walls opposite catch the sun.

3. Look for Minčeta from the wall walk

Minčeta Tower, the round tower on the landward north-west corner, was completed in 1464. You see it from most of the loop.

4. See the 1317 pharmacy, skip the ranking

Inside the Franciscan friary by Pile Gate, the pharmacy dates from 1317. "Third oldest in the world" is repeated everywhere, and nobody says which two are older.

5. Take the boat to Lokrum

Lokrum is a nature reserve a short boat ride from the Old Port. The 2026 adult ticket is €30. It's my pick for the hottest hours, when the walls are an oven.

6. Walk to the cable car

The cable car's lower station is on Zone 0's lower platform, €20 for the first summer hour. Walk up from Ploče instead and ride to Srđ for the whole wall loop from above.

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Cuttlefish ink, Ston oysters and a custard called rozata

1. Order black risotto at the old harbour

The colour comes from cuttlefish ink. Lokanda Peskarija serves it in metal pots, the way fishing families ate, under the walls at the Old Port, 11:00–23:00 in season.

2. Eat oysters from Mali Ston

The tourist board points to oysters from the bay of Mali Ston on Pelješac. If you're driving the coast anyway, I'd eat them there.

3. Try menestra and šporki makaruli

Zelena menestra is greens cooked with several kinds of meat. Šporki makaruli, "dirty macaroni", is pasta in a meat sauce.

4. Finish with rozata and arancini

Rozata is Dubrovnik's custard cake, close to a pudding. Arancini here are candied orange peel, not Sicilian rice balls.

5. Buy fruit on Gundulićeva poljana

The morning market on Gundulićeva poljana runs Monday to Saturday 08:00–14:00 and Sunday 08:00–11:00, according to Frommer's: summer peaches and melons, bottles of homemade rakija.

Skip the menus with photos on Stradun and eat at the harbour.

Saint Blaise in February, theatre under the walls in summer

1. Leave the car uphill on 3 February

The Feast of St Blaise opens on Candlemas, 2 February, with doves and the saint's banner on Orlando's column. The procession with his relics is on Wednesday 3 February 2027. UNESCO listed the feast in 2009.

2. Plan for the summer festival in July

The 77th Dubrovnik Summer Festival ran from 10 July to 25 August 2026, opening with the Libertas flag at St Blaise's church. The 2027 dates weren't out when I checked.

3. Watch the zone switch off on 31 October

The 2026 camera zone ends on 31 October 2026. Whether it returns on 1 April 2027 hasn't been announced.

The republic that a French marshal closed

1. Know who ended Ragusa

The city was the independent Republic of Ragusa until 1808, when Marshal Marmont proclaimed it abolished and folded it into French territory.

2. Read the 1991 damage in the roofs

In the 1991–92 siege, 563 of the old town's 824 buildings were hit. The walls held up better than the modern buildings.

3. Remember why the ships are capped

In 2018 the mayor capped cruise calls from 2019 at two ships and 5,000 visitors a day.