Ride the Lokrum Island ferry from Dubrovnik for a relaxing afternoon. A day trip from Dubrovnik to Lokrum Island is quick and easy, offering a peaceful getaway from the busy Old Town.
THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. I ONLY MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THINGS I PERSONALLY USE, LOVE, AND SPEND MONEY ON MYSELF.
Dubrovnik is an amazing seaside city with a fascinating history, beautifully-preserved Old Town, and sunny beaches—but it is busy. Dubrovnik, Croatia sees thousands of tourists every summer and it can be especially crowded when cruise ships dock during the day.
After three full days exploring Dubrovnik proper, I decided it was time for a change of scenery. The beaches in Dubrovnik are beautiful, but they do fill up with people by mid morning.
The summer heat in Dubrovnik is no joke; I myself was at the beach as early as 8 a.m. some mornings because it was already so warm outside. The fight for beach space and tight quarters does get tiring though, so an escape via the Lokrum Island ferry was the perfect idea.
Taking the Lokrum Island Ferry From Dubrovnik
Getting from Dubrovnik to Lokrum Island could not be any easier. The Lokrum Island ferry makes multiple trips per day, traveling more often in the peak summer season.
At the time of writing this post there are 19 scheduled ferry trips each day from Dubrovnik’s Old Port to the Lokrum Island ferry port at Portoc Bay. The island welcomes visitors every year from April through November and closes for the winter.
The Dubrovnik ferry to Lokrum Island runs routes every day of the week. The earliest ferry departs from Dubrovnik’s Old Port at 10:15 a.m. and arrives at Lokrum Island at 10:30 a.m. The final ferry of the day departs from Dubrovnik Old Port at 7:15 p.m. and arrives at Lokrum Island at 7:30 p.m.
The Old Port is located just outside of Dubrovnik’s Old Town. When I rode the ferry to Lokrum Island the cost was 40 Kuna each way, which right now is about $6.62 USD. The ferry transports foot passengers only; no cars are permitted on the ferry.
Note that most of the ferry trips arriving and departing in Dubrovnik use Gruz Ferry Port, which is a few miles away from Old Town Dubrovnik. The Lokrum Island ferry is the only route that leaves from Dubrovnik’s Old Port. So if you are looking for other Croatian ferry routes, you will likely need to look into Gruz Ferry Port.
How to Get Around Lokrum Island
There are no cars on Lokrum Island, so be prepared to do some walking. The good news is that Lokrum Island is small so it’s completely reasonable to get around by foot. The island is uninhabited with no permanent residents, so everyone gets to and from the island via the ferry and there is not any transportation provided on the island itself.
How much time should you spend in Lokrum Island?
If you’re a planner like me, you might like to have an idea of the amount of time you need to set aside in your itinerary to visit Lokrum Island. Since the ferry ride from Dubrovnik is quick, you could realistically explore Lokrum Island in half a day.
I took the first Lokrum Island ferry in the morning around 10 and came back to Dubrovnik in the early afternoon. I spent about an hour walking around the island, another hour or two lounging and swimming, then another hour eating lunch at a local restaurant. So if you are short on time, this trip could totally be done in just a few hours.
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Things to Pack
Since you can only visit Lokrum Island for the day, you may want to take a few items with you for your day trip from Dubrovnik. Also, Lokrum Island does not have any grocery stores or shopping, so it’s best to plan ahead and make sure you have all of the items you might need. I took a small backpack with me for the day and had everything I needed:
- Water-resistant sandals – This is my biggest must-have item from my entire Dubrovnik trip. The beaches in Croatia are rocky so tough sandals that can go in and out of the water are a must. Not only do the rocks and pebbles really hurt the bottom of your feet, but they can get very hot. I also read in advance of my trip to Dubrovnik that it is important to watch out for sea urchin. Stepping on one of those guys can really put a damper on your trip, so it’s better to be safe than sorry. These sandals were a true lifesaver and super comfortable.
- Small Day Bag – Since there aren’t any stores in Lokrum Island, you’ll want to pack a bag to carry all of the essentials you might need throughout the day. I travel with this small backpack because it is water-resistant, dirt-resistant, and the perfect size to carry around all day.
- Sunscreen – You will definitely want to pack sunscreen for your trip to Lokrum Island, especially if you are planning to enjoy the beaches. Some of the nice and flat rocky spots in Lokrum Island are all sun and no shade, so come prepared with the appropriate level of sunscreen coverage that you’d need if you had zero shade for a few hours. This sunscreen is one of my personal favorites for my face since it’s oil-free.
- Swimsuit – There are many great swimming spots in Lokrum Island, so come prepared by either wearing a swimsuit or packing one in your day bag to change in to.
- Water bottle – I travel with a reusable water bottle everywhere I go and it’s especially important to pack water when you will be spending a lot of time in the sun. This bottle is my favorite to travel with since it’s lightweight, rolls up to be compact, and is made of 100% healthy materials.
- Splash-proof pouch – Anytime I am going to be in and out of the water or on a boat I like to put my money, ID, and phone in a splash-proof pouch so I can rest easy when I’m near the water. I like these waterproof cosmetic bags because they protect my stuff and they’re pretty cute too.
Things to do in Lokrum Island
Sit in the Iron Throne
As if Dubrovnik wasn’t already popular enough, the city and surrounding area are now a huge hit with Game of Thrones fans. Dubrovnik serves as a main filming location for many of shows most popular scenes and Lokrum Island is now in on the craze. Lokrum Island houses an exhibition of sorts that serves as a tribute to the popular HBO series.
In this area visitors are able to sit in a replica of the iron throne and snap the photo their GOT-loving hearts have always dreamed of. I had no idea this Game of Thrones exhibit would be here and was surprised there were only, like, three other tourists in there with me.
Visit the Benedictine Monastery
The abandoned Benedictine Monastery in Lokrum Island dates back to 1023. Written history of Lokrum Island begins with the founding of this monastery, so it is a central piece of the islands story and existence as we know it today.
Local history explains that the monks would use their location on the island to warn those in mainland Dubrovnik when invaders were approaching from the sea.
After hundreds of years go by the monastery was abandoned in the 18th century until later being acquired by Maximilian of Habsburg in the mid-1800s.
It was he who took over the monastery and turned the area into a lush, forest of green. He is also to credit for the colorful peacocks on the island. Yes, you heard that correctly—peacocks.
Keep an Eye Open for Peacocks
As I just mentioned, there are peacocks living all over Lokrum Island. The story is that Maximilian of Habsburg imported peacocks from the Canary Islands. So the peacocks are not native here, but they seem to enjoy their new home since they’ve been living on Lokrum Island since the 1800s.
The peacocks were everywhere during my visit, sometimes I’d see three or four at once. So I’m under the impression that they are not hard to find if you’re interested in seeing them. The island peacocks seem really adjusted to people and sometimes got uncomfortably close.
And bunnies and lizards, too!
Yep, it’s not just peacocks you’ll run into during your time exploring Lokrum Island—the bunnies are everywhere! I think I may have seen more bunnies that I saw peacocks actually, and I saw quite a few peacocks. I saw some tourists arrive with carrots, so clearly they were planning to roam with the bunnies during their visit to the island.
I didn’t come prepared to share any food with the local furry friends, but it was fun to watch them hopping around every time I took a turn. There was also quite a few lizard sightings as I explored the island. Lokrum Island is a beautiful place to observe animals in their natural habitat.
Botanical Garden
The Botanical Garden in Lokrum Island is home to over 500 plant species from around the world that you can observe during your day trip from Dubrovnik. Much of which is credited to the creation of Maximilian of Habsburg when he inhabited the island. Olive trees are spread throughout and have been around since the Benedictine times.
One of my favorite things about taking the Lokrim Island ferry day trip was simply wandering through the trees and green gardens. Lokrum Island is such a stark contrast to neighboring Dubrovnik.
Both are so beautiful in their own way, but Lokrum Island surely has the upper hand when it comes to serenity in nature. Lokrum Island is a nature preserve so the utmost respect of the land, animals, and natural surroundings is expected by all visitors.
Mrtvo More aka the “Dead Sea”
There is a small lake in Lokrum Island that is known as the ‘dead sea.’ This salt-filled lake is a popular swimming spot for visitors. The water is really clear and calm, and surrounded by a beautiful green scenery.
I didn’t stop to swim here, but it was a pretty spot to visit and take photos. The lake can be found on the southern part of Lokrum Island and is about 10 meters deep.
Swim in the Adriatic Sea
Lokrum Island is such a great place to spend the day swimming in the Adriatic Sea. I went swimming multiple times in the sea when lounging on the beaches in Dubrovnik, but Lokrum Island offers a far more relaxing and tranquil experience.
There are other people visiting Lokrum Island, but never so many that I was unable to find my own little space offering some peace and quiet. The swimming and lounging is definitely the top reason for me taking the Dubrovnik ferry to Lokrum Island.
As soon as the Lokrum Island ferry dropped me off I walked all the way to the other side of the island and went for a swim over there. The entire coastline of the island is rocky, so don’t show up expecting white sand beaches.
I grew to love the rocky coastline though—it’s quite nice leaving the beach and not taking buckets worth of sand along with you. The rocky coastline should not deter you. There are plenty of beautiful, smooth and flat rocks that are perfect for laying down a towel and enjoying the sunshine and scenery.
Visit the Nudist Beach
If that’s your kind of thing, there’s a nudist beach you can hang out at when you take the Dubrovnik ferry to Lokrum Island. If you’re not into that kind of thing, then you’ve been warned, steer clear and skip on down to the next section of this post.
To access the beach you will want to follow the “FKK” signs to the left when you get off of the ferry from Dubrovnik. If you are wondering why the nudist beaches are marked by the letters “FKK,” it stands for the German word Freikörperkultur, which translates to ‘free body culture.’ No photo to go with this section because obviously that would be super weird and creepy of me.
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Fort Royal
Visitors can make the climb to the highest point of Lokrum Island and catch the view from Fort Royal. I’m not going to lie, I had zero interest in doing any climbing during my day trip from Dubrovnik to Lokrum Island.
In Dubrovnik I was staying in an apartment high on a hill that involved a lot of stair-climbing to access, so the last thing I wanted to do was more climbing. Lokrum Island was my day to relax and that means no cardio for me, sorry!
But the photos that I saw of the view from Fort Royal look breathtaking. So if you want to catch a beautiful view from high up, the hike to Fort Royal might be right for you.
And the climb doesn’t seem all the bad, I’m just being dramatic because I really had no interest in doing it that day after climbing so many stairs in the Dubrovnik heat. The highest point of Lokrum Island is about 315 feet above sea level.
Eat lunch at Lacroma Restaurant
If you are looking to have a nice lunch when you take the Dubrovnik ferry to Lokrum Island, consider eating at Lacroma Restaurant. The restaurant is located within a short walking distance from the ferry stop and is near all of the other spots you’ll likely want to stop by when you visit Lokrum Island, so you won’t miss this.
The menu is a little nicer and is a sit-down type of restaurant. I did show up in a light cotton dress with my swimsuit on under, so I don’t think you need to be too dressed up or anything even though it looks a little on the fancier side. The tuna that I ate for lunch was delish!
Important Things to Know About Lokrum Island
- Do not forget that there are no overnight stays on the island. That said, you need to be aware of the last ferry trip during your visit so you can be sure to make it back to Dubrovnik. Otherwise you may be sleeping with the critters.
- Lokrum Island is a protected nature reserve. Please be respectful of the land, plants, and animals. If you take food or any items to the beach, please clean up after yourself and do not leave trash behind.
- There is a no smoking policy on the entire island. Please be respectful and do not smoke.
- The island is incredibly beautiful. Be sure to take a deep breath and enjoy the dense natural surroundings.
Places to Stay in Dubrovnik
Since you cannot stay overnight on the island, you may still be looking for a place to stay in Dubrovnik. Hotels in Dubrovnik can be pricy during the peak season, so you may want to start looking as soon as you know you will traveling.
You can check the current Dubrovnik hotel prices here. During my week in Dubrovnik I stayed in an amazing apartment on the hill with the best view of the Adriatic Sea. Check apartment availability and pricing here and save $40 off of your first AirBnb booking.
Map of Lokrum Island
Save this map to help guide you around Lokrum Island! I’ve marked all major points of interest, but the island is so small you don’t have to worry much about losing your way.
This place looks like heaven to me! Quieter beaches, the Iron Throne, peacocks, and a weird tree that looks like a giant pineapple?! Get me there now please 😉
I love this. Was looking at the yacht trips in Croatia and they are SO EXPENSIVE. This looks like a fun way to get on a boat for a lot less.
You’re right, the yacht trips can be sooo pricy! This is definitely a great and more affordable alternative!
Brings back memories! I loved this trip. Dubrovnik is such a great place – I’ve actually been twice now I loved it so much!
In love with all your pictures!!! This is a dream! You had me at “Game of Thrones Chair” haha I hope I can visit soon. Croatia has not been in my top ten but after these pictures it has moved up. Thanks for sharing!