What's on in Dubrovnik (Dalmatia), Croatia through the year

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Winter (Christmas) holidays in Croatia

• Rule

  Old town caps and walls tickets

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  The city limits how many cruise passengers land in a day, meters the walls with timed tickets and fines you for wheeling a suitcase over the stone. The walls ticket is the expensive part of any visit here. Source ↗

Still on: Off season (1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), The bura (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Advent in the old town (28 Nov – 6 Jan)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Feast of St Blaise

  3 FebMajor festival

  The town's patron saint and the one winter day the streets are full: banners, relics carried through the Stradun, and a procession that is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list. Source ↗

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Off season (1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), The bura (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Spring (Easter) holidays in Croatia

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Off season (1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), The bura (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Cruise season

• Season

  Cruise season

  1 Apr – 31 Oct · usuallyCrowded

  The port takes at most two ships a day under an agreement with the city, but on a two-ship morning the walls and the Stradun are a slow-moving queue until early afternoon. Walk them at eight or at six. Source ↗

• Opening

  Island ferry season

  15 Apr – 20 Oct · usuallySummer season opens

  The catamarans to Mljet, Korčula and the Elafiti run to a summer timetable only; outside it the islands drop to a couple of sailings a week and a day trip stops being possible. Source ↗

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — between the peaks, Cruise season

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise season

• Season

  Sea warm enough to swim

  15 Jun – 31 Oct · usually

  The Adriatic here holds its heat well into October, which is why locals rate September and October above June for swimming off the rocks below the walls.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise season

• Hazard

  Coastal wildfire season

  1 Jul – 10 Sep · usuallySmoke season

  Dry pine and a hot bora is the combination that starts fires along this coast most summers; open flames are banned outright and the smoke can shut a coastal road for a day. Source ↗

• Festival

  Dubrovnik Summer Festival

  10 Jul – 25 AugMajor festivalCrowded

  Forty-seven days of theatre, opera and concerts staged in courtyards, on Fort Lovrjenac and on the island of Lokrum, using the town itself as the set. It has run since 1950. Source ↗

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 31 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — the editor's peak month, Cruise season

• Holiday

  Italian and Croatian holidays

  1–25 Aug · usuallySchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Italian Ferragosto and the Croatian holiday fortnight overlap and the alleys go shoulder to shoulder. It is the most expensive and least pleasant stretch of the year inside the walls. Source ↗

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 31 Oct (usually)), Coastal wildfire season (1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually)), Dubrovnik Summer Festival (10 Jul – 25 Aug)

Busy — between the peaks, Cruise season

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 31 Oct (usually)), Coastal wildfire season (1 Jul – 10 Sep (usually))

Busy — between the peaks, Cruise season

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Cruise season (1 Apr – 31 Oct (usually)), Island ferry season (15 Apr – 20 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough to swim (15 Jun – 31 Oct (usually))

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Off season

  1 Nov – 15 Mar · usuallyOff-season shutdownClosures

  Most of what is open in summer is shuttered, the ferry timetable drops to a winter minimum and the old town is residents, cats and rain. Cheap, and there is very little to do in it.

• Hazard

  The bura

  1 Nov – 31 Mar · usuallyWind seasonClosures

  A cold gale that falls down off the mountains behind the town in winter, strong enough to stop the ferries and close the Pelješac bridge for a day at a time. Source ↗

• Festival

  Advent in the old town

  28 Nov – 6 JanChristmas & New Year

  Stradun gets lights, a tree and a small market, and for a few weeks the city is busy with Croatians rather than cruise passengers. It is the one time the off-season here has something on. Source ↗

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Quiet — the editor's quiet month, Winter (Christmas) holidays in Croatia

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Old town caps and walls tickets (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Off season (1 Nov – 15 Mar (usually)), The bura (1 Nov – 31 Mar (usually)), Advent in the old town (28 Nov – 6 Jan)