Cavtat Transportation

The cheapest way into Cavtat, apart from walking, is bus #10. There are 2 an hour (Sept 2011) and a journey time of around 25 minutes, cost 17Kn.
In town it stops at the cable car station but starts it's journey at the local bus station.

If you are staying in Cavtat, you probably want to go to Dubrovnik. This is easy enough. Just catch the number 10 bus from the car park near the harbour, or further up the hill if you are staying up there. The bus takes about 45 minutes and the journey is spectacular (and sometimes hair raising). It runs about once an hour from 5am until midnight, and only costs a few euros.

A tip for the return journey: if you are coming back at peak hours in the summer (end of the day) you risk being left behind by a full bus, or being squashed standing up for up to an hour. The crowds all get on at the top of the steps from the old town of Dubrovnik. If you get on at an earlier stop, like the main station, you can avoid the crowds and get a seat on an empty bus.

Try and pick a sea side seat if you want to enjoy the breathtaking views as the bus hurtles along narrow roads high above the sea... or not if you are scared of heights or frail of heart.

Cavtat is far 30km from Montenegro, it is about 40 minutes driving (on the border you lose 10-15 minutes). If you wont to come to Cavtat and you are in Herceg Novi, Tivat, Kotor or Budva you can go by travel agency In Travel, they are making cheap transfers to Cavtat from Montenegro.

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Some people take the boat to Dubrovnik for a leisurely day out, some say take the bus its quicker, personally i think a combination of the two is ideal. The tourist bus leaves cavtat at a very reasonable 9am and at 20kn is a bit more than the number 10 but with less stops its much, much quicker. The ride reaches points which are quite high-up in the mountains and if you're like me and don't enjoy the sheer drops its good for your heart to only do this one-way, although the roads are good- just me being a wuss. This then gets you to Dubrovnik before the crowds and is perfact if you want to do the walls without all the hustle and bustle or the placa - stradun main street which gets very busy as the day goes on. The tourist bus only leaves at 3pm, which means a boat back is a better option as they run quite regular for about 50kn (when the weathers good) so you can take a nice leisurely boat trip back after your hard days sight-seeing and the heat is a bit lower at this time of day too!

Cilipi is a modern airport just minutes from both Dubrovnik and Cavtat.Dubrovnik is 20 km way & Cavtat only 5 km If offers a variety of services for passengers such as: duty free shop; coffee shop; currency exchange; bank; tobacco & newspaper stand; luggage wrapping, etc.

From the airport, Atlas buses offer transfers into Dubrovnik main station at the Pile Gat for a reasonable 35 kuna or the equivalent of about 5 Euro. Transportation is available after most flight arrivals. Atlas buses are modern coaches and Atlas also runs excursions & tours. However, the deep yellow & white "Libertas" public buses which are presumably less expensive, are also available at the airport, but I have no price info.

There are boats that leave Cavtat several times a day for Dubrovnik. I think they charge 40 kuna ($7USD), and the ride takes about 45 minutes. Also, bus #10 makes a few runs between Cavtat and Dubrovnik.

To get to and from the airport by taxi, it will cost you a whopping 100 kuna ($17.75USD). This is still much cheaper than if you were staying in Dubrovnik. Taxis between the airport and Dubrovnik are around $50USD!

If traveling between Cavtat and Kotor, Montenegro, there are, I think, two buses daily. The bus coming from Kotor first must go north to Dubrovnik, which adds at least 30 minutes to the trip. There are no direct buses from Kotor to Cavtat. Because I was pressed for time, I took a bus from Kotor to Heceg Novi, and then from there I hired a taxi that brought me directly to Cavtat. The taxi driver charged me 30E, and the ride took around 30 minutes. He left me at the entrance of the old town of Cavtat, claiming that he couldn't take me further. I later read somewhere that taxis have to have a permit to drive through the old town. Fortunately, it is a very small town and doesn't take long to get to the other end!

Next time in Cavtat I am going to rent a car! There is a frequent bus connection to Dubrovnik, and some buses to other destinations. But a car will give me the opportunity to see the Konavle hinterland with it's small villages where old traditions are kept up, go to the fameous restaurant Konavoski Dvori at a mill in the river Ljuta, see the folklore performances in Cilipi, see remnants from prechristian hellenic and roman times, ..., ... I could even take a trip to the neighbouring countries Bosnia & Hercegovina and Montengero, which are only a few miles away.

Several of the establishments along the quay offer cars for rent. You don't see any cars anywhere, you reserve one by them and they bring it to you. They claim to be cheaper than the larger companies, who have offices in Hotel Croatia. The picture shows the price list of one of them as of april 2006.

Ferries are a great way to get around the Dubrovnik area, to and from the Islands etc. However I would advise that you check exactly what you're going to get because some ferries aren't what they appear to be. Last summer whilst in Cavtat, my girlfriend and I booked a ferry to the island of Lopud where there is a beautiful (and rare for Croatia) sandy beach. When we set off, it rapidly became clear that the ferry to Lopud was actually a ferry but the same boat they used for the three islands fish picnic, you just paid less. As a result we were dropped off en route for a pointless 1 hour visit to another island, slowly made our way to Lopud watching a boat load of people eat fish, and nearly 4 hours later were dropped off there to be told that the boat would be returning in just under 2 hours. This gave us enough time to walk to the beach, have a swim and walk back. Just for good measure on the way back they boat owners decided to pull into Dubrovnik to pick up another of their boats and tow it back to Cavtat which was pretty hair-raising as our boat began to pitch and toss wildly as it strained to pull the other one. So before you book any "ferry" CHECK WHAT YOU ARE GETTING!