Does the Dubrovnik Pass Include a Ferry to Lokrum Island?

Does the Dubrovnik Pass Include a Ferry to Lokrum Island?

No. The Dubrovnik Pass does not include the ferry to Lokrum Island, and it does not include admission to the Lokrum Reserve either. The pass is sold by the City of Dubrovnik and covers the City Walls, Lovrjenac Fortress and a set of museums, while Lokrum is run by the Public Institution Lokrum Reserve, which sells its own 30 euro ticket that bundles the island entry and the return boat transfer together.

That is the short answer, and it is worth being blunt about it because the confusion is understandable. Both products cost money, both are sold around the Old Town, and a lot of summary blog posts blur them together into a single "Dubrovnik sightseeing bundle" that does not actually exist. I have watched travellers at the Luža ticket office in the Old City Port ask to "add Lokrum to the pass" more times than I can count, and the answer is always the same: the two systems do not talk to each other.

The clean way to hold it in your head is this. The Dubrovnik Pass buys you the walled city and its museums. The Lokrum ticket buys you the green island you can see from the city walls, sitting low on the horizon about six hundred metres offshore. Neither product discounts the other, and no combination ticket exists that merges them, with one narrow exception I will explain below involving Trsteno Arboretum.

There is one genuine nuance. The Lokrum Reserve's own 30 euro ticket is not just an entrance fee: it includes the return boat transfer on the official Lokrum boat, whether you ride the official ferry or arrange your own transport to the island. So when people ask "does the pass include the ferry," they are usually really asking whether they will have to pay for the boat separately. The answer is that the boat is never a separate payment, it is folded into the Lokrum ticket itself. The pass simply has nothing to do with any of it.

If you are planning a day that mixes the walls, the museums and the island, you will be buying two tickets from two institutions, and that is fine. What follows breaks down exactly what each one buys you, how the boats actually run, and whether Lokrum earns its 30 euro price tag once you are standing at the harbour.

What Does the Dubrovnik Pass Include?

In main season the Dubrovnik Pass costs 40 euro for one day, 50 euro for three days and 60 euro for seven days, and every tier includes the City Walls plus Lovrjenac Fortress, a string of museums, and a bus ticket lasting as long as the pass. Lokrum appears nowhere on the inclusion list, in any tier, at any price. The pass is sold as a summer product only, running 1 March to 30 November.

The full inclusion list is longer than most visitors expect. Every tier lists "City Walls + Lovrjenac Fortress" as its first line, then the Rector's Palace, the Maritime Museum, the Ethnographic Museum, Marin Držić House, the Dubrovnik Natural History Museum, the Friars Minor Franciscan Monastery Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Dulčić-Masle-Pulitika Gallery, Pulitika Studio and the archaeological exhibitions. The three-day and seven-day tiers add House Bukovac in Cavtat, plus suburban bus coupons that cover the ride out there. The one-day tier carries a 24-hour city bus ticket. You can read the full tiles on the official pass site, and it is worth doing, because the checkout spells out the one limit that catches people: each sight, the walls included, can be visited once per pass.

The value logic of the pass is a main-season story, and I want to be precise about it because it is the comparison that makes people assume Lokrum must be included. In main season, 1 March to 30 November, the standalone City Walls ticket costs 40 euro on its own, and that ticket is actually the walls plus Fort Lovrijenac combination. The one-day pass costs the same 40 euro and adds roughly ten more sights plus the bus ticket. That is a strong deal if you will use even two of the museums. In December the walls ticket drops to 20 euro and no pass tier is on sale at all, so the "pass costs the same as the walls" line only holds in the main season. Our longer breakdown of the whole question lives in is the Dubrovnik Pass worth it, and the cluster guide on the Dubrovnik Pass lists every inclusion in detail.

Where Lokrum sits in all this: outside it. The island is a protected nature reserve managed by its own public institution, not a municipal museum, and the pass's inclusion list is built entirely from city-run and city-partnered cultural institutions. There is no ferry product of any kind on the pass, not to Lokrum, not to Cavtat, not to the Elaphiti Islands. If a reseller or a forum post tells you otherwise, they are describing something the pass operator itself does not sell.

Here is the practical side-by-side, which answers most of the follow-up questions in one glance:

That 42 euro combined ticket is the one genuine bundle involving Lokrum, and it comes from the Lokrum Reserve itself rather than from the pass. It pairs the island with Trsteno Arboretum, the historic gardens up the coast, and uses an air-conditioned boat. If your plan already included Trsteno, it undercuts buying the two separately.

If your day is walls in the morning and island in the afternoon, the arithmetic is simple: 40 euro for the pass or the walls ticket, plus 30 euro for Lokrum with its boat. Before you lock that in, there is a third option worth knowing about, a boat tour that includes a Betina Cave swim stop with an optional Lokrum landing, which I will come back to further down.

How Long Is the Ferry Ride From Dubrovnik to Lokrum Island?

The official Lokrum boats leave the City Harbour at 09:00, then every 15 minutes from 10:00 to 18:00, and the crossing is a short hop across to the island visible from the Old Town walls. Neither the Lokrum Reserve's site nor its official schedule PDF states a crossing time in minutes, so I will not print one either. The Luža ticket office works 08:00 to 18:00, and a ticket stays usable for three days.

That departure pattern matters more than the crossing time anyway, because it removes every reason to rush. You do not book a specific sailing. You buy your ticket, you walk to the harbour, and you join whichever boat is next, with a 15-minute ceiling on your wait for almost the whole day. The first boat at 09:00 is the one that fills fastest in high season, because day-trippers want the island to themselves before the crowds build, and the last returns leave the island in the early evening, which is worth confirming on the day if you are planning a sunset-side visit. Other pages covering the same trip are gathered on Things to Do in Dubrovnik.

A few practical notes from the harbour itself. The boats leave from the City Harbour, the old port inside the Old Town, not from Gruž where the big ferries and cruise ships dock. The Luža ticket office is right there, so the buy-and-board flow takes minutes. Your ticket is valid for three days from the date printed on it, which gives you a free retry if the weather turns, and the Adriatic can turn quickly in October. The Lokrum Reserve's official site carries the current schedule PDF, and it is the only source I would trust for last-minute seasonal changes.

One thing that trips people up: the 30 euro Lokrum ticket covers the return boat whether you ride the official ferry or arrange your own transport. Kayakers, private boats and tour boats all land on Lokrum, and the island's entry fee is baked into that same ticket. You cannot skip the fee by arriving under your own steam, which is a fair system, but it surprises people who assumed the 30 euro was a ferry fare. It is not. It is the island, with the ferry attached.

If you are weighing the ferry against a tour boat, the comparison is not really about the crossing. The ferry is a shuttle, plain and simple. Tour boats add stops the ferry does not make, most famously Betina Cave, the sea cave just off the island that you can swim inside. More on that below, because it changes the value calculation.

Is It Worth Going to Lokrum Island?

Yes, for most visitors Lokrum is worth the 30 euro, especially if you treat it as a half-day rather than a quick photo stop. The island is a protected botanical reserve with free-roaming peacocks, a Benedictine monastery ruin, a small saltwater lake called the Dead Sea, and swimming off rocky shelves in water that stays swimmable into October. The main exceptions are visitors on a tight one-day itinerary or anyone expecting a beach resort.

I will be honest about what Lokrum is not, because mismatched expectations are the only bad reviews the island gets. There is no sand. The swimming is off flat rocks and stone shelves, with sea urchins in the quieter corners, so water shoes earn their keep. There is no hotel and no village, just a café or two near the monastery in season. And the island closes to visitors in the evening, because it is a reserve first and an attraction second; the peacocks and the botanical gardens are the point, not a backdrop.

What Lokrum does better than anywhere else within sight of the Old Town is quiet. The walled city runs at a density that the official counting system measures in real time, with six counters at every Old Town entrance updating a headcount every 15 minutes against an official carrying capacity of 11,275 people. Lokrum has a capacity too, enforced by the boat schedule, and it never feels like that. You can sit on a warm rock at the Dead Sea, the small saltwater lake on the island's southern side, and hear nothing but cicadas and the odd peacock. For anyone spending three days inside the walls, that contrast alone is worth the ticket.

The Game of Thrones angle is real as well. Lokrum stood in for parts of Qarth, and the island's visitor area includes a throne replica that has become a photo ritual for fans of the show. If that is your reason for going, the Game of Thrones locations guide maps every filming site in and around the city, and there is a dedicated tour that pairs the Old Town locations with an Lokrum landing, which I will mention again in a moment.

Timing advice, from someone who has watched the boats for years: go in the morning. The 09:00 sailing gets you the island at its emptiest, the monastery gardens still cool, the swimming rocks uncrowded. By early afternoon the day-trip waves arrive and the paths near the harbour fill up. September and October are the sweet spot overall, and not only for the island: the sea is still holding its summer warmth, with the long-run September average for this coast at about 23.6 degrees and October at about 21.0, both open-water figures rather than beach readings, so sheltered spots like the Dead Sea run warmer still.

Here is a quick planner for what a Lokrum half-day actually looks like:

Is It Worth It to Go to Lokrum Island by Tour Instead?

For many visitors, yes, a boat tour beats the plain ferry, because the tour adds Betina Cave, a swimmable sea cave the ferry sails straight past. The Dubrovnik: Lokrum Island (optional) and Betina Cave Boat Tour runs from $39.42 per person, is rated 4.6 across 1,154 reviews, and bundles the cave swim with an optional Lokrum landing, so you see both faces of the island in one booking.

That is the tour this article routes to, and the reason is structural rather than promotional. The official ferry answers one question, how do I get to Lokrum. The tour answers a bigger one, what is the best water-based half-day from the Old Town. Betina Cave sits just off Lokrum's coast, a gaping sea cave you can swim inside when the conditions allow, and no scheduled ferry stops there. The tour's "optional" Lokrum landing means you can ride out, swim the cave, then step onto the island, effectively folding the two experiences together.

There is a kayaking version of the same idea for the more energetic. A guided kayak tour around Lokrum and Betina Cave runs about two hours from $35.49 per person, rated 4.9 across 1,518 reviews, and puts you at water level the whole way. Paddling out under the walls and across to the island is one of the classic Dubrovnik experiences, and the cave swim break is built in. The trade-off is effort: it is a real paddle, and in July and August the midday sun makes the morning departures the sane choice.

The Game of Thrones crowd has its own Lokrum option. The Original Game of Thrones Tour with Lokrum and the throne runs from $25.57 per person, rated 4.8 across 6,132 reviews, and its final hour is on the island itself, standing where Qarth was filmed. One recent review calls it a brilliant day and specifically recommends booking the extra Lokrum hour, noting it also helps you get your bearings in the Old Town. That is the pattern I see consistently: the tours that end on Lokrum leave people with a better mental map of the whole city than the ones that stay inside the walls.

For the sake of completeness, the free option: no, you cannot walk to Lokrum, and no, there is no free boat. Every arrival pays the island's entry, folded into the 30 euro ticket or into a tour price. The genuinely free things in this city are elsewhere, and our free things to do in Dubrovnik guide covers them, including the GuruWalk pay-what-you-want Old Town walks that cost nothing up front.

So the honest decision tree looks like this. If you want maximum Lokrum time and minimum cost, take the official ferry on the 30 euro ticket. If you want the cave swim and the island in one arc, book the Betina Cave tour. If you want to work for your views, kayak. And if your day is already wall-to-wall with the City Walls and museums on the pass, skip Lokrum this trip rather than sprinting it, because the island rewards the unhurried.

Common Questions About the Dubrovnik Pass and Lokrum Island

Does the Dubrovnik pass include a ferry to Lokrum Island?

No. The pass covers the City Walls, Lovrjenac Fortress, a set of museums and a bus ticket, and Lokrum appears nowhere on its inclusion list in any tier. The Lokrum Reserve sells its own 30 euro ticket, which includes the island entry and the return boat transfer together.

How Much Does It Cost to Enter Lokrum Island?

The Lokrum ticket is 30 euro per person, and it covers both the reserve entry and the return boat transfer, whether you ride the official boat or arrange your own transport. A combined Dubrovnik, Trsteno, Lokrum ticket at 42 euro adds Trsteno Arboretum and an air-conditioned boat.

Do I Need to Book the Lokrum Ferry in Advance?

No. Boats leave the City Harbour at 09:00, then every 15 minutes from 10:00 to 18:00, and you join whichever sailing is next. The ticket office at Luža works 08:00 to 18:00, and a ticket stays usable for three days, which covers you if the weather turns.

Is the Dubrovnik Pass Worth It Without Lokrum?

In main season, yes, often. The one-day pass costs 40 euro, the same as the standalone walls plus Lovrjenac ticket, and adds roughly ten more sights plus a 24-hour bus ticket. The comparison only holds from 1 March to 30 November: in December the walls ticket drops to 20 euro and no pass tier is on sale.

Can You Swim on Lokrum Island?

Yes, off rocky shelves and in the Dead Sea, the island's small saltwater lake. There is no sand, so water shoes help. The long-run September average for this coast is about 23.6 degrees and October about 21.0, open-water figures, with sheltered spots like the Dead Sea running warmer.