Free walking tour

Small-group free walking tour of Dubrovnik city walls

 

Did you know that in 2022 more than 700,000 people walked the city walls of Dubrovnik? This year, with the increase of international travel, this number is likely to be even higher. However, only a small percentage of those 700,000 decided to book a guided walking tour of the city walls. Were they deterred by the extra cost? After all, at 35 euros per person, the ticket for the walls isn’t really cheap, so why should anyone pay 25 or 35 euros on top of that for a guided tour?

It is true that you don’t need to have a guide to walk around the walls. You can do it yourselves. Well, you could, but there’s little reward from just walking around without knowing anything about the history of the walls, the forts and the towers. There aren’t any information plaques or historical markers to read from and learn about the history. There is no option to rent an audio guide either.

We believe that the history and heritage of our hometown Dubrovnik should be available to everyone who wants to discover it. We’ve decided to offer a value-for-value model of our walking tour of the city walls. Here’s the deal: we’ll take you on a pay-what-you-want guided tour of the walls. Unlike the regular tour, which takes two hours and goes all the way around the walls, this one is a bit different – our guide will give you a free tour of only the northern stretch of the walls and it will take a little longer than one hour.

Think about it: either way, you were planning on buying the ticket for the walls and walking them, right? Why not learn something along the way? We will have nine designated stops where your guide will explain the structure of the walls, how and when they were built, historic rivalries with Venice and the Ottoman Empire and the troubled history of Dubrovnik. We’ll also cover the recent war in the 1990s and the attacks on Dubrovnik. You will hear about the everyday life inside the walls and the love-hate relationship that Dubrovnik has with tourism.

Ok, what’s the catch, we hear you asking? Why are we giving this tour for free? To be honest, it’s because we hate the fact that of all those 700,000 people that we mentioned at the beginning, 90% will go back home without ever having discovered the amazing history of our hometown Dubrovnik. They’ll just say: “Yeah, it was great, we did the walls, we took amazing pictures… yeah!” And that’s it for them. Well, we will show you that there’s more to it!

The concept and practice of free walking tours has become widespread and we’re sure that you are already familiar with the idea. You don’t have to pay anything upfront. Meet your local guide and let them create a much more memorable experience of the walls than you’d get from just… well, walking them! At the end of our tour, you decide how much the experience was worth to you, and reward your guide accordingly.

We believe this is a fair deal, eliminating the risk of disappointment and buyer’s remorse if you actually had to pay a fixed price upfront. Think of this kind of tour as a friendly win-win exchange centered on value and trust. We trust that you will value your guide’s knowledge, time and effort they put into the tour and that you will reward them appropriately.

Remember: even on this free tour of the city walls we’ll stay true to our promise of delivering a more personal and enjoyable tour experience by capping the number of guests at a maximum of eight! We want you to have a good time; we don’t want you to be herded around in a group of 20+!

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to experience the city walls in a deeper and more engaging way – book your place on this unusual free tour of the walls that, to the best of our knowledge, no-one else is offering! See you on the city walls, friends, and let’s discover the history of Dubrovnik together!

Tour schedule:

 The tour departs on select dates only! Here's the schedule for March 2024:

  • Monday 11, 18 and 25 at 10 am
  • Tuesday 12, 19 and 26 at 10 am
  • Thursday 7, 14, 21 and 28 at 10 am
  • Saturday 16, 23 and 30 at 10 am
  • Sunday 10 and 24 at 10 am

Tour features and benefits:


1. Pay-what-you want: There is no set price for this tour. If you didn’t like the tour (you will, we promise ;) you don’t have to pay anything. If you did, we trust that you will reward your guide appropriately, at your own discretion. Eliminate the risk of disappointment and buyer’s remorse.


2. One half guided tour, one half do-your-own-thing: We’ll guide you along the northern stretch of the walls. We’ll have nine stops along the way. You will learn about the history of the walls. After the tour, the guide will say bye-bye to you and you might as well continue walking the walls at your own pace. Take as many photos as you want, sit down for a drink and watch the sunset…just enjoy!

 
3. Small-group setting: Eight guests per guide is the maximum we take on our tours. This free tour of the city walls is no exception. Get to know your local guide, talk to other guests on the tour (if you want ;)...don’t be strangers, it’s not like a super-huge tour group of more than 20 with earpieces… The tour is more personal and relaxed.

Tour itinerary:

 

  1. Group meeting at the small square near Ploče gate, next to fort Revelin: meet your guide and fellow travelers. Brief explanation about the concept of the free tour – how many stops there will be, how long it is going to take and where the tour will finish.
  2. Enter the walls at St. Luke’s entrance: buy the ticket for the walls (you know you have to buy them either way…) or skip the line with Dubrovnik Pass – absolutely recommended, order it online here.
  3. The Old harbor: the importance of shipping and trade in the times of old Dubrovnik and how the Old harbor was a strategically important center of commerce centuries ago.
  4. The northeastern corner tower of the walls: fort Revelin explained and its role in the 1991 war in Croatia and the attacks on Dubrovnik.
  5. Dominican monastery: how the walls were always built to protect and extended when necessary in order to defend the vulnerable corners of the town.
  6. St. James' tower: the war in 1991 explained and how the Old town was bombarded and badly damaged during the attacks by the Yugoslav army, the Serbs and the Montenegrins.
  7. St. Catherine's tower: Dubrovnik’s diplomacy and relations with Venice and the Ottoman Empire explained and how Dubrovnik survived and protected its freedom surrounded by political giants of the 15th and 16th centuries.
  8. Minčeta tower: the highest point of the city walls and one of the most impressive towers. Historical armament explained, the number of cannons and how far they could fire.
  9. Above the basketball court: the old gun foundry hidden under the playground.
  10. Upper corner tower of the western walls: an in-depth explanation of the engineering behind the walls, their construction, how thick and how high they are and how they were built to adapt to different warfare techniques.
  11. St. Francis' tower – the final stop of the tour. Franciscan monastery explained followed by the grand finale of the tour with a quiz at the end! Say goodbye to your tour guide, make sure to reward them and feel free to continue walking the walls at your own pace, now enriched with new knowledge.

How to book:

 

Advance booking is required! Send us an e-mail with the subject "Free tour of the City Walls", how many people you're booking for, your names and phone number for any last-minute changes. Your booking is only confirmed when we reply and say that it's confirmed! Alternatively, send us a WhatsApp message here.