Driving from Dubrovnik: Peljesac, Ston and the Elafiti Ferries
The peninsula, the oyster bay and the island boats, with real distances and the one rule people get wrong.
Same as pickup
Driving from Dubrovnik to Ston, step by step
The route is one road for almost all of it: the D8, the coast highway everyone here calls the Jadranska magistrala. No motorway, no toll, and since 2022 no border.
-
1
Start on the Gruz side of the city
No road passes through the walled town, so every northbound trip starts on the port side. Collecting in Gruz saves the slowest twenty minutes of the day.
-
2
Settle into the coast road
The D8 runs at 90 where it opens out and 50 through every village, alternating all morning. Plan on averaging well under the limit.
-
3
Take the Ston turn at about 55 km
Roughly an hour with a clear road. The turning drops to the narrow neck of the peninsula, where the walls climb the hill above the salt pans.
-
4
Work out whether the bridge is part of your day
Probably not. The Peljesac Bridge opened in July 2022, is free to cross, and links Komarna to the far end of the peninsula. Coming up from Dubrovnik, Ston needs no crossing.
-
5
Fill the tank before the ridge road
Past Ston the D414 climbs the spine toward Orebic: about 70 km of ridge and switchback that takes an hour and a half, not the fifty minutes the map suggests.
The cheapest three on your dates
This drive asks nothing special of a car. A small manual does the whole peninsula and parks more easily at both ends.
€/day
Compact and economy
30 cars in the city. Live prices appear once you pick dates.
Family and estate
38 cars, the largest group in the city.
SUV and crossover
27 cars, though nothing in the city is four-wheel drive.
Four reasons the drive is worth the fuel
The Ston walls
Built to guard the salt, not the town. The stone runs over the hill to Mali Ston, and it is a real climb.
The oyster beds
The bay is farmed, not fished. The racks are visible from the road, and the quayside tables fill up in season.
The wine slopes
Around Potomje the vines sit on gradients that look like a mistake. A single-lane tunnel through the ridge opens onto the seaward side.
The far end at Orebic
The channel narrows and Korcula sits close enough to read. At this range, a day trip becomes a night away.
55 km
City to Ston on the D8. About an hour, longer on an August afternoon.
125 km
On to Orebic at the far tip. Two and a half hours each way.
July 2022
The Peljesac Bridge opened. No toll, and no passport check near it.
0
Hire cars on Lopud, ever. It has no roads, and neither does Kolocep.
Half a day, a full day, or a day off the car
Decide which of these three days you are having before you set off. Two of them use the car very differently.
About five hours door to door
Two hours of driving, split either side of Ston and Mali Ston. That leaves the walls, a walk down to the bay and a long lunch, and gets you home before evening. It survives a late start.
Leave early, and mean it
Orebic and back is roughly 250 km and five hours at the wheel, on a ridge road you do not want to learn in the dark. Add the wine villages and you either start at eight or stay the night.
The car stays in Gruz
Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan are a boat ride from the ferry berths, not a drive. Park near the port and spend the day on foot. One island fills a half day. All three fills the whole one.
The island day, in the order it happens
Nobody writes this part down, which is why it catches people out at the gate.
-
First thing: park in Gruz
The lots and the garage by the port are minutes from the berths, which is the whole reason to base the day here.
-
At the counter: a passenger ticket
There is no vehicle deck to book on these runs, so the only choice is the sailing. Buy the return leg now and photograph the timetable.
-
Twenty minutes out: Kolocep
The closest and smallest of the three. No cars on it at all, so the paths between the two villages are the transport.
-
Mid morning: Lopud
A curved harbour and a walk over the hill to the sand at Sunj. Nothing with a number plate. This is the island people mean when they ask about a car ferry.
-
Around noon: Sipan, then the last boat
The largest Elafiti island and the only one with roads, though the boat that brings you is still a passenger ferry. Check the return sailing before you settle in: outside July and August the timetable thins to a few boats a day.
The Elafiti islands and the car ferry that does not exist
This is the one fact on the page worth reading twice. Lopud and Kolocep are car free. Not restricted, not permit only. Neither island has a road network to put a vehicle on, and the boats leaving Gruz for them are passenger ferries with no vehicle deck. You cannot take a hire car to Lopud. Sipan does have roads, but the service from Dubrovnik is still a boat for people.
Plenty of visitors arrive searching for an Elafiti islands car ferry and build a morning around one. The better plan is simpler: leave the car in Gruz, walk to the berths, take the boat and come back for it in the evening. If you do find a vehicle service out here, ask your supplier first. Rental contracts have opinions about boats.
Wine country, and who is driving home
Peljesac is why people who care about Croatian wine come this far south, and the cellars around Potomje are set up for visitors. That runs into the other fact about this road. The Croatian limit is 0.05 percent, and zero for drivers under 24. Decide who is driving before the first cellar, or book a room up there and make it two days.
Before you set off
- Fuel in or before Ston, not halfway along the ridge.
- Keep daylight in hand. The D414 is a poor road to learn after dark.
- Agree who is not tasting before anyone pours anything.
- If a boat is in the plan, know the last sailing first.
Rent a car in Dubrovnik with flexible no deposit or low deposit choices. Explore the area with full insurance, unlimited mileage, and zero booking stress.
Fleet inspector
·
↑ ↓ move through the results · ← → step the photos
· ·
€ ·
Full record
- €
- €
Insurance options and the full rental terms are confirmed before you pay.
Questions from people planning this drive
No. Both islands are car free, with no road network for a vehicle, and the Elafiti boats from Gruz are passenger ferries with no vehicle deck. Sipan has roads, but the service is still a passenger boat. Leave the car in Gruz.
No. Ston sits at the neck of the peninsula, straight off the D8 about 55 km north of the city. The bridge is the northbound link toward Split from Komarna. It opened in July 2022 and it is free.
Close to an hour with a clear road, and half an hour longer in July and August when the D8 fills with coaches. The limit alternates between 90 and 50 the whole way.
Only if you start early. Orebic is about 125 km out, two and a half hours each way, so the return is five hours of driving. Ston and Mali Ston alone make a comfortable half day.
In Gruz. The open lots and the garage near the ferry berths are minutes from the gate, and the car is doing nothing useful anywhere else that day. Space goes early in season.
The peninsula needs a car. The islands do not.
Hire for the days you are driving Ston and Peljesac. Ride Dubrovnik searches the suppliers who really hold cars in Dubrovnik.
See all cars