Dubrovnik

Is Dubrovnik safe?

Yes, and for crime it is one of the safest big tourist destinations in Europe. Croatian police recorded 1 homicide and 2 robberies in the whole of Dubrovnik-Neretva county in 2025, in a county of about 116,000 people that takes in millions of summer visitors. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary describes crime in Croatia as low and violent crime as rare.

What needs care in Dubrovnik is everything around the crime figures: crowds in a small walled town, July heat on bare stone, a winding coast road with one of the higher death rates in the country, and the strongest earthquake record in Croatia. We score Dubrovnik 78, just behind Split (80) and ahead of Venice (76), the other walled town whose problems come from its own popularity.

Crowds, pickpockets and bills

Theft is low here by any European standard. Police recorded 166 thefts in the county in 2025, about 143 per 100,000 residents, and 69 burglaries and other aggravated thefts. For comparison, Heraklion's regional unit in Crete, another place with low theft, had 222 thefts per 100,000 in 2024 (Eurostat). Even so, the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary notes that pickpockets work tourist areas across Croatia, and Dubrovnik's tourist area is unusually concentrated. Pile Gate, the Stradun, the queue for the city walls and the cable car, and the old harbour are where the crowd is thickest.

The Dubrovnik Port Authority's rules for 2026 cap cruise visitors at 4,000 in the city at the same time, which still adds a ship's worth of people to a few narrow streets. The Old Town is calmer early in the morning and in the evening.

The money problems visitors report are mostly overcharging. The FCDO warns that some "gentlemen's clubs" in Croatia have charged tourists thousands of euros and threatened those who would not pay. In restaurants, check menu prices before you order, especially for fish.

Rules and fines

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary names Dubrovnik among the Croatian towns where police give on-the-spot fines for behaviour that is legal in many resorts: drinking alcohol in public, sleeping in public spaces, urinating or vomiting in the street, or walking through town shirtless or in swimwear. Euronews puts these fines at up to 700 euros. Public order offences such as fighting, shouting or drunken behaviour can cost up to 4,000 euros. None of this is a danger, but it is easy to get caught out on the way back from the beach.

Is Dubrovnik safe at night?

Yes. Dubrovnik is not part of the EU's 2023 survey of how safe residents feel, so we use Zagreb, the only Croatian city in it: 80% of Zagreb residents said they feel safe walking alone at night in their city and 91% in their own neighbourhood, against 40% in Athens. The police figures back this up: with 2 robberies in the whole county in 2025, street robbery is close to unknown. The Old Town stays lit and busy until late in summer.

The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary reports sexual assaults in taxis in Croatia. Use a taxi app, photograph the taxi number, and send it to someone. The more common night hazard is physical: steep, polished limestone steps that turn slick after rain or a few drinks.

Roads, heat and the sea

Traffic is the factor that pulls Dubrovnik down. Police counted 9 road deaths in the county in 2025, 13 in 2024 and 8 in 2023, about 8.6 per 100,000 residents a year, against 6.8 for Croatia as a whole. The rate covers the whole county, including the Neretva valley and the coast road, where most driving happens. Inside the city walls there are no cars at all, but the rest of the city is not car-free, so the walk in from Gruž or Lapad and every transfer still count.

Summer heat is the everyday health risk. The city walls offer little shade, so walk them early or late, carry water and wear a hat. Dubrovnik General Hospital runs a 24-hour emergency department; the region's main clinical hospital centre, KBC Split, is a long drive up the coast. Croatia's average PM2.5PM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary in 2024 was 13.8 µg/m³ (IQAir), above the WHO guideline; we found no official annual figure for Dubrovnik.

Earthquakes and wildfires

Geophysicists at the University of Zagreb describe the wider Dubrovnik area as the most tectonically active region of Croatia. The strongest recorded event, the Great Dubrovnik earthquake of 6 April 1667, is estimated at magnitude 6.8 to 7.2, and a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the region on 22 April 2022. Small tremors are frequent, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary notes that Croatian earthquakes can be strong enough to kill. In a town of old stone buildings, this is a real long-term risk. The FCDO also warns that wildfires are common in Croatia's hot, dry summers; lighting outdoor fires is illegal from June to October.

How to stay safe in Dubrovnik

• Walk the walls and the Stradun in the first hours after opening or in the evening, when cruise passengers have gone.
• Keep phones and wallets zipped and in front at Pile Gate, the cable car and the harbour.
• Avoid driving the coast road at night or after a long day in the sun; take the bus or a transfer.
• Wear shoes with grip: the polished stone streets are slippery, especially when wet.

How we scored it

Violent crime (92) is Dubrovnik's strongest factor, and walking at night (85) uses Zagreb's answer to the EU's 2023 survey, which we apply to every European city, because Dubrovnik was not surveyed. Theft and scams (80) reflect low police figures and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary's warnings about pickpockets and club overcharging. Traffic safety (56) is the weakest factor because of the county's road deaths, and natural hazards (65) reflect the area's earthquake record and summer fires.