Dubrovnik: Private Buggy Safari Tour with Pickup & Guide

4.76

(17 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I’ll be honest — I didn’t expect to start my day in Dubrovnik covered in a fine layer of dust and grinning like a kid. But that’s what happened after we met our guide just outside the city for this private buggy safari tour. The air smelled like wild herbs and something sweet from someone’s garden nearby. Our driver, Marko, handed us water bottles and gave a quick rundown (his English was better than mine after two coffees), then we buckled up in these Can-Am buggies that looked way too clean for what was coming.

The first stretch wound through Čelopeci, a village where stone houses peek out behind olive trees. It felt like time had slowed down — an old woman waved from her porch, chickens scattered across the road, and I swear I caught a whiff of woodsmoke. Then we hit the macadam section. Marko asked if we wanted to “see what the buggies can do” — my partner said yes before I could chicken out. The engine kicked up pebbles and laughter; it was bumpy but kind of addictive.

We stopped at Srd Hill for that classic panoramic view over Dubrovnik and the Elaphiti Islands. It’s one of those places where everyone goes quiet for a second — even Marko just leaned on the wheel and let us take it in. The light was sharp, almost blue around the edges, and you could see all the way to the sea. We passed Fort Imperial too, which he explained had seen both Napoleon’s troops and more recent battles (I tried to imagine cannon smoke mixing with today’s salty breeze). There were goats on the hillside — or maybe sheep? I’m still not sure.

By the end, my hair was wild and my shoes had picked up half of Croatia’s dust, but I felt oddly peaceful. Marko handed us a little box of local sweets as a surprise — fig something? — which tasted earthy and sticky in a good way. We rode back down toward town with the sun slanting low over Dubrovnik’s walls. Sometimes you need to shake things up just to remember where you are.