Dubrovnik Hotels With Rooftop Bars, Ranked
Rooftop bar terrace over the Old Town of Dubrovnik at dusk
The 8 hotel rooftops where the sunset drink is worth the €18 cocktail, and the two that aren’t.
What counts as a rooftop here
Dubrovnik's building code is strict, its topography is dramatic and its Old Town is a UNESCO site — which means genuine hotel rooftops are rare and mostly outside the walls. Inside the walls, a "rooftop" is often a fifth-floor terrace hemmed in by taller buildings. Outside the walls, particularly in Ploče and on the Lapad cliffs, hotels have proper open-sky bars with the view you actually want. This list only ranks rooftops that meet three tests: they’re open to non-guests (so you can visit even if you’re staying elsewhere), the bar serves proper cocktails not just wine, and the view is unobstructed by other buildings from at least one seating area.
Prices below are for a signature cocktail in June 2026 — expect €14-22 across the board, which is high by Croatian standards but roughly in line with a Venice or Amalfi hotel bar. All these rooftops open around 5pm and run until 11pm or midnight; sunset is the moment that matters and in June that's around 8:30pm. Book a table by 7pm on weekends between May and September or you’ll be standing.
1. Above 5 Rooftop, Hotel Stari Grad, Old Town
The only genuine rooftop inside the walls with a clear line of sight to the Cathedral dome, the bell tower and the city walls. The bar seats maybe 30 people on a stone terrace, so it fills fast — reservations are essential from May onwards and non-guests are allowed only if there's space. Cocktails €14-18, well made, short list heavy on rakija-based drinks. The Stari Grad is only 8 rooms and the rooftop is technically for guests but they’ll seat outsiders who book ahead.
The catch is that you’re paying for the position, not the drinks program, which is decent but not innovative. And the terrace is exposed — no shade until sunset, no shelter if the bura wind kicks up. Come at 7:30pm in shoulder season for the golden light on the Cathedral and stay through blue hour. If it's booked out, the Panorama restaurant at the top of the Srđ cable car has a similar view for less money and no reservation, but no cocktail program worth naming.
2. Gaffe Panorama, Hotel Kompas, Lapad
Rooftop bar on top of the Kompas overlooking Lapad Bay, west-facing, sunset directly in front of you across the water. Bigger than Above 5 — seats 60 or so — and easier to walk into. Cocktail list is more ambitious, with a serious focus on Croatian spirits and local herbs; the rosemary gin sour is genuinely good and runs €15. Non-guests are welcome without a reservation before 6pm; after 6pm on weekends, book. Kitchen serves small plates until 10pm and the burrata with figs is worth ordering.
The trade-off is the view: Lapad Bay is beautiful but it's a swimming bay, not the Old Town, so you get sunset and open water rather than the postcard walls. For most travellers that's an easy win — the drinks are better, the space is more comfortable, and the sunset is unobstructed. Take the 6 or 4 bus from Pile and you’re there in 15 minutes. This is the rooftop I’d send a friend to on a first trip who wants one great drink and doesn’t need it to be at the Cathedral.
3. Roof Bar, Hotel Excelsior, Ploče
The Excelsior's rooftop looks directly at the Old Town walls across the harbour, and the view competes with any bar in the Mediterranean. Cocktails €16-22 and the menu leans classic — Negronis, martinis, aviation — rather than experimental. Reservation required for non-guests and enforced at the door. It's a slightly formal room, no shorts and t-shirts after 7pm, and the crowd skews older and better dressed than the Kompas rooftop. This is the rooftop for a proper occasion, not a casual drink.
The honest weakness is that you’re inside a large hotel's public space rather than on a dedicated rooftop, so the ambience is more "hotel bar upstairs" than "destination rooftop." If the weather turns, they retract you inside seamlessly, which is either reassuring or disappointing depending on what you came for. Come here for a first-night anniversary drink at sunset with the walls glowing across the water and you’ll leave happy. Come for a party crowd and you’re in the wrong place.
4. Bellevue Bar, Hotel Bellevue, Boninovo
West-facing rooftop above Miramare Bay, and the best pure sunset view on this list because you’re looking straight into it over open Adriatic. Cocktails €15-19, the bar program is stronger than the Excelsior's — more experimental, more use of Croatian botanicals — and the space is more contemporary. Non-guests welcome, book on weekends. The vibe is calmer than Lapad, closer to a resort bar than a destination rooftop, but the sunset itself does the heavy lifting.
You’re in Boninovo, which is nowhere for dinner, so plan to eat elsewhere before or after. A taxi to the Old Town is €12 and takes six minutes. The rooftop is small — 40-ish seats — and the sunset table by the corner is the one to book. Ask for "the corner two-top on the west side" specifically. In shoulder season you can walk in at 6pm and get it; in July, reserve a week ahead. Cocktails arrive slowly if the bar's busy, so order two on the first round.
5-8. The rest
5. Sky Bar, Rixos Premium Dubrovnik, Lapad tip: big, resort-style, DJ some nights, more scene than view but the drinks are competent and the crowd is younger. €14-18 cocktails, walk-in usually fine. 6. Vapor Bar, Hotel More: not technically a rooftop but a clifftop terrace, which counts here — view is west into open sea, drinks are excellent and the setting is dramatic. €15-19. 7. Bar Above, Prijeko Palace, Old Town: 9-room boutique with a tiny terrace that seats 20; view is over red-tile roofs to the walls. Charming, cramped, book far ahead. €14-17.
8. The Pucić Palace terrace, Gundulićeva Poljana: technically street level not rooftop, but the terrace above the square with view of the produce market at dawn earns a place. Wine-forward not cocktail-forward. €10-14 for wines by the glass. Skip: the "panoramic bar" at Hotel Lero (view is a parking lot and a distant church tower — misleading listing) and the rooftop at Valamar Lacroma, which is really a fourth-floor pool bar with no view of anything except the pool below.
How to time it
In June, sunset is 8:30pm and the golden hour on the Old Town walls runs 7:45 to 8:15pm. Aim to be seated by 7:15pm with a drink in hand. In September, sunset is 7pm and the equivalent window is 6:15 to 6:45pm — an hour and a half earlier, which catches a lot of travellers off guard. In April and October, expect wind: the bura from the northeast can shut down exposed rooftops with 15 minutes' notice, and the Excelsior and Bellevue will move you inside without discussion. Kompas and More are more sheltered.
One tactical note: if you’re staying in the Old Town but the good rooftops are outside the walls, plan the evening around the drink, not the walk home. From Ploče (Excelsior) it's a 10-minute downhill walk back to Pile Gate. From Lapad it's a bus or €10 taxi. Book a table at 6:30pm, be out by 8:30pm, and you’re back at your hotel for dinner without missing the sunset. Doing this backwards — dinner then rooftop — means you arrive after the light is gone and you’re paying €18 for a drink at a night view.
Before you book
What people ask before booking Pile.
Yes, at all of them, with the caveat that Above 5 at the Stari Grad and Bar Above at Prijeko Palace are small and prioritise hotel guests. Book ahead by phone or email — most don’t take online reservations for non-guests — and mention the specific time and party size.
The Roof Bar at Hotel Excelsior in Ploče, unambiguously. You’re looking across the harbour at the walls from the level of the top ramparts, with Lokrum island behind them. Above 5 at the Stari Grad has a view from inside the walls, which is different — closer, more intimate, but you can’t see the walls themselves.
Mixed. The Kompas Gaffe Panorama and the Bellevue rooftop have serious drinks programs using Croatian herbs and spirits, worth the €15-18. The Excelsior and Above 5 are competent but classical — you’re paying for the view. Rixos leans quantity over quality. All are €4-6 above street-level bar prices in the city.
