Most cars bookable for car hire at Dubrovnik Airport are based at the airport itself. Others are city-delivery cars or cars from another pick-up point in Dubrovnik, and each car shows its pick-up place before you pay.
The collection rules come from the rental terms for Croatia and the airport's own pages. The search for car rental at Dubrovnik Airport shows every car's own terms for your dates before you pay.
Which airport is Dubrovnik Airport?
The official name is Ruđer Bošković Airport, run by Zračna luka Dubrovnik d.o.o. It has been at its current site near the village of Čilipi since 1962, 22.5 km from Dubrovnik by the airport's own figure.
Arrivals are in passenger terminal building B, and taxis wait in front of it. The airport's official shuttle is run by Platanus, and public bus lines 11, 27 and 38 also serve the airport.
Where do I pick up my hire car at Dubrovnik Airport?
The airport says numerous car rental offices operate there, and its map marks a single point for rental cars, labelled parking lot and drop-off point. That is the car park routed times on this site start from.
The exact place you meet the rental company is written in your rental voucher. It can differ between companies, so read the voucher before you land.
Keep the phone number you booked with switched on. The rental terms for Croatia require it to be reachable throughout the rental and on the day before pick-up, by call or through Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram, and service complaints are not accepted if the renter could not be contacted.
What do I need to show at the handover?
A valid national driving licence with the details in Latin script. Its expiry date must not fall before the end of the rental, and copies and electronic licences are refused. If your licence is only valid in the country that issued it, bring an International Driving Permit as well: the terms strongly recommend it and it can be asked for.
The card, when the car needs one. Some cars require a physical embossed credit card in the main driver's name. Where a company accepts a debit card, the booking and the voucher say so, and that card must also be physical, personalised, embossed and in the main driver's name.
The driver's age and driving experience. Minimums are listed on each car's page and can vary even between similar models, and the rental agent may refuse the car at any time if the driver does not meet them.
Rental conditions
How does the deposit work at collection?
The deposit is set per car and shown before you pay; on part of the Dubrovnik supply it is zero. How it is held, and when it is refunded, is shown in the booking process and again in the rental voucher.
Most rental companies reserve the amount on the card rather than charging it. Some keep the deposit for 30 to 45 days after the car comes back, and if the company later receives a fine or a bill for an unpaid toll from your rental period, that amount is taken from the deposit, with administrative costs added for fines.
What are the fuel and rental-day rules?
Return the car with the same fuel level it had at collection. If it is lower you pay the difference at the rental company's rates; if it is higher you are not compensated.
The minimum chargeable period is 24 hours. Collect on Monday morning and return on Tuesday afternoon and you pay for two full days. To keep the car longer, tell the rental agent in advance.
Mileage limits are a per-car field. On every car checked for October 2026 no limit was stated, and the car's own page shows the current figure.
Where does the first drive from the airport go?
The D8 coast road runs from the airport towards Dubrovnik. The airport puts the average drive at 30 to 35 minutes and says to allow up to an hour in summer. The drive from the airport to Cavtat is shorter, about 10 minutes by routed time on local roads.
Driving into the Old Town area is restricted from 1 March to 30 November, and a rental car may enter the zone only with a prepaid parking reservation, registered accommodation parking or a stay at a hotel inside the zone. The traffic zone around the Old Town is enforced by video surveillance, and rental cars are not exempt.
| To | Distance | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Cavtat | 6 km | 10 min |
| Dubrovnik (Pile Gate) | 21 km | 30 min |
| Trebinje | 41 km | 50 min |
| Ston | 72 km | 1 h 25 |
What happens when I return the car at the airport?
Bring it back to the place named in the voucher, with the fuel level you collected it at, and clean enough to inspect: a car returned so dirty that it cannot be checked is washed at the customer's expense.
If anything happened during the rental, it should already have been reported. The terms require you to notify the rental agent immediately after an insured event and to obtain a police report unless the agent agrees otherwise, and they cancel the insurance if either step is missed. Standard cover excludes the wheels, the undercarriage, the windscreen and the interior, and missing either step is what cancels the rental car insurance under clause 6.
Does the EU Entry/Exit System affect my arrival?
The EES has been fully operational since 10 April 2026. It registers non-EU nationals on a short stay each time they cross the external borders of the 29 countries using it, and it replaces passport stamping. Dubrovnik Airport says it applies to its direct flights to or from the United Kingdom, Serbia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Ireland. EU citizens and citizens of Schengen-associated countries are not affected.
The same external-border rule applies again if you drive the car across the land borders into Montenegro or Bosnia and Herzegovina, which also need permission arranged by email with the booking help desk before the trip.
