A private tour flips the usual arrangement: your guide drives the Can-Am Maverick, you ride — no licence, no briefing, no convoy, just your own group of up to three and a route that covers far more of the city than any self-drive format can. There are two versions: the 2-hour chauffeur tour at €290 per vehicle, and the 3-hour tour at €330 that adds a 30-minute self-drive finale on the Srđ plateau. Both include hotel pickup anywhere in the city, both run by appointment daily from March to November, and both book and pay online in full by card — no more quote-and-wait.
How does a private tour work?
We collect you at your hotel or apartment at the agreed hour — the slots we hold open are 09:00, 10:00, 16:00 and 17:00, and other times are usually possible if you tell us at booking. From there it’s your vehicle, your guide, your pace: photo stops stretch when someone’s enjoying them, skip when nobody is, and the commentary adjusts to whoever’s aboard. The buggy is open-sided and unhurried in traffic — closer to a safari jeep experience than to the off-road convoys — and helmets are provided and worn throughout.
The 2-hour tour ends with drop-off back at your accommodation on request. The 3-hour tour ends on the summit at the upper cable-car station, next to the Panorama restaurant, so you can walk to Fort Imperial and ride the cable car back over the rooftops — 5 to 10 minutes down to the Old Town.
2-hour or 3-hour private buggy tour — which should you pick?
| 2-Hour Chauffeur Tour | 3-Hour Private Tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per vehicle | €290 | €330 |
| Guests | up to 3 | up to 3 |
| Who drives | your guide, the whole way | guide for 2 h, you for 30 min |
| Hotel pickup | included | included |
| Ends | drop-off on request | upper cable-car station, Mount Srđ |
| Extras | — | self-drive briefing, bottled water |
| Licence needed | no one needs one | only whoever drives the finale |
The €40 difference buys the self-drive half hour, which is why the 3-hour tour is the best-value line on our board — two formats in one booking. Choose the 2-hour version when nobody in the party wants (or is able) to drive: it’s the only tour we run where a driving licence is completely irrelevant, which makes it the right answer for grandparents, for travellers without licences, and for anyone who’d rather hold a camera than a wheel.
Where does the route go?
Both tours run the same coastal circuit before the climb. From your pickup it’s a short roll to Gruž harbour, where the ferries, the market and the working end of the city live; then around Lapad Bay and the pine-lined Babin Kuk peninsula, where the coast opens to the Adriatic and the Elaphiti channel. The Bridge viewpoint comes next — the Franjo Tuđman Bridge strung across the Rijeka Dubrovačka inlet, a stop most visitors never learn exists — and the route finishes with the climb up Mount Srđ to the panorama above the UNESCO-listed Old City, with Lokrum and the islands laid out beyond the walls.
It’s the geography lesson the Old Town can’t give you: in two hours you see where the city actually lives, works and swims, then look down on all of it at once from 400 metres.
Who is a private tour perfect for?
The short list:
- Travellers without a licence — the 2-hour chauffeur format is the only ride we run where a driving licence is completely irrelevant
- Couples — golden-hour circuits at 16:00 or 17:00, proposals engineered on request
- Families — kids from age five ride as full passengers, with nothing required of them
- Cruise passengers — pickup from the port at Gruž, comfortably inside a half-day ashore
- Photographers — an open-sided vehicle, stops that stretch, and a guide who knows the angles
In more detail: couples and honeymooners, for whom the 16:00 and 17:00 slots run the whole circuit into golden hour — proposals at the summit viewpoint have happened more than once, and if you’re planning one, say so at booking and your guide will engineer the moment. Families, because children from age five ride as full passengers with nothing required of them, and on the 3-hour version the licensed adults share the wheel at the top — our kids guide covers the practicalities. Travellers who simply don’t want to drive on holiday — the chauffeur format asks nothing of you but attention.
Cruise passengers take note: pickup can be arranged from the port at Gruž, and the 2-hour format fits comfortably inside a half-day ashore. The city tourist board lists what to do with the hours you’ll have left.
Not every review arrives in English — this one came in French, and we’re keeping it that way:
“au top !! guide très gentil une expérience vraiment à faire je vous recommande !! 😍😍😍”
— Romane · Google review
It sits among 750+ Google reviews averaging 5.0 — see the guest reviews page.
How do pricing and payment work?
Private tours are priced per vehicle, not per person — €290 or €330 covers one, two or three guests equally. At booking you pay the full amount by card via Stripe, which emails your receipt — there’s nothing to pay on the day. Cancellation is free up to 48 hours before the start, with a 100% refund to your card; inside 48 hours we refund 70% of what you paid. Dangerous weather is our call, made early — free rebooking or a full refund, your choice. Every number, including the self-drive tiers, sits on the price list.
What about groups larger than three?
Three guests per vehicle is a hard limit — the guide occupies a seat. Larger parties run as multiple vehicles in convoy or as staggered departures, and those we quote individually because vehicle count and timing move the price. Send dates, headcount and the occasion through the contact form or WhatsApp at +385 91 600 1201, and Paula will come back with a written quote, usually within the hour during opening hours (09:00–19:00). If most of your group holds licences, compare the self-drive tour first — it takes up to twenty people per departure and costs less per head.
If your dates are fixed, book early — two golden-hour slots per evening is all there is. Reserve your private tour online: pay by card today, then just be ready when we pick you up.
