Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik’s Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site of extraordinary completeness and beauty. The city walls — up to six metres thick and 25 metres high in places — enclose a remarkable concentration of Baroque and Renaissance architecture that survived centuries of political change largely intact. Walking the full circuit of the walls (roughly two kilometres) is the single best way to understand Dubrovnik’s geography and appreciate the drama of its position: city on one side, the impossibly blue Adriatic on the other.

Within the walls, the Stradun (or Placa) is Dubrovnik’s gleaming main thoroughfare — a broad, limestone-paved pedestrian street flanked by rebuilt baroque buildings housing cafes, restaurants and shops. The Rector’s Palace, the Cathedral, the Franciscan Monastery (with one of Europe’s oldest pharmacies still in operation) and the Sponza Palace are the principal architectural highlights along the Stradun’s side streets.

Beyond the walls, the Dubrovnik area offers further pleasures. Lokrum Island, a ten-minute boat trip from the old city, is a forested nature reserve with peacocks, a saltwater lake and excellent swimming. The Elaphiti Islands to the north-west — Kolocep, Lopud and Sipan — are delightfully quiet and best explored by day boat. Mount Srđ above the city, reached by cable car, offers a panoramic view of the old town, coast and distant islands that is among the finest in the Mediterranean.

Dubrovnik is best visited in May, June or September when the weather is excellent and the summer crowds are more manageable. It’s a remarkable destination that fully justifies its world-famous reputation.