Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is an extraordinary place. Vast walls, up to 80 feet tall, come complete with fortresses, towers, crenelations and an ancient footpath along the entire mile-and-a-quarter extent. The walls encircle an incredible stone-built red-roofed city, which juts out into the clearest, cleanest blue-green waters of the Adriatic. The streets are paved with time-polished pale marble, with the town’s harmony owing as much to the 17th-century rebuilding program following the Great Earthquake in 1667 as it does to Dubrovnik’s remarkable history, stretching back well over a thousand years. Of course Byron’s "Pearl of the Adriatic" is no secret, and ...

Dubrovnik is an extraordinary place. Vast walls, up to 80 feet tall, come complete with fortresses, towers, crenelations and an ancient footpath along the entire mile-and-a-quarter extent. The walls encircle an incredible stone-built red-roofed city, which juts out into the clearest, cleanest blue-green waters of the Adriatic. The streets are paved with time-polished pale marble, with the town’s harmony owing as much to the 17th-century rebuilding program following the Great Earthquake in 1667 as it does to Dubrovnik’s remarkable history, stretching back well over a thousand years. Of course Byron’s "Pearl of the Adriatic" is no secret, and you can’t expect to have the place to yourself; nevertheless, the city copes admirably with the influxes, and you’ll find a place full of cheerful cafés, bars and restaurants, wonderful architecture, intriguing museums, atmospheric churches and a world-famous Summer Festival. The entire old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As if that weren’t enough, the city even has its own perfect forested island, Lokrum, just a few hundred yards offshore.

About the Expert

Piers Letcher is the author of Croatia: the Bradt Travel Guide, Dubrovnik: the Bradt City Guide, and coauthor of Zagreb: the Bradt City Guide.