Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is the one you've seen in photographs — the walled city on the Adriatic, honey-coloured stone against very blue water — and it is better in person. The Old Town is compact and car-free, the sea is a few steps from the walls, and the late afternoon light is worth the trip on its own.

Few cities announce themselves like Dubrovnik. Almost two kilometres of medieval wall wrap an old town of polished limestone streets and red-tiled roofs, and beyond them the Adriatic runs out flat and blue. It sits at the southern end of Croatia's Dalmatian coast, where the mountains drop straight into the sea, and it is one of the most beautiful places in Europe to spend a week.

The Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and entirely pedestrian — small enough to cross in fifteen minutes, rewarding enough to keep you all week. The Stradun runs through the middle of it, a broad limestone street worn smooth by six hundred years of footsteps, with narrow stepped lanes climbing away on either side. Around it you'll find the Rector's Palace, a Franciscan pharmacy that has been dispensing since 1317, and a walk along the top of the walls that gives you the whole city at once: rooftops, harbour, open sea on three sides. Go early or late, when the streets belong to the people who live in them.

There is a second Dubrovnik outside the gates, and a good holiday takes in both. The coast beyond the Old Town spreads into a series of green headlands and quiet bays, with promenades to stroll before dinner, cafés under the pines and rocky shelves where locals swim. The water is clear enough to count the stones on the bottom. For the view that explains the whole city, take the cable car up the hill behind it in the late afternoon and watch the light change over the rooftops.

Dubrovnik's season runs from April to October and it is lovely at both ends. Spring brings wildflowers, comfortable walking weather and a city that still feels like it belongs to itself. High summer is hot, bright and lively, with the sea at its warmest and long evenings outdoors. Autumn is the local secret — warm water, softer light, quiet mornings on the Stradun and a table free at the restaurants everyone wants a table at.