Places/Croatia

Dalmatia

Dubrovnik

A walled city on the Adriatic that is magnificent at dawn and a queue at the hour the ships are in.

Dubrovnik is a complete medieval city on a rock, and it has been loved hard. Two nights, with one of them begun early on the walls, is the way it still works. A stop from a ship is the way it doesn’t.

Croatia is in the Union, in Schengen, and uses the euro. The city is not a bargain and not a theme park, though parts of the main street try.

See

• The walls, at opening

  Book the first hour. The circuit is the sight. At noon in July it is a slow shuffle in the sun.

• The Stradun, then leave it

  The main street is a polished limestone room. Walk it. Eat elsewhere.

• A swim

  Banje or a ladder off the rocks outside the walls. Bring shoes. The Adriatic is clear and not soft underfoot.

• A viewpoint you walk to

  Mount Srđ if the cable car is running and the heat allows, or the city walls’ own views if you have already paid for them. One is enough.