Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a city of white stone on the Adriatic, ringed by walls that drop straight into the sea. The circuit of the Dubrovnik City Walls runs for two kilometres above the red-tiled roofs, blue water on one side and narrow lanes on the other. Below, a single broad street of limestone polished to a shine crosses the old town, between the Sponza Palace and the courtyard of the Rector's Palace, where the small republic of Ragusa once ran its merchant fleet. At the harbour mouth, Fort Lovrijenac stands on a thirty-seven-metre rock. The Dubrovnik Cable Car climbs in a few minutes to the top of Mount Srđ, where the coast and the islands line up into the distance. People swim right under the walls at Banje Beach, or in the clear coves of Sveti Jakov. Oysters from the bay of Ston, an hour up the coast, are eaten raw with a squeeze of lemon, and the red wine of the peninsula comes with them.