Dubrovnik

Fly into Dubrovnik Airport on the Dalmatian coast and transfer to your hotel inside or just outside the old city walls. The approach to the old town — whether by car along the coast road or on foot through the Pile Gate — is genuinely arresting. Check in and immediately walk the Stradun, Dubrovnik's impossibly polished limestone main street, which gleams white in the afternoon sun and fills with the elegant evening passeggiata. Dinner at Restaurant 360° — set into the city walls themselves, with terrace tables directly above the sea.

The Dubrovnik city walls circuit is the single best thing to do in Croatia — 2km of walkable medieval fortification that encircles the entire old town, with views over every terracotta rooftop to the Adriatic below and the mountains above. Walk it early (gates open at 8am) before the heat and crowds build. The walls pass over the Old Port, the Dominican Monastery, Fort Revelin, and the Minčeta Tower — each section offers a different angle on the city. After the walls, the Franciscan Monastery's Romanesque cloister and one of Europe's oldest pharmacies (operating since 1317). Afternoon on Banje Beach below the old city.

A 15-minute ferry from the Old Port takes you to Lokrum, a wild forested island directly offshore from the old town with botanical gardens, a ruined Benedictine monastery, a saltwater lake (the Dead Sea) connected to the Adriatic by underground channels, and a cliff-jumping spot at the western end called Romeo and Juliet. No vehicles, no hotels, just peacocks (genuinely — the island has a large wild peacock colony), pine trees, and clear water. Return to the old city for an afternoon exploring the back lanes of the Baroque town — the streets behind the Stradun are almost entirely tourist-free.

Day trip or overnight to Hvar — a 2-hour catamaran journey to Croatia's most glamorous island, where a 13th-century Venetian fortress watches over a harbor of superyachts and a Baroque Venetian loggia. Hvar Town's main square (Trg Sveti Stjepana) is one of the most beautiful piazzas in the Adriatic. The lavender fields of the island's interior are at their best in June. Pakleni Islands by taxi boat for swimming in crystalline coves, lunch at Laganini on Palmižana (a garden restaurant in a natural bay that draws the superyacht crowd for a reason).

The Elafiti archipelago — three small car-free islands (Koločep, Lopud, Šipan) directly west of Dubrovnik — is the perfect day sail from the old port. Lopud has Šunj Beach, the only sandy beach near Dubrovnik — a 30-minute walk across the island to a sheltered bay of fine sand and clear water, completely unlike the pebble beaches of the Dalmatian coast. Šipan is the largest and quietest, with olive groves, baroque palaces, and no cars. Boat charter from the Old Port with a skipper is the ideal way — stop where you want, swim when you want.

Dubrovnik's extraordinary medieval architecture served as King's Landing for 8 seasons — the filming locations are all within the city walls and surprisingly moving for non-fans simply as architectural landmarks. The Fort Lovrijenac (the Red Keep), the Pile Gate, the city steps (the Walk of Shame stairs), and Fort Revelin are all accessible. Morning cable car up Mount Srđ — 412m above the Adriatic with views stretching to the Elafiti Islands and the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Last evening in the old town.

Morning coffee on the Stradun one last time before transferring to the airport. Consider extending your trip with a night in Split (90 minutes north) and Diocletian's Palace.