Dalmatian Coast Discovery

The Bay of Kotor is a 28km grand canyon that splices Montenegro in two. Searing green cliffs collapse into an azure sea. The sail through is a fjord-like fantasy. Medieval hamlets line the route. Island monasteries lend a mythical allure. The infamous Blue Cave is a cathedral cavern uplit by watery sunlight.

The first vision of Kotor is improbably beautiful. A red-roofed slice of Venice lies perfectly preserved at the end of the bay. Millennia-old churches rise up from this UNESCO World Heritage Site, some stocked with paintings by Bellini and Veronese. High above, impregnable castle walls run for almost 5km across a precipitous mountainside.

As George Bernard Shaw wrote: ‘Those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik’. Lord Byron called this enchanting city 'the pearl of the Adriatic'. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this Dalmatian port is one of the world’s most visually arresting cities. Its Old Town is ringed by stone walls, turrets and towers; a Disney-esque redoubt.

Within Dubrovnik’s Old Town, Stradun Street bisects a warren of marble lanes. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton sipped Champagne alfresco here in the 1970. Today the town draws likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Beyoncé. Opposite Dubrovnik lies the uninhabited island of Lokrum. It tempts with a botanical garden, an 11th-century Benedictine monastery and the odd Caribbean-like cove.

Mljet is an evergreen dream. Imagine an impossible wiggle of forests protecting a chain of lake-like bays. Tiny islets lie scattered in the shallows. One houses a monastery, others have remained uninhabited since time began. Best of all, Mljet basks in its very own bath of Adriatic blue. Sail west and it’s next stop Italy.

Around half of this pristine splendour is encased within a National Park. The entrance gate smacks of a secret garden. Tiptoe through a ruined Roman fort into an enchanted forest where deer, mongoose and rare eagle owls roam free. Unlike most Croatian islands, Mljet is simply massive. Just 1,000 people reside on 100km2 of emerald green land.

Marco Polo, the globe’s most famous navigator, came from Korčula. Each year, dedicated travellers make their own pilgrimage to this verdant Adriatic isle, hunting down Polo’s place of birth. Marco would still recognise his medieval home in Korčula’s enchanting Old Town.

Korčula shelters some sublime strips of sand; most are clustered around the cape of Lumbarda, and are a breeze to access by sea. Equally blissful are the beaches on Badija, an island gem due north of Korčula's old town, populated only by Franciscan monks. Proizd, an isolated islet off Korčula’s northwest coastline, is a geological wonder of white stone beaches and Thailand-turquoise bays.

Hvar is a sun-splashed rollercoaster of history and hedonism. Its combination of culture and cocktails renders it Croatia’s answer to both Antibes and St Tropez. With 2,800 hours of sunshine a year, it’s the country’s sunniest, and chicest, spot. It's also part of an informal club of the world's finest islands, which includes Bora Bora, Bali and Capri. You get the picture.


Days commence with caffè macchiatos in St Stephen’s Square. The setting is impossibly grand, as Venice turned Hvar into a marble-lined masterpiece of medieval finery. Like the French Riviera, celebrities from the silver screen wander around here with sunny abandon - Brad and George are fans. Those visitors in search of superyacht seclusion may hit the nearby island of Šcedro. It boasts over 20 tiny bays… and a population of just 1.

Halfway between Croatia and Italy, Vis is a heavenly cradle of culture, seafood and fabulous wine. A single daily ferry runs this far out into the Adriatic, so only visitors with their own yachts frequent these crystal clear waters.

With patrons of such calibre, Vis’s restaurants are gourmet sensations. Val serves scorpion fish and local lobster under a lemon grove. Maître d' Goran is unerringly tight-lipped about his celebrity clientele.

More isolated still is the island of Biševo. It hosts only 11 residents, a handful of vineyards and one very cool cave. Take the tender to the Blue Cave around lunchtime and dive right in. Rays of sun, ethereal shadows and a white coral seabed combine in a surreal lightshow.

The largest of Dalmatia’s islands, Brač is best known for Zlatni Rat, its glorious ‘Golden Cape’. Croatia’s most famous beach is a triangular 500m peninsula that juts out from the pine-clad coast. Its white pebble shore forms a striking contrast with the translucent turquoise waves.

What beats the beach is the postcard-perfect panorama from above. At 780 metres, Brač’s Vidova Gora peak is the highest in the Adriatic, offering vistas over Zlatni Rat as well as the nearby island of Hvar. The descent on foot is equally alluring, where olive groves and rippling vineyards tumble back down the sea.

When Roman Emperor Diocletian built his retirement home, he chose Dalmatia’s sunniest and most sheltered bay. His white marble mansion now forms the historic heart of modern Split. Over 100 restaurant terraces radiate out from the Roman ruins, rendering Croatia’s second city one big pavement café. Superyacht parties have been known to maintain an alfresco bar table for hours at a time, as members hit boutiques, markets and galleries before casting off.

Diocletian’s garden now hosts Split’s daily market. Here 200 local stallholders sell cherries, honey and legs of prosciutto to superyacht chefs moored in the bay. Offshore, the island of Solta is awash with olive groves and orchards of citrus, vines and figs. Its 60km of coastline is a blue-green mosaic of bays, beaches, cliffs and creeks.