Croatia's tourist board promises 'The Mediterranean as it once was' and many of the best places to stay in Croatia would certainly back this up. However, whilst this takes into account the spectacularly glittery sea and pockets of authentic architecture and culture protected from over development, it doesn't really do Croatia's glamour justice.
Croatia's wonderful stretch of coastline, with a thousand or so islands, has glitz, glamour, snazzy resorts and stylish locals aplenty. Fancy yachts cruise amongst the islands and Dubrovnik and Hvar especially, are great for star spotting. This is the bit referred to when people call Croatia 'The jewel of the Adriatic'.
Continental Croatia's pristine farmland and spectacular wildernesses definitely offer a slice of the old country as well as the new. This tale of two Croatias, the coastline and the interior, is probably a good dividing line for visitors too.
Southern Dalmatia sprouts the palm trees and olive groves and magical Dubrovnik. During the seventies Dubrovnik's gorgeous red-tinted Old Town and shimmering seas were a Hollywood playground - a favourite of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
But by the nineties the only cameras here were recording the conflict. Today Dubrovnik is back to its beautiful, buzzy best. The architecture has been restored, the museums to the conflict have added to the town's historic soulfulness and Michelin chefs are moving in keen to work with locally sourced flavours.
