Dubrovnik is the pearl of the Adriatic

Jun 4 2010 By Adam Aspinall

Adam Aspinall finds Dubrovnik is a world-class historical destination with few of the costly pretensions of rival cities.

Sometimes travel writing can be difficult.

How can you sum-up a destination fairly, honestly evoke what it feels like to be there, or genuinely capture its spirit in mere words?

The truth is there is no substitute for experience so, however flowery my prose, I can only give a slight insight into a holiday destination as rich as Dubrovnik.

Luckily for me this is one city that has beguiled so many visitors over the last 500 years that I can safely stand on the shoulders of giants such as George Bernard Shaw, Lord Byron and, erm... Beyonce Knowles.

All three have sampled the delights of this medieval gem and Shaw was even inspired to write that, “those who seek paradise on Earth should come to Dubrovnik and see Dubrovnik”, as well as, famously, describing it as “the pearl of the Adriatic”.

Many a luminary has taken Mr Shaw up on that offer and to the blessed inhabitants of this ancient walled city the sight of R‘n’B superstar Beyonce and her Hip-Hop mogul partner Jay-Z walking down its marbled streets is nothing out of the ordinary.

Indeed, so sought after has Dubrovnik – and Croatia in general – become in recent years that the great and good are simply falling over themselves to visit.

Many seek to buy property, and it has been rumoured billionaire Bill Gates was even looking to purchase an island off the glorious Dalmation Coast on which Croatia luxuriates by the glittering Adriatic sea.

But many, such as Prince Charles, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Sharon Stone, and F1 motorsport mogul Bernie Ecclestone, simply can’t stay away and return year after year to cruise around the charmed Croatian islands aboard their luxury yachts.

So, in the most vulgar sense, if it’s good enough for them, why shouldn’t it be good enough for you?

Quite simply Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, with its many beautiful islands and peninsulas, is a perfect holiday destination.

There are many spots in the world which have charm in abundance, are safe and peaceful and which welcome the most lonely backpacker or the biggest celebrity.

But in my travels around the globe, very few seem free of some sort of compromise.

You know the story: “It’s cheap but it’s not safe” (Barcelona); “it’s beautiful but it’s expensive” (Paris); “it’s a long-haul and a lot of effort just for a load of Irish pubs and a desert” (Australia).

The list goes on, and of course no destination will ever be perfect, but Croatia, and Dubrovnik, in particular, offer the British traveller a winning formula of history, culture, sun, sea, sand and, most importantly, value.

That is because rather than being some gaudy living museum, which stands fossilised on the sunny shore, Dubrovnik is a living, breathing city.

The locals live and work inside the Old Town’s city walls, first started way back in the 7th century, and which have protected them from numerous invaders – notably the Romans, Ottomans and Napoleon.

Each invader left a mark on the city but the one absolute truth during each upheaval was that it was Dubrovnik which would triumph in the end.

This was never more in evidence then in the city’s inspiring rejuvenation following the horrific shelling of the Old Town by Serbian forces during the Balkan War in 1991.

The bombing lasted until May 1992, by which time much of the fairy tale UNESCO World Heritage site, from the famous red-tiled rooftops, to the magical marbled streets, had been decimated.

But, as it has done so a hundred times before, the city bounced back and there is little evidence to the untrained eye that it was a smouldering war zone just 20 years ago.

Only a few poignant bullet holes and new roof tiles in certain sections of the city reveal the truth about those dark days in the early 1990s.

But the Dubrovnik of 2010, and the Croatian nation, now seems energised and buoyant.