The magic of Dubrovnik

I've had the fortune to visit Dubrovnik twice and it truly is the Pearl of the Adriatic as Byron once said. The walled centre is dazzling marble with a shock of red roof tiles and can often be wall to wall with people, but there's usually somewhere quiet you can escape to. If you are able to stay within or just outside the town you get to experience it once the day-trippers have left - in the summer evenings it's often an assortment of music and parties mingling together, in the early mornings it has a peace and tranquillity that borders on the mystical.

Whilst the old town (Stari Grad) is relatively tiny, within the walls everything else seems magnified to compensate; the enormous entrance gates - now displaying information relating to the devastation of the city during the Yugoslavian civil war; the regal Placa - Dubrovnik's promenade that cuts a swathe of marble through the centre; the ornate domes and facades of the many churches, convents and palaces; and, of course, the walls themselves which are definitely worth the entrance fee to walk around.

There are a lot of sights packed into Dubrovnik; an ancient pharmacy, a monastery, synagogue, the beautiful Onofrio fountains, Venetian style churches (Dubrovnik was once under Venetian authority) and palaces. The thought-provoking War Photo Limited is most definitely worth a visit. Outside the walls you can find a spot to sunbathe (if you're able to find the fabled Buza bar you can even go through the wall to do this!), take a tour by kayaks or take the ferry over to Lokrum island for an escape to a bit of greenery.

The old town has a wide number of places to eat and drink and the general rule of thumb is to get better quality move further away from the Placa - for fresh fish the old harbor is clearly the way to go. And the best place for a sundowner? Has to be the Buza. And how do you get there? If you ask me nicely, I might tell you...