Post-war restoration has put the Old City back on the map as one of Europe's most beautiful and enchanting. It is a place for quiet exploration and relaxing, as well as sunbathing and swimming.

Most hotels line the coast south of the citadel. The best are listed below:

PUCIC PALACE
Uzel, Turizam, Dubrovnik, Croatia (00 385 20 326 222; fax: 326 223; www.thepucicpalace.com). With just 19 bedrooms and suites, the Pucic Palace is the first truly stylish, luxury boutique hotel in Dubrovnik. Once a stately home, it was completely renovated by Amsterdam-based Sagrada Hotels International and features now include Italian-mosaic bathrooms with huge windows, freestanding, copper-encased baths, polished olive-wood parquet floors and high ceilings. The hotel has an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant (Defne) and a winebar (Razonoda), which serves cocktails and snacks. The hotel's X factor is definitely the private yacht which is available for trips up the coast. The Pucic Palace was featured in The Hot List 2003. £££

VILLA DUBROVNIK
6 Vlaha Bukovca (00 385 20 422 933; fax: 23 465; www.villa-dubrovnik.hr). A stark but not unstylish Modernist hotel set into a cliff. All the rooms have balconies and fabulous views. There is a private beach at the bottom of the cliff. £

VILLA ORSULA
14 Frana Supila (00 385 20 440 555; fax 432 524). There are 15 rooms set in beautiful wild gardens, which descend the cliff face to the sea. Most rooms face inland, so ask for one with a sea view. £

HOTEL ARGENTINA
Frana Supila 24 (00 385 20 440 555; fax 432 524). Owned by the Villa Orsula, this temple to echt but extreme 1970s interior design was once Dubrovnik’s most fashionable hotel: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Maria Callas all stayed here. There are 124 rooms, but the once-modern furnishings are beginning to show their age and it's due for refurbishment. £

ROZARIJ
Zladarska 4. The shellfish risotto is outstanding. £

ANTUNINI
Prijeko 30. Excellent, established, family business on the city’s main restaurant street, parallel with the Stradun. Start with a salad of lobster and rocket, followed by a Dubrovnik fish stew (bream and polenta in a tomato sauce) or the generous fish platter with more lobster. ££

RAGUSA 2
Zamanjina 12. Antunini’s scruffier, slightly cheaper sister. The Dubrovnik Plate (local prosciutto, sheep’s milk cheese from the island of Pag, grilled aubergine and a mussel salad) is recommended. £

KAMENICE
Gunduliceva Poljana. A modest café specialising in oysters (after which it’s named) and mussels, with tables in the square where the town market is held each morning. £

Wander along the narrow cobbled streets (some only a couple of metres wide) and elegant squares of Dubrovnik. There is no shortage of museums and churches to visit, including The Dominican Monastery near the Ploce Gate, still home to an order of monks. The Rector’s Palace, a 15th-century Venetian palace, is also worth a look. There is an aquarium by the harbour, next to the Maritime Museum. Along the coast, the water is beautifully clear, the beaches are not sandy but flat and rocky. Boats to local islands come and go all day.

AIRPORT
Dubrovnik's airport is situated some 20km south of the city, close to the resort town of Cavtat.

AIRLINES FROM THE UK
Croatian Airlines (020 8563 0022; www.croatiaairlines.hr) fly to Dubrovnik. You can also fly to Zagreb from Gatwick with British Airways (0870 8509 850; www.ba.com). If you are going for longer than a weekend, it would be worth combining your trip with a visit to one of the Dalmatian Islands, which are easily accessible by Jadrolinja ferry. Check the timetable and plan your itinerary before you leave, since not every island is accessible every day - and don’t buy your ticket in this country before you leave, because it will cost a fraction of the hard currency price if you buy it on the quay.

WHO TO GO WITH
Europa Skylines (020 7226 4460) can arrange good deals on air tickets and will also book hotels and arrange transfers.

Dubrovnik is a great city break destination all-year round. The Dubrovnik festival of classical music and theatre, which runs from July to August, attracts soloists from around the world and offers opportunities to attend concerts in some of the Old City's most beautiful buildings.

The best time to go to visit the nearby beaches and islands is during the summer, from June to September.

Dubrovnik is a great city break destination all year round. The Dubrovnik festival of classical music and theatre, which runs from July to August, attracts soloists from around the world and offers opportunities to attend concerts in some of the Old City’s most beautiful buildings.

The best time to go to visit the nearby beaches and islands is during the summer (June-September).

Always consult the Foreign Office before travelling.