Arriving in Dubrovnik by plane, it takes about 30 minutes to reach the city centre in a taxi. This coastal journey boasts some amazing scenery, but once your eyes set sight on the city’s old walls you will see why it has been dubbed the ‘pearl of the Adriatic’. Seen by millions on television in the early 1990s as Serbs and Croats fired endless rounds of ammunition back and forth, today these walls can raise the hairs on the back of your neck on nearly every sighting.

If you get there by bus, you may not be treated to such a sight. Instead you will be greeted by a fleet of old women repeating the word ‘Sobe’ over and over. During the summer months though, these are fewer and farer between so ensure you have your accommodation booked before you arrive.

Entering the old town over the iron bridge at Pile Gate, within 200 yards (and after descending a number of steps) you will reach Dubrovnik’s main thoroughfare known simply as Placa. This is effortlessly one of the most beautiful streets in the world. From its marble tiles, to the labyrinthine lanes which branch off it to the cathedral and town hall located on it, everything about it oozes class. No matter how many times you find yourself moseying down it, it will always give you a buzz that not many other streets will.

Along Placa you won’t find too many restaurants. Instead, they are tucked away down number of side-streets. While you might not find them at first, you can be guaranteed somebody will approach you, propositioning you with specials which include free shots and other niceties. Don’t be fooled by these – you do get free shots, they’re just not very easy to drink. But the food, which should be fairly reasonably priced, will be of the highest quality.

Once darkness sets in, Placa is where it’s happening. From 8pm people onwards, trendsetters line this street traipsing back and forth between the bars. Study the sequence closely and you may notice that some people are simply walking back and forth, and back and forth and back…you get the picture. There is no better place to people watch in the whole of Croatia.