Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Dalmatia, at the very end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the center of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. In 1979, the city of Dubrovnik joined the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

The annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival is a two-month cultural event with live plays, concerts and games. Among the many tourist destinations are a few beaches. Banje, Dubrovnik's main public beach, is home to the Eastwest Beach Club. There is also Copacabana Beach, a small stony beach part of the Elaphiti Islands, named after the popular beach in Rio de Janeiro. One of the larger churches in city is named after St. Blaise. The city boasts many old buildings, such as the Arboretum Trsteno, the oldest arboretum in the world. Also, the third-oldest European pharmacy is located in the city at Little Brothers church in Dubrovnik. In the bay of Dubrovnik is the 72-hectare wooded island of Lokrum. The island includes a fortress, botanical garden and a monastery.

A Renaissance highlight is the Sponza Palace, which dates from the 16th century and is currently used to house the National Archives. The Rectors Palace is a Gothic-Renaissance structure that displays finely carved capitals and an ornate staircase. It now houses a museum. The St. Saviour Church is another remnant of the Renaissance period, next to the Franciscan Monastery. Another of the city’s sights is St. Blaise's church, built in the 18th century in honor of Dubrovnik's patron saint. Dubrovnik's baroque Cathedral was built in the 18th century and houses a treasury with relics of St. Blaise. The city's Monastery resembles a fortress on the outside, but the interior contains an art museum and a Gothic-Romanesque church. A feature of Dubrovnik is its walls that run 2 kilometers around the city and feature a system of turrets and towers.

The city is also filled with a variety of restaurants that include seafood eateries such as Atlas Club Nautika, which is in the renovated 19th century Nautika Academy, and Lokanda Peskarija, which serves many of its dishes in traditional black pots. But there are also other options such as wraps and smoothies available at the casual dining outlet Fresh and Sesame, which specializes in Dalmatian dishes.

Dubrovnik has an international airport, which buses connect with the Dubrovnik old main bus station in Gruž. In addition, a network of modern, local buses connects all Dubrovnik neighborhoods. However, Dubrovnik, unlike Croatia's other major centers, is not accessible by rail.

The climate along the Dubrovnik Region is a typical Mediterranean one, with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers.