As Morski writes, increasingly sought-after types of holiday are those that combine a beach holiday with swimming and sunshine with exploration of the city’s sights and culture. One of the best places to combine a city holiday with a beach holiday is down in Croatia’s southernmost city of Dubrovnik, arguably the country’s tourist Mecca, known as the Pearl of the Adriatic. It ranks second according to a recent Compare the Market study, just one place behind the wildly popular Dubai.
Looking at other Croatian cities which made the list, Split, the country’s second largest city, took twenty-first place, and Pula in Istria took twenty-fourth place.
When it comes to holiday planning, many of us are faced with a choice between a few relaxing days on the beach or a city break filled with sightseeing, culture, gastronomy and shopping. Why not have both? Some of the world’s most popular “city break” destinations also boast world-class beaches on their shores, which means you can combine all the sights of the city with a relaxing holiday in the sun. Compare the Market has certainly been correct in identifying Croatia’s southernmost city and former stand-alone republic as precisely that.
If you’re struggling to choose a coastal city holiday for this summer, the Compare the Market study ranked 35 beach towns and cities from around the world, according to some important features such as the availability of things you can do or sights you can visit in the city, the amount and type of food you can eat, the beaches worth seeing, the overall safety of the city as such, as well as average temperatures. Exploring the City of Dubrovnik at the height of summer is usually not the best idea, although it doesn’t seem to put the hoardes off. Temperatures soar to truly dizzying heights, and being baked inside the harsh stone walls of the Old Town increases it even more, making one feel a bit like they’re in a pizza oven.
Still, there are plenty of beaches and rocky outcrops from which you can dive into the refreshing Adriatic Sea should you overheat. Here’s what Compare the Market had to say about Dubrovnik:
Two cities are tied for second place, and the first is one of the smaller coastal cities: Dubrovnik, in Croatia.
The city is located on the Adriatic Sea and is a major tourist destination, and the city itself is on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town.
Dubrovnik was a city of the highest rank not only in the number of things to see and do (with 2,674 activities per 100,000 inhabitants), but also in the availability of restaurants (1,487 per 100,000 people).
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