So smitten was Lord Byron with Dubrovnik that he eulogised the one-time city-state as the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. George Bernard Shaw also lavished praise on the city, proclaiming: ‘those who seek paradise on earth should seek it in Dubrovnik.' This UNESCO World Heritage listed gem sandwiched between sheer limestone crags and the azure waters more than deserves the superlatives heaped upon it. Within Dubrovnik's medieval walls themselves a multitude of baroque churches and ornate palaces wait to be explored.

Dubrovnik (formerly the Republic of Ragusa) was a free city-state for centuries, staving off attack from both the Venetians and the Ottomans. Its sturdy city walls have never been breached, with their most recent test coming in 1991-1992 when Serb and Montenegrin paramilitaries, backed up by Yugoslav forces, laid siege to the city.

The only legacy of this brutal attack are a swathe of bright orange roof tiles (the lighter tiles come from the original quarry which closed before 1991), and the boards located at the gates to the old city, which show where the shells hit.

Dubrovnik was quick to reclaim its tourism crown and today the crowds are back. In high season, the city overflows with tourists and cruise ship passengers and citizens from around the globe are increasingly investing in property in this idyllic corner of Europe. The swell in visitors has been accompanied by welcome investment in the city's hotels.