Skradinski Buk

A forested island ten minutes by boat from the old harbour, with a botanical garden, a monastery ruin and a saltwater swimming lagoon.

The hill directly behind Dubrovnik, reached by cable car or a switchback path, looking down on the walled town and the islands.

A pine-covered headland on the edge of the old town, with stepped paths to viewpoints, chapels and small rocky swimming coves.

Sixteen terraced lakes fall into one another through travertine barriers that are still growing, joined by boardwalks that run just above the water. Routes are numbered and one-way in the busy season, with a shuttle bus and an electric boat linking the upper and lower lakes. Entry is capped, so tickets need booking ahead in summer.

The Krka river drops through a series of travertine cascades inside a limestone canyon between Šibenik and Knin, with Skradinski Buk the largest and most visited set. Boardwalks loop around the falls, and boats run up the flooded river gorge to the monastery island of Visovac. Swimming below the main falls is no longer permitted.

Hvar is a long, narrow Adriatic island of lavender fields, vineyards and pine slopes, with a Venetian harbour town at its western end and quieter stone villages inland. Ferries run from Split, and a road follows the spine of the island to the beaches and wine terraces of the south coast. The Pakleni islets just offshore hold the best swimming.