Zadar, Croatia

The ancient capital of Dalmatia, Zadar is a bustling town of around 80,000 people, but it preserves a relatively small-town feel, with a compact historic centre crowded onto a tapered thumb of land jutting northwest into the Adriatic. Pretty comprehensively destroyed in the last war by the Allies – it was bombed no fewer than 72 times – it lacks the perfectly preserved, museum-like quality of so many of the towns on this coast, displaying instead a pleasant muddle of architectural styles, where lone Corinthian columns stand alongside rectangular 1950s blocks, and Romanesque churches compete for space with glass-fronted café-bars. Zadar is a major ferry port, so you'll pass through here if travelling on to the islands of the Zadar archipelago – Ugljan, Pašman, Dugi otok and a host of smaller islets. As the major urban centre between Rijeka and Split, Zadar boasts a university, established by Dominican monks in 1396 and claimed to be the oldest in Croatia, a smattering of cultural distractions and numerous leafy patios. The presence of big hotels on the outskirts of town ensures that the central streets are swarming with life in July and August; outside that time, Zadar's relaxing café culture is left very much to the locals and students.