Time Out (EDT) Time Out Shortlist Dubrovnik

Annotation

"Time Out's" new Shortlist guides offer all the usual visitor information, presented in a way designed to take you straight to what you're looking for. These are particularly good for short or repeat visits, when it's important to be directed to the best and most current, with no time wasted. "Dubrovnik" highlights include: Dubrovnik's best beaches which include Sveti Jakov, 20 minutes walk from the Old Town with a sunset unhindered by the city walls; Copacabana, ideal for kids, with water shutes and slides; or the simple, easy pleasures of Lapad, surrounded by bars and restaurants with an open-air public internet park alongside; art itinerary which includes a walk around the main galleries in town, taking in some of Croatia's most famous artists - in particular locally born Vlaho Bukovac, who exhibited at the second ever Venice Biennale; and, away from the Old Town blighted with bland, tourist-trap restaurants and samey menus, Englishman Charles Liddle has built his own: the Barun, and superb it is too, with a swimming pool you can dip into before dining, and a garden. It also includes: sassy souvenirs which describe a small number of venues that produce original goods in unusual surroundings: the ceramics and glassware at affordable prices at the Dubrovacka kuca, attached to Zagreb's Museum of Arts and Crafts; the Art Studio Trabakul, in a replica of an Adriatic ship, with smaller maritime replicas and framed, faded photographs of old Dubrovnik; the Eminence Art Workshop, with carved figures and modern takes on iconography; libertas which describe Dubrovnik's unsung arts festival which makes hardly a blip on a cultural radar screen dominated by the main Dubrovnik Festival - yet stars such as Owen Wilson and Christopher Walken turn up for this international cinematic event and screenings of contemporary works take place at outdoor venues on summer evenings.