Adriatic Coast travel guide
Dubrovnik is the iconic Adriatic medieval walled city. In the Middle Ages it flourished in maritime trading as the city-state of Ragusa and was rivaling Venice. During the Yugoslavian war, in the beginning of the 90's, it was sieged for seven month and got severe damaged by artillery attacks. Today Dubrovnik is again insane pretty and manicured to limit that it's almost too much. Just to top it off, there are beaches (pebbles though, not sand) with the most crystal-clear water you can imagine, but screamingly cold. All this makes of course Dubrovnik to the perfect tourist magnet and the stream of tourist buses also seems never-ending, but it is still possible to find adorable corners, without being run over by sunburned tour group.
The coastal town of Budva is famous for two very different things. Its historic walled town, and the beaches surrounding it. The closes ones are Mogren beach and Slovenska beach. Mogren, west of the walled old town, is actually two connecting beaches. Slovenska on the other hand is a 1500m long stretch of sand and pebbles thats curves along the bay. The narrow beach is lined cafes, bars and open air discotheques that are base for huge parties that attract partygoers from all over Balkan. Budva is Montenegro's equivalent to Cancun in Mexico.
The other attraction in Budva (beside the town's insane parties) is the fine old town, Stari Grad. Established for more than 2500 years ago and therefor the oldest settlement on the Adriatic coast. With its Venetian style, it is as picturesque as its big brother in Croatia, Dubrovnik, but only receive a fraction of the international tourist hordes - but it still get packed in summer time, but that might have to do with Budva's vibrant nightlife.
The old town of Herceg Novi is another medieval town along the Adriatic coast. It beautiful located at the foot of mt. Orjen (1.895 m) on a steep slope leading straight into the Adriatic sea. Beside the fine old stone houses, the main attraction is the Orthodox Church of Mihael Arhandel. Herceg Novi is tiny and there is not enough to see for a whole day exploration, but it will make a nice break between going to/from Croatia.
Piran is Slovenia's charming harbour town on the Adriatic Sea coast. It spreads out to both sides of the small marina along the lovely promenade, which is often crammed with tanned bodies soaking up the sun. The town itself is rather cute with the pastel coloured houses and, though it is touristic, it is nothing compared to the other medieval towns like Dubrovnik further south.