CROATIA

It is immediately clear why basketball has such a following in Croatia; with average height for young men over six feet, some leave home for the NBA. But, more than their stature, it’s the locals’ hospitality that makes a lasting impression on visitors.

The country spans multiple archipelagos, forming a crescent in the Adriatic that encompasses over 1,000 small islands. You can count on finding plentiful opportunities to savour island-hopping, reef-diving and café culture. The Dalmatian Coast has innumerable sandy beaches for its holiday-makers and so rarely feels overcrowded.

On the mainland, the central hub of capital Zagreb bears strong Austro-Hungarian influence. Zadar, where a visiting Winston Churchill was among the fans of the spectacular local sunsets over the Adriatic, still shows evidence of its one-time Venetian invaders. And Istria, in the country’s northwest, is frequently compared to Tuscany for its vineyards, olive groves and pretty hilltop towns.