Old-Town

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Dubrovnik, Without the Cruise-Ship Crush We made the classic mistake on our first morning in Dubrovnik: we strolled up to the City Walls at 11am in late July. So had four cruise ships’ worth of everyone else. We shuffled the ramparts shoulder-to-shoulder in 33°C heat, paid full price for the privilege, and barely saw the sea for the sun hats. The next day we were at the gate the minute it opened — empty walls, soft light, the whole Adriatic glittering below. Same wall. Completely different city. ...

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a booking through these links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Hoi An, Without the Wet-Season Gamble We almost booked Hoi An for late October, purely because the flights were cheap. A guesthouse owner I emailed gently talked us out of it: “The lanterns are beautiful, yes — but the river comes up the lanes most years, and you may spend your evenings watching rain off a balcony.” We moved the trip to March instead, and the difference was night and day: warm, dry, golden light over the river, and the Old Town glowing every single evening without a cloud in the way. ...