Croatia

The destination

Croatia has quietly become Europe's most complete charter destination — and from the deck of a yacht it is easy to see why. More than a thousand islands scatter the Dalmatian coast, strung between medieval walled cities, and the distances between them are short enough that every day brings somewhere new without a single long passage. Mornings might start with coffee inside Diocletian's Palace in Split; by lunch you are swimming in the Blue Cave at Biševo; by evening, tied up beneath the fortress at Hvar as the town comes alive. The sea is calm, clean and astonishingly clear, the seafood is some of the best in the Mediterranean, and the value remains remarkable beside France or Italy. Sail it in June or September for warm water and empty bays. Croatia is the charter that turns first-timers into lifers.