Korčula

Through the Land Gate early, then Lumbarda cellars and Badija

Korčula town is a two-day stop. Arrive early, before the Dubrovnik tour boats, enter through the Land Gate below the Revelin tower, climb St Mark's Cathedral bell tower and circle the walls of the peninsula. On the second day visit the wine cellars of Lumbarda and take a taxi boat to swim at Badija island.

Walk the main street to St Mark's Cathedral and climb the bell tower while the light is soft. Spend the late morning zigzagging through the side lanes, then follow the walls round the tip of the peninsula. After lunch, climb the tower of the Marco Polo house for the view across the channel to Pelješac. If it is a Moreška night, buy tickets during the day and eat afterwards on the western waterfront, where the sunset faces you.

Day two. Take the morning bus or a bike out to Lumbarda and swim at one of its sandy coves before the heat builds. Book an afternoon tasting of Grk at a family cellar, and check the time of the last bus back.

Day three. Hop on a taxi boat to Badija after breakfast, walk round the Franciscan monastery and find a flat rock under the pines. Back in town by late afternoon, drive or bus inland to Žrnovo for a plate of makaruni, or cross to Orebić for a final evening on Trstenica beach before the last boat.

Žrnovski makaruni, brudet and a glass of Grk

Korčula's island cooking is plain and seasonal: fish from the channel, olive oil, lamb and vegetables under the peka, and brudet fish stew. Order žrnovski makaruni, hand-rolled pasta from the village of Žrnovo with a meat sauce, and drink Grk, the white wine grown on Lumbarda's sandy soil.

The dish to look for is žrnovski makaruni, short hand-rolled pasta from Žrnovo, a village a few kilometres inland, served with a meat sauce. Konobas in Žrnovo and the other hill villages cook it best; in the old town ask whether it is made in-house.

Fish arrives grilled with chard and potatoes, or as brudet, a slow tomato and wine stew. Order the catch of the day by weight and ask to see it first. For something sweet, bakeries sell cukarini, crisp lemon-scented biscuits that are the island's traditional wedding treat.

Wine is the reason many people stay an extra day. Grk grows almost nowhere outside the sandy fields of Lumbarda and makes a dry, slightly bitter white. Pošip comes from Čara and Smokvica in the middle of the island and is rounder and more widely poured. The red to try is Plavac Mali, grown across the channel on Pelješac. Small family cellars in Lumbarda and the inland villages pour tastings; phone ahead outside July and August.

Mljet's saltwater lakes, the Ston walls and Vela Spila from Korčula

Take a summer boat from Korčula harbour to Mljet National Park, the outing most people remember, with two saltwater lakes in pine forest and a Benedictine monastery on an islet; rent a bike to circle the lakes. Ston's long walls and oysters are a drive away on the Pelješac peninsula, and Vela Spila cave sits above Vela Luka.

In summer, boats from Korčula harbour reach the national park on the island's western end, where two saltwater lakes sit inside the pine forest and a Benedictine monastery stands on an islet in the larger one. Go on a weekday in June or September, when the boats are lighter.

Across the channel, the Pelješac peninsula is a wine road. Cross to Orebić, drive past the Plavac Mali slopes around Potomje and continue to Ston, where long medieval walls climb the hill above the salt pans and oyster beds sit in the bay at Mali Ston. It makes a full day by car; start early to be back for the last ferry.

The western end of Korčula island is a different world from the town. Vela Luka sits at the head of a deep bay, and above it Vela Spila, a large cave with prehistoric finds, looks out over the water. The bus takes about an hour and a quarter each way, so a car is easier. In summer, small boats from Vela Luka go to Proizd, an islet with white rocks and very clear water.

Dubrovnik itself is possible in a long day by catamaran, though it is better as a separate stay.