The calm azure waters of the eastern Adriatic lap against the walls of ancient cities that have rebuilt themselves since the conflict of the 1990s. Arminta Wallacesends postcards from Budva, Orebic and, overleaf, Dubrovnik, in Montenegro and Croatia
WHEN IT COMES to describing the beauties of Montenegro I don't know where to start. Even photographs can't really convey the towering mountains, the glorious shifting light, the vast palette of colours or the sheer variety of it all.
You can sit on the beach in a T-shirt in the morning, even in early April, and be chucking snowballs by lunchtime. If all that unadulterated nature whets your appetite for adventure, you can raft your way down canyons inaccessible by road, learn to paraglide or trek around hilltop monasteries in deserted valleys. If it makes you feel lazy, you can spend your time dawdling along the water's edge, stopping every now and then for a cappuccino or a glass of chilled white wine.
A beguiling blend of the exotic and the familiar, Montenegro is at once very civilised (as in great food and drink, friendly people and the good old euro) and truly wild (it has wolves).
The resort of Budva, one of six strung along the country's Adriatic Riviera, is home to a two- kilometre beach at Becici. Budva's shoreline promenade is dotted with restaurants and cafes that offer everything from Norwegian specialities to Italian ice cream, and, in the beautifully restored streets of the old town, 12th-century frescoes rub shoulders with Gucci and DG.
On a Sunday-morning stroll in Budva you might meet, in no particular order, a trio of newborn puppies chasing butterflies in the grass, a team of men playing competitive boules in the town park and a shepherd in mountain garb escorting a herd of cheerfully tatty sheep and goats towards the harbour.
It's a relaxing, present-moment sort of place. But the weight of the past can also be felt in Budva. According to Greek legend the city was founded by the Phoenician king Cadmus and his beautiful wife, Harmony, way back in the mists of time.
In Budva I saw a young man tenderly, and repeatedly, hug the icons in a tiny Orthodox church as he said his prayers, while on the walls of buildings on the outskirts of town graffiti proclaimed some less spiritual convictions. "Kosovo is Serbian," they declare, or, simply and chillingly, "Genocide".
If the past is still in the air here, the future is rushing in fast. Budva has a spanking new legend in the undeniably attractive shape of Daniel Craig and the James Bond movie Casino Royale, part of which was shot in the town's five-star Hotel Splendid.
The sight of Craig rising from the sea in his swimming trunks in the movie has been bringing tourists to Budva in their droves - as has the fact that Montenegro is one of the countries featured on Lonely Planet's 2008 "Bluelist" of the trendiest places to visit, alongside Eritrea, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.
All of which has prompted a feverish rush to widen roads and build hotels and do the tourism thing. No one could blame Montenegro's tiny, cash-poor economy for wanting to cash in its tourism chips while it can.
Whether the Montenegran powers-that-be are up to speed about the dangers of untrammelled development, and the way it can strangle the very thing it seeks to promote, is another matter. As we crossed the border our guide proudly pointed out a "tax-free zone" and suggested we might want to shop there. We didn't - it looked about as appealing as Crossmaglen in the bad old days - but it was slightly worrying that she would think we might.
The guide made up for it next day with a spell-binding tour, first to Montenegro's old royal capital of Cetinje, all alpine air, white light and snow-capped peaks, followed by a simple picnic lunch of locally-smoked Njegusi ham and soft cheese at a tiny roadside bar.
Then it was over the top of the mountains to look down on the fjord of Kotor, a dramatic view that is rapidly becoming a must-see on the new map of Europe, before the bus bungee-jumped down 36 hairpin bends to the town of Kotor itself.
Sleepy on an April afternoon, Kotor wakes up periodically to host a plethora of festivals: a camellia celebration in March, an underwater film festival in June and a spectacular candlelit procession of boats - the night of Boka - in August. Like Montenegro itself, it's a succession of surprises.
IT'S ONLY WHEN you look at a map that you realise what an oddly-shaped country Croatia is. It straddles Bosnia in a couple of gangly, boomerang-shaped loops and is never, at any point, more than a few hundred kilometres wide.
But here's the thing. Croatia doesn't end at the coast. One of the country's best-kept secrets is its Adriatic archipelago - more than 1,000 beautiful islands of all shapes and sizes.
A gateway to this island dream, the Peljesac Peninsula is a long, narrow spit of land that rockets into the sea northwest of Dubrovnik. Here is a landscape of almost biblical simplicity, with a spine of mountains across the middle and vineyards, olive groves and vegetable patches dotted across every available inch of land as it meanders its way down to the sea.
And what a sea. Famously azure, turquoise and calm, the Adriatic is a maze of rocky inlets, perfect for exploring either by boat or on foot, and often complete with a tiny harbour, even tinier beach and, if you're lucky, a cafe, bar and restaurant.
Here you should be able to get the catch of the day, freshly grilled and served either with salad or with the tasty potato-and-spinach accompaniment that is a local tradition hereabouts. As for wine, well, the whole region is wine heaven.
Orebic has the slightly decadent feel of a town that has been a major seaport since the 17th century. Climb St Ilya's hill to the Franciscan monastery and gaze out across banks of fragrant pine trees and wild flowers at the island-dotted horizon. Then get on a boat to the island of Korcula, to gaze back at the hill. Korcula touts itself as the birthplace of Marco Polo, and its city museum is worth a brief visit. Otherwise there's not much to do but eat, drink and soak up the sunshine. Which, let me tell you, is as good a way as any to spend your time.
DRIVING TO DUBROVNIK from the airport you'll be so busy admiring the sunset - they're famously lavish on this sheltered, west-facing coast - that you won't notice the city until it materialises below you, as ludicrously perfect as something out of a film set.
Dubrovnik is the perfect place for a romantic getaway or weekend break: a compact city that been largely rebuilt since the early 1990s, when it was devastated by artillery bombardment. Its patron, Saint Blaise - he is to Dubrovnik what St Mark is to Venice, and you'll see representations of him everywhere, gingerly holding the walled city as if it were a birthday cake - must have looked on aghast as shells rained down on the old town during the seven-month siege.
But this old town has been around since the days of the Byzantine empire, and by 2005 it was back in the tourist business, big time.
Task number one for visitors is a ramble along the old city walls. The full circuit takes about an hour and costs about €9. Do it in the late afternoon, when that extraordinary golden light is at its gleaming best - and, whatever you do, make sure your camera batteries are fully charged. There's a spectacular view around every twist and turn, whether of ancient battlements and cathedral spires or of lemon trees and washing lines flourishing in back gardens.
Back at ground level, Dubrovnik is a city made for wandering, its web of tiled streets kitted out with a plentiful supply of restaurants, cafes and shops.
Buy a bag of beautifully dried figs, complete with fresh bay leaves, from a farmer at a market stall, or medicate yourself at one of the world's oldest working pharmacies, which has been in action in the grounds of the Franciscan monastery since 1317.
Dubrovnik is also a musical city, with regular classical and jazz gigs and an annual summer festival, which this year runs from July 10th to August 25th.
For a spot of peace and quiet hop on the ferry to the pretty little port of Cavdat - you can get a return ticket for about €11 - or meander around the Lapad peninsula, whose serene bays, a short bus ride from the city centre, are ideal for a relaxed evening stroll.
Arminta Wallace travelled with Concorde Travel
How to go, where to stay and eat Go there
How to go
Concorde Travel (01-8727822, www.concorde travel.ie, can whisk up a package of one or more of these centres, do flight only or, to some extent, tailor a package for you.
Concorde's local partners are, in Montenegro, Adriatic Express (www.adriaex.com, 00-382-86-455181) and, in Croatia, Globtour (www.glob tour.hr, 00-385-14-881100), which also specialises in agritourism, aka holidays on working farms and so forth.
A lively, informative website for the Orebic area is www.peljesac.info/orebic.
Go there
Aer Lingus (www.aerlingus. com) flies direct to Dubrovnik. Prices at the end of May are about €250 per person, including taxes and charges.
Where to stay
Budva
We stayed at the Queen of Montenegro (85310 Budva, Becici, 00-382-86- 662662, www.queenof montenegro.com), across the road from Becici beach, which is being rejigged to include a fleet of penthouse apartments. Even with builders drilling at dawn and the pool reduced to rubble, it's effortlessly elegant, with wooden floors in the rooms and stars that come out in your ceiling at night when you switch the lights off. When the building is finished, it'll be hotel heaven.
Hotel Splendid (85315 Becici, 00-382-86-773777, www.montenegrostars.com) offers everything from a sushi bar to a jaw-droppingly well-appointed spa.
Dubrovnik
We stayed at Hotel Kompas on the Lapad peninsula (etalite kralja Zvonimira 56, 20000 Dubrovnik, 00-385-20-352000, www.hotel-kompas.hr). It's cheap and cheerful, with friendly staff and a superb beachside location, but it's very shabby, and sound insulation in the rooms is zero. For city luxury try the Hilton Imperial (Marijana Blazica 2, Dubrovnik, 00-385-20-320320, http://tinyurl.com/yntvf9), right at the walls of the old town.
Inside the old town, try the atmospheric Antuninska apartments (Antuninska 16, http://tinyurl.com/6j6rd9).
Orebic
We stayed at the recently-renovated Grand Hotel (Kralj Petra Kresimira IV 107, 20250 Orebic, 00-385-20-798000, www.grandhotelorebic.com), a 10-minute seashore walk from the town. It has lots of sports facilities and a children's club, plus a junior suite can hold two adults and two children aged 2-11.
Where to eat
The food in this part of the world was quite an eye- opener, as were the quality, price and character of local wines. Lunches are great value, with fresh octopus or seafood salad coming in at under €15, including wine, water and a coffee afterwards. Kids can be fed on pizza, spaghetti and the like for €5 or less. Soup, should you need it, costs about €2.
One highlight was grilled shrimp at the Tavern Lokanda Peskarija tapas-style bar (Na ponti bb, 00-385-20-324750, http://tinyurl.com/5ladq5), on the harbour in Dubrovnik. This was so delicious that we ate the shells, ordered a second big black kettleful, then returned later that evening to eat more.
Also great was the mouth-watering grilled squid at Restoran Tramonto (Ismaelli 12, 20260 Korcula), on the island of Korcula.
In Montenegro, the dairy products, especially the fresh Greek-style yogurt and local cheese at breakfast, are to die for. And check out the bombici - bite-sized treats that are half-cake, half-biscuit.