Trogir

The cathedral doorway Radovan carved in 1240, with Adam and Eve standing on lions and the farm work of the twelve months running around them. It sits inside the roofed porch in front of the church, so from the square it barely shows.

A tower raised over several centuries, so each storey wears a different Gothic or Renaissance dress. Near the top the steps narrow and steepen until hands are needed as on a ladder, and the summit looks down on red roofs and the Ciovo channel.

Venice raised this fort on the islet's western point in the fifteenth century, whose courtyard becomes an open-air cinema and concert space on summer nights. From the tower on the walls the sunset drops straight ahead over the sea.

An ancient Greek marble relief of Kairos, god of the fleeting moment, with a forelock in front and a bald head behind, meaning a chance once passed cannot be grabbed. A small room in the Convent of St Nicholas holds it, open only at hours the nuns set.

A fifteenth century open loggia on the main square where courts once sat, its wall holding a relief by Nikola Firentinac alongside a knight carved by Mestrovic. The clock tower beside it was originally part of a small church.

Palms and cafes line the old town's southern waterfront, with yachts moored right in front. In summer the passenger boat to Split and Blue Lagoon tour boats leave from this quay, so captains stand touting in a row each morning.

Across the bridge, on the Ciovo shore west of the span, lies a pebble beach of some 2 kilometres, its string of beach bars earning it the nickname Copacabana. On summer afternoons parking runs out, so a water taxi across from Trogir is quicker.

Shallow water between Drvenik Veli and the little Krknjasi islets, where the sandy floor shows through and turns the sea jade. At midday tour boats from Trogir anchor side by side, so pick an early departure.

Along the shore between Trogir and Split, nobles built seven castles against the Ottomans in the 15th and 16th centuries, and a village grew up beside each. A seaside path links them, and Kastel Luksic opens as a museum.

A small protected estuary east of Trogir where spring water meets the sea, an old stone watermill still on its bank. A coastal footpath leads there from the old town, and herons and waterbirds often show among the reeds.

Nikola Firentinac and Andrea Alesi built this Renaissance chapel onto the cathedral's inner north wall during the later 1400s. Apostles and saints fill its niches under a coffered stone vault. One cathedral ticket covers the portal, chapel and tower.

The Renaissance gate you reach over a small bridge from the mainland into the old town. A statue of the patron, St John of Trogir, stands above it. Lanes narrow the moment you pass through, so check the route before dragging big luggage to your room.

The large and small 15th-century houses of the noble Cipiko family, facing the cathedral. Fine carving on the Gothic window frames shows from the square. Family lore says a commander seized a wooden rooster from an enemy ship at Lepanto.

Housed in the former Garagnin-Fanfogna family palace, the museum shows Baroque-era paintings and prints. A noble family's library, old documents and costumes are displayed too. It is small, half an hour is enough, and it pairs with the cathedral.