BudgetTravel

Dubrovnik's singularity, manifest in the spectacular medieval walls that encircle it for one-and-a-quarter miles (don't miss walking them for 15kn/$2.15), is hard to dismiss. Some claim just being on its white stone streets, with no cars or skyscrapers to shatter the illusion of time travel, verges on a mystical experience. People come to stroll, loiter at cafZs, and swim where the Adriatic laps gently at ancient fortifications. (And when cruise ships disgorge the hordes, they escape to the beaches.)

As one wanders the alleys and bright squares, all the outdoor cafZs seem identical-risotto for around 50kn/$7.15, meat dishes for 90kn/$13, and so on-but locals whisper praise for the one called Moby Dick, beneath the last remaining medieval balconies on Prijeko. Also sample the local taste for strolling with ice cream; at 10kn/$1.45 a cone, dessert covers a lot of ground.

As is often the case with postwar societies, Croatians come across as a touch numb, showing few signs of the passion that fueled the recent bloodshed. Inland, farmhouses remain bulletpocked and burnt, but in Dubrovnik, emotional scars lie deep. When I told one resident I live in New York City, she murmured with solidarity. This woman, a survivor of the Dubrovnik terror, had the single most sympathetic question anyone ever asked me about September 11. "Did it make a terrible sound?" she asked, and perhaps remembering her own trauma, probed no further.

Room & Breakfast: Most low-cost/package hotels land you three miles west of Old Town, by the beaches and away from the magic. There are two hotels within city walls, but one charges $226 a night and the other $150. So one of the cheapest options (still a 15-minute walk west from the Pile Gate) is Fadila Vulic« B&B (Dr. Ante Starcÿevic«a 54, 020/412-787), 250kn/$36 to 300kn/$43 per room, breakfast 20kn/$2.85. Five minutes farther, the front-facing rooms at Hotel Lero (Iva Vojnovic«a 14, 020/341-333, hotel-lero.hr) have distant sea views; B&B rates are 290kn/$41 a person, double, and 420kn/$60 a single, and high summer costs 25 percent more. The best option, though, is to rent a villa owned by absentee western Europeans. Consult the British brokers Croatian Villas (011-44/20-8368-9978, croatianvillas.com) or Hidden Croatia (011-44/20-7736-6066, hiddencroatia.com), for summer flats for as little as $350/week. Up that to $100/night for abject opulence. To get a famous view of Old Town, you must splurge; I loved Grand Villa Argentina (Frana Supila 14, 020/440-555, hoteli-argentina.hr). Cascading down a cliff to the very lip of the Adriatic, it's where reporters stayed during the siege in 1991-92, so its sensual Old Town panorama was made iconic by CNN. Outside of summer, its modern (renovated in 2003) rooms are in the middle $100s-money you can avoid paying by choosing a cheaper place, but far less than comparable quarters at home. For Dubrovnik area information, see tzdubrovnik.hr.

Split: Roman holiday

If the Palace of Diocletian were in the middle of, say, London, it would be a beloved treasure. Instead, in Split, two thirds of the way down the coast of Croatia, it's furniture. The Palace was built for a Roman emperor in a.d. 295. Still inhabited, it's now an open-air warren of boutiques, hidden pubs, and smoky shrines. Split is the second-largest city in Croatia and the port for its most appealing islands. It's also perfect for hanging out. Simply sipping espresso under the weathered porticos and Corinthian columns is one of the finest diversions I've had in Europe.

Croatia's glittering swatch of the Adriatic-glassy smooth and because of natural currents, among the cleanest of the whole Mediterranean region-was once just an outer borough of Rome. North of the Palace are more Roman remnants, and three miles inland are the ruins of the city of Salona, complete with a still-working aquaduct (free).

In addition to the Palace (free), tony shopping, and all those seafront cafZs, there's Trogir, a seaside village (and, like the Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site) of Renaissance-era glory. It's 30 minutes away via the port's bus station (14kn/$2 each way) and makes for a film-gobbling day out. The sculptor Mesÿtrovic«'s estate, a 25-minute walk west of town, is a showcase for his arresting handiwork (15kn/$2.15). Croatia's main highway runs perilously but spectacularly along the coast in both directions from Split, and it makes for a world-class multiday drive.

Room & Breakfast: Don't be afraid, here or anywhere in the country, to lodge in private residences. Older women who have lost their sons and husbands offer sobe, or rooms, for pocket money (think $15 to $35). Bargain, but ask how far from town the house is. Lodging within the Palace: the basic but warm Prenoc«isÿte Slavija (Buvinova 2, 021/347-053), hidden up a staircase behind Jupiter's Temple; rooms with shared bath are 317kn/$45 double, 233kn/$33 single; private baths are 70kn/$10 more. The impressive Bellevue (J. Bana Jelacÿicc«a 2, 021/347-499) is humdrum but ideally located, and some rooms face the Riva quay; 560kn/$80 double, 375kn/$54 single, summer about 70kn/$10 more. Croatia is one of the few places you can afford luxury; Hotel Park (Hatzeov perivoj 3, 021/406-400, hotelpark-split.hr), a former palace on a trendy section of the sea, costs E61/$70 to E67/$77 per person double, E93/$107 to E103/$118 single. Split info: visitsplit.com.

Hvar: Adriatic relic

In a country with 1,185 islands, there are plenty of choices for offshore escapes. No Croatian vacation is complete without a stop on at least one. Korcÿula has sword dancing, Pag is renowned for tart cheese, and Mljet is a forested national park. Here is the Adriatic of Jason and his Argonauts, of pirates, and of Marco Polo. Even the region's stone is famous; nearby quarries dressed the White House and the U.N.

Hvar, though, may be the quintessential Croatian isle. Scented by fields of wild lavender, its heart is the hamlet Hvar Town, which curls around a row of coves and is adorned with Venetian architecture, a knot of narrow streets, and a hilltop fortress.