With its pedestrianised Old Town ringed by medieval and Renaissance walls, and its shiny marble lanes lined with Baroque palaces and stone townhouses, you could argue that Dubrovnik itself is an open-air museum. Indeed, 2024 marks the 45th anniversary of the Old Town’s UNESCO World Heritage status. Many visitors are content with walking the city walls, catching glimpses of day-to-day life down below, bowled over by the beauty of its location alongside the twinkling waters of the Adriatic. Others are simply unaware of the cultural treasures within Dubrovnik’s historic buildings.

One of the most striking museum settings in the Old Town is the Rector’s Palace, a magnificent colonnaded mansion with parts dating from the 15th century. Behind its graceful arches lies the Cultural History Museum, a window into the former republic of Ragusa, as Dubrovnik was known from 1358 to 1808. Other Renaissance palaces and townhouses in the Old Town – many, including the Rector’s Palace, rebuilt in Baroque style after the 1667 earthquake – are also home to fascinating collections that range from ethnographic and maritime to natural history and war photography.

Both the Franciscan and Dominican monasteries, which top and tail the Old Town’s main artery, Stradun, hold collections of art and artefacts, while the history of Dubrovnik’s small Jewish community is revealed within its 14th-century synagogue, set in an alley that’s easy to miss.

Walk outside the Old Town’s southern Ploče Gate and you’ll find an impressive 1930s villa that houses the Museum of Modern Art. Just beyond the Pile Gate, at the Old Town’s northern end, is the latest addition to Dubrovnik’s cultural scene: the Wine Museum. And as an antidote to Zagreb’s Museum of Broken Relationships, the Love Stories Museum is a place of ‘happily ever afters’.

In the GruĆŸ ferry port is the Red History Museum, which delves into the story of Yugoslavia, while the more recent past is evoked in the Homeland War Museum at the top of Mount Srđ, whose cable car includes a ticket to the museum. A Dubrovnik Pass includes free entry to 11 museums, houses and galleries, the city walls and public transport.