Dobrota

Dobrota stretches along the shore immediately north of Kotor, a ribbon of houses several kilometres long between the water and the mountain. It is part of Kotor municipality and lies inside the UNESCO-protected area of the bay.

Its captains' houses. Dobrota was one of the wealthiest seafaring settlements in the Bay of Kotor, and the baroque palaces and family chapels along the waterfront are what that wealth built. The churches of St Eustace and St Matthew hold the best of the surviving art.

The nearer end is a 15-minute walk along the waterfront; the far end is several kilometres further. Buses run the length of it and taxis are cheap, but the shoreline walk into Kotor is the pleasant way to do it.

It is one of the best bases on the bay. You get quiet, water-front rooms and easier parking than inside the walls, with Kotor's old town close enough to walk to for dinner — which is why much of Kotor's accommodation is actually here.

Concrete bathing platforms and small pebble patches run much of its length, with ladders into deep, clear water. It is bay swimming rather than beach life, and it stays calm even when the coast outside is choppy.

Walk the waterfront past the palaces, visit St Eustace and St Matthew, swim from the platforms, eat at the konobas along the water, and use it as the base for Kotor, the fortress climb, Perast and the boat trips into the inner bay.