Dubrovnik is also a town of sailing culture, trade, and urban design, a culture that even on the island of Palagruža, a lonely islet in the middle of the Adriatic Sea and truly the most southern point of Croatia, left its mark throughout the centuries. Several tens of kilometres away - another drastic change of landscape occurs in the estuary of the Neretva River. Everything becomes serene and flat, there is no mountain-sea drama, only a uniform flow of the river in the peaceful delta covered in reeds, where the silence is occasionally broken by the flapping of the wings of local birds, while the shallow “trupe”, boats of the local type made for centuries in the valley of the river and which are still an important factor of life around the Neretva River, gently glide along the surface.

The islands, Korèula in particular, may boast of strong and dry wines, but also of the thick coniferous forests that could not be destroyed even by the fire that broke out some ten years ago. It is to this dark green cover growing on pure stone, that Korèula owes its original name, according to the legend. Moreška in Korèula and Kumpanjija in Blato are a part of the historical heritage included in the folklore of the local people. The town of Lastovo on the island of the same name recognizable for its 46 fields, 46 islands and 46 churches, bears witness in a different way of this centuries long tradition of life in the Mediterranean environment. Situated in a landscape that gently ascends up a hill, so have the houses been built tightly against each other for centuries in the long process of conquering space. However, space is maximally utilized such that every house rises above the next, has its own view, its own sun and air. The additional charm of Lastovo is also in its numerous surrounding islets under which the hundred meters deep sea has a dark blue glow which simply challenges to a sailing adventure.

On the neighbouring island of Mljet-the greenest island on the Adriatic, on the other hand, everything is full of history and the landscape is such that it always evokes the legendary myth that, in his wanderings about the Mediterranean, Odysseus himself visited Mljet. It is difficult to confirm whether this legend is true, but the fact is that there is an abundance of cultural remnants on the island, starting with the numerous Illyrian castle ruins, to the medieval churches, and the greatest attraction of all - the Benedictine monastery situated on an islet in the middle of Vransko Lake, dating as early as the 12th century. Naturally, those who love small picturesque islands will not fail to visit the Elaphite islands that stretch from Pelješac to Dubrovnik, to be able to reach, to some degree, the present day mystery of the place in which the gentry of Dubrovnik used to spend their vacation in their luxurious summer residences. And here, despite modern tourism facilities, it is possible to feel the magnificence of life and culture of the Republic of Dubrovnik and its mightiest inhabitants. In order to get the most out of the experience, one should visit the Renaissance park - Arboretum in Trsteno, built at the beginning of the 16th century around the Guèetic summer residence which, even after damage sustained in the war and in fires, still impressively speaks of the level of the culture of life in Dubrovnik in the past.