Croatia is becoming a tourist favorite - but you can still find unspoilt spots on these two islands

Dotty on the Dalmatian Coast! Croatia - the 'new Italy' - is fast becoming a tourist favourite...but you can still find unspoiled spots on these two secret islands "Croatia, two hours from London, offers a feeling of getting away from it all exciting and profound," says Stephen Bayley For "a terra incognita experience" he recommends the Croatian islands of Hvar and Dugi Otok" > By Stephen Bayley for the Daily Mail

Posted: 10:34 GMT, 9th March 2023 | Updated: 15:27 GMT, 10th March 2023

You meet people who say Croatia is the new Italy. It was once part of the Republic of Venice, so there is logic here.

And Diocletian's Palace in Split is one of the largest Roman landmarks. There are suggestions of Italy everywhere. You find spageti bolonjeze on the menus and it's not too hard to understand the Italian influence there. But you will also find Hrskava riblji zalogaji (Croatian crispy fish bites), which remind you how foreign this country is.

Croatia is perhaps to be the least known, certainly the least understood, country in Europe. As a result, just two hours from London, it offers an exciting and profound feeling of escape. Especially if you visit almost secret islands. And even more so if you find unusually comfortable places to stay when you get there.

Mainland Dubrovnik may be Croatia's gift for package travelers, but a few days later the islands of Hvar or Dugi Otok are a terra incognita experience.

Judith Schalansky's surprise bestseller , Pocket Atlas Of Remote Islands, has proven the popular appeal of quiet and seclusion in our busy work...