Montenegro

Montenegro packs a fjord, a coastline and a mountain range into a country smaller than Northern Ireland. The Bay of Kotor is the draw, a drowned river canyon with Venetian towns around its edge and a walled citadel above Kotor itself. Sveti Stefan, an island village converted whole into a hotel, is the picture everyone knows. Porto Montenegro at Tivat is where the yachts go. Durmitor, two hours inland, has the rafting and the hiking. July and August are busy and hot; June and September are better in every respect.