Luxury dog-friendly hotels in Herceg Novi, Montenegro

Yugoslav poet Ivo Andrić summed it up nicely when he described Herceg Novi as a place of ‘eternal greenery, sun and stairs’. With a year-round dose of vitamin D, a charming (but exceptionally steep) old town and a cluster of idyllic inlets, this one time fishing village has all the panache of Dubrovnik with half of the crowd. Centuries at the crossroads of power has marked Herceg Novi in particularly colourful ways. From banana trees and magnolias to eucalyptus and oleanders, this Montenegrin greenhouse is home to over 250 rare plants, the legacy of sailors that have wound up on her shores. The town’s storied past can be gleaned in its architectural diversity, too. Founded by the Romans, taken by Turks, seized by the Spaniards and vanquished by Venetians, a short stroll through Herceg Novi’s snaking streets reveals a ragbag of aesthetic virtues. Climb the steps of Kanli Kula’s ‘bloody tower’ for a panorama far more pleasing than its name suggests, trek the limestone peaks of Tara River Canyon, and round off the day with a glass of indigenous vranac, because eternal greenery yields eternal grapes, of course.