DISCOVER CROATIA’S NEW ISLAND

Tiny Lopud, part of the Elaphiti island cluster, has been brushed by history’s big-hitters for millennia, with Greek and Roman boats making anchor, and summer homes built during its Venetian Republic years. After some decades as a Dalmatian backwater, with decent digs hard to come by, it’s drawing a global crowd once again, who are restoring historic villas on hillsides overlooking the sea. The biggest news, though, has been the transformation of the 15th-century Franciscan monastery that rises above the harbour into Lopud 1483 (lopud1483.com), by the art collector Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza. It’s now a glorious retreat with five contemporary bedrooms, a medieval-sized table outside for feasting and a spa treatment room. It’s also a gallery, and you don’t have to stay to explore that – you can book a tour when no one’s there.

And anyone can visit Your Black Horizon, Thyssen-Bornemisza’s other contribution to the island, a colourchanging installation by architect David

Adjaye and artist Olafur Eliasson, set amid cypress and olive trees. Lopud is a storybook island, with a single main sandy beach on one side, a town on the other, a promenade that curls around the harbour and overgrown tracks that take hikers up to spyglass views.

YOU’LL NEVER FORGET

Scudding over the waves on a speedboat past the monastery walls to be met at the quayside; taking sundown drinks on the battlements as the sky streaks impressionist red.

Abercrombie & Kent (03301 734712; abercrombiekent.co.uk) offers five nights from £4,700pp, based on 10 sharing, including flights, transfers, boat trip, half-board between June-Sept and full-board in other months

Rick Jordan

Was King Ludwig II of Bavaria really mad? Or was he simply a man ahead of his time? Draw your own conclusions on this Bavarian road trip, visiting the fantastical follies that he created. Start your journey in Munich, at Schloss Nymphenburg (schloss-nymphenburg.de), the renaissance palace where Ludwig was born in 1845. Next stop is Füssen, a historic town two hours south, in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps. Here you’ll find Hohenschwangau (hohenschwangau.de), the medieval schloss where he grew up, and the fairy-tale castle he built, Neuschwanstein (neuschwanstein.de) – which became the inspiration for Disneyland.

From Füssen, it’s around an hour’s drive to Ludwig’s dreamlike mansion, Linderhof (schlosslinderhof.de), then two hours to Herrenchiemsee (herrenchiemsee.de), his extravagant replica of Versailles. Head back to Munich – about two hours – stopping off at Starnbergersee, the lake where Ludwig drowned in 1886, just three days after his ministers declared him insane (lots of Bavarians still believe he was murdered).

There are plenty of other attractions to take in along the way – among them Kochel, the lakeside town where German painter Franz Marc lived and worked, and a must for art lovers.

YOU’LL NEVER FORGET

Your first glimpse of Neuschwanstein, its fairy-tale turrets piercing the sky.

Embark on this road trip independently, or book with Tailored Travel (020 7064 4970; tailored-travel.co.uk), which offers the five-day Castles & Lakes of Bavaria tour from £684 per person