Dubrovnik has done it again. The walled Croatian city picked up the Silver Award in the Most Desirable City in Europe category at the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards 2026, handed out on 4 November in London's Painted Hall at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. It's the latest in a run of top placings for the city in this reader-voted ranking, which is now in its 25th year.

The competition was stiff. Dubrovnik finished ahead of the likes of Copenhagen, Madrid, Lisbon, Istanbul, Bordeaux, Genoa and Tbilisi — a field that reads like a shortlist of Europe's most talked-about city breaks. Miro Drašković, director of the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, collected the award on the city's behalf.

There was more good news for Croatia on the night. The country's islands were named the Most Desirable Region in Europe, a win for the Croatian National Tourist Board that, alongside Dubrovnik's silver, underlines how strong the country's profile is with British travellers right now. That matters: the UK is one of Dubrovnik's most important source markets, so repeated nods from a respected British magazine carry real weight.

Wanderlust, which has championed authentic and responsible travel for more than three decades, has praised Dubrovnik before. The city won gold in the same category in a previous edition, and at last year's ceremony its editor-in-chief George Kipouros gave Dubrovnik a special recognition for sustainable tourism management. That honour pointed to the city's "Respect the City" programme — measures that manage visitor flows, regulate cruise ship arrivals and try to protect both the historic centre and the daily lives of locals.

For travellers, the takeaway is straightforward. Dubrovnik keeps ranking highly not just because of its famous walls and terracotta rooftops, but because it is visibly working on the downsides of popularity — the cruise-day crowds and the feeling of a city existing only for tourists. If you've been putting off a visit because of overtourism stories, the city's recent record suggests it's becoming a more considered place to explore again. Timing helps too: come in May, June or September-October and you'll get milder weather and thinner crowds than in peak July and August, when cruise arrivals stack up. And with the Croatian islands now officially Europe's most desirable region, pairing the city with a hop to Korčula, Mljet or the Elaphiti islands makes an easy, well-rounded Dalmatian trip.

The awards are voted by readers rather than a jury of industry insiders, which arguably makes them a decent proxy for where real travellers actually want to go. On that measure, Croatia is having a very good year.

Reported by Total Croatia.