Dubrovnik's cuisine may go unnoticed, with all the unbeatable charms of this walled city and its surroundings to compete against. These include the relaxing and beautiful island of Lokrum, or the idyllic, forested wine area of Konavle, some 40 minutes south of the city. But many restaurants here go far beyond standard fast food or burgers and offer high-quality Mediterranean food, and often generous portions at tourist-friendly prices. The following are the eateries we have tried out for you.

Tinel

Tiny bar in Antuninska Street. Its terrace has a few tables, but is mainly spread out on a street staircase – a common phenomenon in Dubrovnik cafés. People have their coffee while passers-by walk up or down the steps beside them. This bar is frequented by locals and artists attending the Summer Festival.

Skola

Another small and popular establishment, also located in Antuninska Street. Their Dalmatian ham sandwich, Prsut Sir, is the local's favourite – with salty, smoked ham, cheese and lettuce – and has been served here for the last 50 years. Their delicious homemade white bread is served warm, freshly-baked. Salads, sardines and combined dishes are also on the menu.

Proto

First opened in 1886, Protois an institution in the city, with Dubrovnik’s best cooks having learnt their skills here. This calm, majestic terrace located one storey above the street’s bustle has seen the likes of Tom Cruise, Roger Moore, the Game of Thrones stars, Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson. The chef, Bosko Lonac, is in favour of top quality food without too much fuss. His star dishes are fish with salt and egg yolk, drizzled with oil and lemon juice – that melts in your mouth – or cod risotto, where the ingredients aren’t mixed together, but presented separately on the dish; a shrimp and truffle “salad” of extremely high quality and a very interesting octopus ragù, with polenta soaked in cuttlefish ink. For dessert, we recommend rozata, a pudding with a subtle rose liqueur note.

Kopun

A restaurant with history. Its terrace is surrounded by emblematic buildings, such as the only Baroque church in the city – St Ignatius – a seminary, and a Greek and Latin school. History is also present in their cuisine, featuring traditional Croatian dishes, including capon, eaten since the 16th century (Kopun means capon in Croatian). This versatile delicacy can be found in soups, salads, mixed in a mushroom sauce, oven-baked (for six to eight people), and Dubrovnik style – with figs, carrots and gnocchi – a recipe that is featured in the cookbook of Game of Thrones.

Other dishes worth trying are fuzi (macaroni) with prawns and truffles ­– an Istrian specialty – topped with a langoustine, Slavonian cold meat, lightly smoked and quite spicy, and brodet, a type of fish and seafood stew with polenta and pungent tomato sauce.

Only Croatian wines are served here. We recommend the fresh Malvasija Tezoro white and the powerful Pometred, both from the Konavle wine area. And last, but not least, they are kind enough to provide blankets for the diners.

It opens every day from March to October from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Their daily menu costs 10 euros including a fish, meat or vegetarian main course and dessert, drinks excluded. If you opt to dine à la carte, the average price is 25 to 30 euros, without drinks.

Lero Hotel

When travelling to Dubrovnik, we recommend spending the night here. It’s not too pricey and is a 20-minute walk from the historical centre. Modern and very comfy, albeit lacking any frills, this hotel has several rooms with a sea view and amenities such as a swimming pool, a wellness area and a Wi-Fi connection.

After giving you some tips on Dubrovnik’s best spots to dine in, coming soon is an issue of My Vueling City devoted to the cuisine outside the city walls. Come and experience this marvellous city with us! Check out our flights here.

Text and images by Grastronomistas

Scotland offers many reasons for visiting – beautiful scenery, like in the Highlands, and beautiful lakes, like Lochs Lomond, Tummel, Duich and Ness, the latter with monster included. Not to mention such cultural events as the Edinburgh Festival, during which the city is filled with theatre, music and dance, and the chance to discover its writers, notably Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Irvine Welsh. And – you guessed it – the land’s magnificent whisky. Celtic in origin, this distillation is the epitome of Scottish identity traits – bagpipes and kilts notwithstanding. Scotch is also one of the country’s greatest moneyspinners and stands out as a major attraction for visitors to this land. Newcomers will have the opportunity to make their whisky debut in style, while connoisseurs have the unique occasion to become experts while treating themselves to the huge gamut of tastes and aromas.

Known as uisge beatha (water of life) in Gaelic, whisky is made from the distillation of fermented malt, generally barley, although other grains such as wheat, rye and corn can also be used. The distillation is aged in an oak cask for at least three years. Scotch is classified into the following types – single malt, vatted malt (or pure malt), blended and single grain, single malt being the most highly valued.

A good way of coming to grips with everything related to this popular Scottish beverage is by heading for Edinburgh to visit the Scotch Whisky Experience, a centre located in the Old Town, adjacent to Edinburgh Castle, where you can learn all the ins and outs of scotch. Once you have mastered the basics, you are ready to venture into one of the myriad distilleries scattered about the country. To help get your bearings, you should know that Scotland is divided into five whisky-producing regions. And, as in the case of wine, each region has its own characteristics.

In the region of the Lowlands, in the south of the country, the whisky they produce is mild, light and unsmoky, making it ideal for blends. As it lacks the malt character of the other regions, it is less popular and is produced by a fewer number of distilleries.

Speyside, named after the river Spey which traverses it, is the leading whisky-producing region and the venue for most organised distillery tours. The world’s most popular malts are produced here. One of the must-visit distilleries is Cardhu, located near Archiestown and founded by the whisky smuggler John Cumming in 1824. Glenfiddich, situated in Dufftown, is the only distillery where the distillation, ageing and bottling processes take place on the same premises. At Craigellachie we find the Macallan distillery, which also dates from 1824. Here, the whisky was originally aged in Spanish sherry casks. It set the record for having produced one of the most expensive bottles of liquor ever sold when it fetched $54,000 at an auction. Lastly, the Glenlivet distillery near Ballindalloch is considered to produce one of the finest malts in the region.

The largest region in terms of size and whisky output is the Highlands, situated in the north of Scotland. One of our favourite distilleries here is Oban, located in picturesque Oban Bay, opposite the seafront, which has been producing its excellent malt since 1794. Still in this area, we come to the sub-region known as The Islands which is worth visiting for two gems – the Jura distillery, sited on the island of the same name – an eminently family concern, which has been producing excellent malt whisky since 1810 – and Talisker, located on the priceless island of Skye.

Campbeltown, a region which once boasted up to thirty distilleries, now has only three distilleries in operation.

Lastly, we come to the region of Islay, located on Scotland’s west coast, which is known above all for its smoky whiskies. We recommend a visit to Bowmore, which has one of the first distilleries to be set up on the island, and where the malt is still produced using traditional methods, and Port Ellen, home to the Lagavulin distillery, built in 1816.

Now that you know some of the best whisky distilleries in Scotland, book your Vueling to Edinburgh and get to experience them first-hand.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Cls With Attitude, Sem Shnaider, Rob Schulze, Kkonstan, Stephane Farenga, lynjardine, 82Gab

The people of Manchester always have to settle for second prize. Perhaps it is a bitter victory to come behind rivals, first-placed London, the economic, social and cultural epicentre of old Britain, but Manchester is still plugging away. They have always had a better football team than any in the capital and, as far as music is concerned, they have sometimes hit Londoners where it hurts most.

When it comes to Manchester’s nightlife, what comes to mind willy-nilly is stories and pictures associated with The Haçienda, that hotbed of endless creativity that set the trends in club music throughout the United Kingdom for over a decade. It is now eighteen years since it was converted into an apartment block. However, its demise did not in any way herald a decline in Mancunian nightlife. Club culture has long enjoyed good health in that city and this, added to the fact that music spots have always been plentiful in Manchester, makes it one of the hotspots in Europe.

The city boasts countless centres of night leisure. One of the most vibrant of them, which is currently on an upsurge, is the Northern Quarter, located in Manchester’s historic centre, dating from medieval times. The Council aims to give the neighbourhood a new lease of life, offering low rentals to attract young entrepreneurs. Located here is one of the best house and techno clubs, Sankeys (Radium St. M4 6AY). It is worth visiting for the quality of their sound and, incidentally, their equipment was designed by the likes of NASA. A good way to start the evening in this district is to have a pint at Odd Bar (30-32 Thomas Street), a sort of pub which won the best city bar award and which has a quality DJ programme. For live music, a great choice is Moho Live (Tib St., M1 1SH). There you can find anything from upcoming bands to Soundsystems by seminal electronic artists like Nightmares on Wax.

Another not-to-be-missed club in the Oxford Road university area is Joshua Brooks (106 Princess St. M1 6NG), located on the corner of Charles Street and Princess St. Aside from being a bar, at night it doubles as a disco, where the music ranges from indie to dance and dubstep. For addicts of black sounds, the city’s temple is called Funkademia Sited in Mint Lounge (46-50 Oldham Street), their motto is “wear what you like, but dress well”. Saturdays evenings are the most crowded and feature sessions of the best northern soul, groove, old-school hip hop and disco music.

The Event

For some years now, one of Britain’s paramount electronic music events has been held in  Manchester. This is The Warehouse Project, a serie of events that gets under way at the end of September and takes places every weekend until the beginning of January. Under the watchword, “For Twelve Weeks This City Is Ours”, the event’s organisers have drawn up a programme featuring a pithy lineup, designed to cure your hiccups. This year will see the likes of Jamie XX, Luciano, Clark, Siriusmodeselektor, Leftfield, Adrian Sherwood, John Talabot, Andrew Weatherall, Goldie, Carl Craig, Four Tet... The venues differ from one year to the next. According to the festival’s policy, the location should be outlandish every time. Until 2007, this was sited at their current operations centre. It lies in the underbelly of Piccadilly Station(Store St. M1 2GH), an unsettling place on account of the presence of catacombs. Each club night has its own theme. This year we recommend the weekend devoted to New Order, on 5 and 6 December, with a stunning lineup featuring such names as New Order themselves (they will be performing both days), A Certain Ratio, Erol Alkan, Horse Meat Disco and Factory Floor, among others.

As you can see, the intense Manchester scene continues apace. Come and feel the vibe – check our flights here.

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Images by Tom Jerkins photographic, Odd Bar, Duncan Hull, The Warehouse Project, Funkademia