Novi Vinodolski

Halfway between Rijeka and Senj, the modest coastal town of Novi Vinodolski has an outsized place in Croatian cultural history: it is here that the Vinodol Codex was signed on 6 January 1288, the oldest surviving legal document written in the Croatian language and one of the earliest municipal law codes in medieval Europe. The parchment, laid down in Glagolitic script by nine communal delegates who wanted to codify their customary rights against the Frankopan lords, is a foundation stone of Croatian identity and now kept in Zagreb; a facsimile is displayed in the small but excellent Frankopan Castle museum on the hill above the harbour, alongside the family's medieval tomb, weapons and correspondence. The castle itself, a squat 13th-century trapezoid, offers wide views over the entire Vinodol valley — the long green karst furrow inland — and out to the island of Krk. Below, the town has a lively pebble seafront with several free beaches, an excellent late-May carnival, and a growing reputation for boutique wineries producing the local Trojiščina and Belica white varieties. Come mid-morning to combine castle museum, old town walk and a swim before a fresh-fish lunch on the promenade.