Zadar gained its urban structure in Roman times; during the time of Julius Caesar and Emperor Augustus, the town was fortified and the city walls with towers and gates were built. On the western side of the town were the forum, the basilica and the temple, while outside the town were the amphitheatre and cemeteries. The aqueduct which was supplying the town with water has been partly preserved. Inside the ancient town, a medieval town had developed, when a series of churches and monasteries had been built.

During the Middle Ages, Zadar had fully gained its urban aspect, which has been maintained until today. In the 16th century, Venice fortified the town with a new system of defensive walls on the side facing land. In the first half of the 16th century, architectural building in the Renaissance style was continued. Defence trenches were built also (Foša), which were completely buried during the Italian occupation. In 1873 under Austrian rule the ramparts of Zadar were converted from fortifications into elevated promenades commanding extensive views to seaward and to landward, wall lines thus being preserved ; of its four old gates one, the Porta Marina, incorporates the relics of a Roman arch, and another, the Porta di Terraferma, was designed in the 16th century by the Veronese artist Sanmichele. In the bombardments during the Second World War, entire blocks were destroyed, but some of the structures were preserved.

Vodice was first mentioned in 1402 although it was founded already in the Roman times as Arausa. Its name derives from the word meaning water sources which supplied the whole area. The defense walls from the times of the Turks with the Coric tower testify the past times. Other similar monuments are St. Cross' church on the former graveyard, built in 1421 and the parish church in the town centre built in 1746.

Vodice is a popular tourist destination in Croatia, with most of the population oriented towards providing accommodation for visitors in the city's hotels, motels, and pensions.

Šibenik was mentioned for the first time under its present name in 1066 in a Charter of the Croatian King Petar Krešimir IV. For a period of time was a seat of Croatian King. For that reason, Šibenik is also called "Krešimirov grad" (Krešimir's city). Unlike other Dalmatian towns that were founded by the Illyrians, Greeks, and Romans, it is the oldest native Croatian town on the eastern shores of the Adriatic.

Šibenik was given the status of a town and its own diocese in 1298. Excavations of the castle of Saint Michael have since proven that the place was inhabited long before the actual arrival of the Croats. The city, like the rest of Dalmatia, resisted the Venetians up to 1412. The Ottoman Empire started to threaten Šibenik at the end of the 15th century, but they never succeed in conquering it. In the 16th century, the fortress of St. Nicholas was built and, by the 17th century, its fortifications were improved again by the fortresses of St. John (Tanaja) and Šubicevac (Barone).

Trogir has a fascinating 2300 years of continuous urban tradition. Its rich culture was created under the influence of old Greeks, Romans, and Venetians. Trogir has a high concentration of palaces, churches, and towers, as well as a fortress on a small island, and in 1997 was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. "The orthogonal street plan of this island settlement dates back to the Hellenistic period and it was embellished by successive rulers with many fine public and domestic buildings and fortifications. Its beautiful Romanesque churches are complemented by the outstanding Renaissance and Baroque buildings from the Venetian period", says UNESCO report.

Trogir is the best-preserved Romanesque-Gothic complex not only in the Adriatic, but in all of Central Europe. Trogir's medieval core, surrounded by walls, comprises a preserved castle and tower and a series of dwellings and palaces from the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Trogir's grandest building is the church of St. Lawrence, whose main west portal is a masterpiece by Radovan, and the most significant work of the Romanesque-Gothic style in Croatia.

Split is the largest and most important city in Dalmatia, the administrative center of Croatia's Split-Dalmatia County, and the country's second-largest city. It is a Mediterranean city, situated on a small peninsula on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea.

Although the beginnings of Split is usually linked to the building of Diocletian's Palace, the city was founded as a Greek colony of Aspálathos much earlier. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, mostly the Delmatae, who inhabited the (much larger) nearby city of Salona.

In time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, and conquered the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 BC and 219 BC. Upon establishing permanent control, the Romans founded the province of Dalmatia with Salona as the capital. The nearby town accordingly changed its name from "Aspálathos" to "Spalatum".

Omiš was well known in the past by the Corsairs of Almissa (Omiški gusari) whose Sagittas - ships (Sagitta; Genitive: Sagittae; Translation: the Arrow), brought fame to them because they were built for attack and fast retrieval into the mouth of the Cetina River, protecting the town from foreign invaders. At a very early date neighbours of the Corsairs of Almissa, the highlanders of the Poljica Principality (Poljièka Republika), became their friends and allies. This allowed them to harass the seaborne trade, without fear of a sudden attack by land.

In the Priko neighborhood, on the right bank of the Cetina River, stands the site with the most historic significance: the preRomanesque St. Peter's church (crkva Sv. Petra) from the X century A.D. This single-naved edifice, with a cupola and apse, was used in XVIII century as a Glagolithic seminary for novice priests.

The Omiš Riviera stretches for twenty kilometers along a coast of exceptional beauty, with many perfect pebble and sandy beaches and bays, steep cliffs and a crystal clear sea .... One is bound to be attracted and delighted. The mood is caught in an inscription on the lintel of a Renaissance palace in Omiš: "GRATIAS AGO TIBI DOMINE QUIA FUI IN HOC MUNDO" (Thanks be to Thee o Lord, that I have lived on this Earth"). The Omiš Rivera, its cultural heritage, the quiet Dalmatian singing in wine cellars (konoba) and, above all, people - are the ingredients of an unforgettable holiday experience.

The area of Makarska was inhabited by the Illyrians. The city appeares in the Tabula Peutingeriana as the port of Inaronia, but is mentioned as Muccurum in a document of the synod held in the Salona (533), when also the town's diocese was created.

In the 7th century the region between the Cetina and Neretva was occupied by the Slavs, who established the Neretva Principality, with Mokro (Makarska) as its administrative centre. The doge of Venice Pietro I Candiano, whose Venetian fleet aimed to punish the piratesque activities of the city's vessels, was defeated here on September 18, 877.

The principality was annexed to the Kingdom of Croatia in the 12th century, and was conquered by the Republic of Venice a century later. In the late 15th century the Ottomans conquered Makarska (cited by this name for the first time in 1502), sourrounding it with walls provided with three towers, not disappeared. After the return tunder the Venetian aegis from 1646, it was given to the Austrians by the Treaty of Campo Formio (1797). In 1805-1815 it was under French rule, which brought cultural, social and economic development. The Congress of Vienna assigned Makarska to Austria-Hungary, under which it remained until 1918.

In the early 20th century agriculture, trade and fishing remained the mainstay of economy. In 1914 the first hotel was built, beginning the tourism tradition in the area.

Dubrovnik (also Ragusa, official name until 1909) is a historic city on the Adriatic Sea coast in the extreme south of Croatia, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its population was 43,770 in 2001[1] down from 49,728 in 1991.[2] In 2001 the absolute majority of its citizens declared themselves as Croats with 88.39% (2001 census).

Since 1979, the historic centre of Dubrovnik has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice. Supported by its wealth and skilled diplomacy, the city achieved a remarkable level of development, particularly during the 15th and 16th centuries. Ragusa was one of the centres of the development of primarily the Croatian culture, then Latin culture and home to many notable poets, playwrights, painters, mathematicians, physicists and other scholars.