What's a good 3-day itinerary for Dubrovnik?

Three days, three scales. Day 1 stays inside the walled Old Town on foot, and timing matters more here than almost anywhere in Europe. The city walls open at 8am in summer. By 10am, cruise-ship passengers flood the Pile Gate entrance and the wall walk becomes a single-file shuffle in 30°C heat. At 8am you'll likely have the Minčeta Tower platform to yourself, the Adriatic 25 metres below, terracotta rooftops still cool enough to photograph without heat shimmer. The full circuit runs 1,940 metres and takes about 90 minutes at a comfortable pace. Tickets cost 35 EUR. Come down to Stradun, the limestone main street polished glass-smooth by foot traffic since the 1400s. The Onofrio Fountain sits at the western end, built in 1438 to cap the city's aqueduct. Walk east past the 1528 St. Saviour Church to the Sponza Palace, the one building that survived the 1667 earthquake with its original 16th-century facade intact.

The Rector's Palace sits 2 minutes south, entry 15 EUR. The ground-floor courtyard smells of damp limestone even in July. The Dubrovnik Summer Festival runs July 10 to August 25, and string quartets play evening concerts under these arches. Dubrovnik Cathedral is next door, rebuilt from scratch after 1670 on the rubble of the Romanesque original. For lunch, walk to Taj Mahal on Kovačka ulica. The name is misleading. It serves Bosnian ćevapi with warm somun bread and raw onion for about 14 EUR. Spend the late afternoon at Buža Bar, the cliff bar on the south wall. There is no sign from the street. Walk south on Od Margarite until you spot a hole cut in the stone wall with 'cold drinks' painted above it. A Karlovačko beer costs 8 EUR on the rocks, and you sit 12 metres above the water with the open Adriatic ahead. Sunset hits the cliffs at about 8:30pm in late June.

Day 2 shifts to the water. The Lokrum Island ferry leaves from the Old Port every 30 minutes starting at 9am, about 20 EUR return. The crossing takes 15 minutes. Lokrum has no cars, no hotels, and no permanent residents since the Benedictines left. The monastery ruins date to 1023. Swim off the rocky south shore where the water is cold enough to shock you even in late June, maybe 22°C. Mrtvo More, the salt lake on the island's interior, holds water at roughly 24°C, warmer than the open shore and calm enough to float without moving. Back on the mainland by 3pm, walk to the Srđ cable car station on Petra Krešimira IV. Tickets cost 27 EUR return. The 4-minute ride lifts you to 412 metres. The view north across the Elafiti Islands tends to be clearest in the afternoon before the evening haze settles. Dinner in Lapad at Pantarul on Ul. Kralja Tomislava. The tuna steak with capers runs about 22 EUR. It is the best restaurant in Dubrovnik that most visitors never reach because it sits 3 km from the walls.

Day 3 belongs to Cavtat, a harbour town 19 km southeast. Bus 10 from the Pile Gate stop runs roughly every hour, takes 40 minutes, and costs about 5 EUR. You can also take the boat from the Old Port for about 15 EUR, which is slower but prettier. Cavtat's small Rector's Palace holds the Baltazar Bogišić Collection with its 22,000 volumes and a courtyard shaded by fig trees. Walk the peninsula loop, about 2 km along the waterfront, past the Račić Mausoleum that Ivan Meštrović designed in 1921. Lunch at Leut on the harbour. Order the black risotto. The cuttlefish ink stains your teeth for an hour, but the taste is worth it at about 18 EUR. Afternoon swim at Žal Beach on the south side, where the pebbles are warm underfoot and the water stays shallow for 20 metres out. The 5:40pm bus returns you to Dubrovnik by 6:20pm. About 60 km across the three days, counting the bus ride and ferry crossings.