# The most beautiful old towns

> The most beautiful old towns to visit: Dubrovnik, Prague, San Sebastián, Hoi An, Salamanca, Tangier. Travel guide and fine art photography prints for each.

- Source: https://clevertourists.com/guides/collection-most-beautiful-old-towns
- Authors: Evan & Clara, Clever Tourists (first-hand, from a 526-day trip across 20 countries)
- Published: 2026-01-24

Every old town on this list stopped us mid-step for the same reason: centuries of patina nobody ever sanded off.

## Places

### Dubrovnik, Croatia

Dubrovnik is a walled city on the southern Dalmatian coast, its limestone Old Town wrapped by ramparts that run almost two kilometers around the medieval core. The marble main street, the Stradun, polished smooth by centuries of foot traffic, anchors a grid of stepped lanes climbing toward the city walls and the sea beyond.

### Prague, Czech Republic

The capital of Czechia, Prague sits on the Vltava River and is renowned for one of Europe's largest and best-preserved historic centers, a UNESCO World Heritage Site spanning Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Art Nouveau architecture.

### San Sebastián, Spain

Known in Basque as Donostia, San Sebastián is an elegant coastal city built around the near-perfect arc of La Concha bay. It is famous for its belle-époque architecture, its beaches and one of the highest concentrations of acclaimed restaurants in the world.

### Hoi An, Vietnam

A preserved trading port glowing with silk lanterns along a riverside old town.

### Salamanca, Spain

A golden-sandstone university city and one of Spain's great Renaissance ensembles.

### Tangier, Morocco

Tangier stands at the northern tip of Morocco, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and the Spanish coast is visible across the water. Long a cosmopolitan port and former international zone, it blends Moroccan, Spanish and European influences.