Vis-à- Vis

A decent beach should not be too decent. An overload of litter is of course disgusting, but a light scattering — a crisp packet here, a Fanta can there — pleasingly negates any pretentious fantasy of being at one with nature.

The Croatian Tourist Board has struck the right balance on the island of Vis, 30 miles south of Split on the Dalmatian coast. The beaches are magnificent: great sweeps of pretty white pebbles that tickle the rocky toes of the hills. The little clumps of corrugated plastics somehow emphasise the beauty of the shores.

Inadvertently, I started a clean-up operation by taking home swabs of tar on my back, legs and swimming trunks. Three weeks on, there is still an oily tattoo under my left foot, I think.

According to travel experts, Vis is the place to go at the moment. Since Croatia emerged as an independent state in 1995, its popularity has boomed and boomed.