Piers Letcher has written 17 books, plus more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles, and has had hundreds of photographs published. After writing a comprehensive guide to Europe by Rail in 1985, he spent almost a year living in and travelling around the former Yugoslavia, leading to the publication of the Bradt guide to Yugoslavia in 1989. In the early 2000s, he explored Croatia thoroughly and wrote two Bradt guides about the country - Croatia and Dubrovnik - and co-authored one (Zagreb) with his wife Sarah. Like so many travellers, he has a special passion for the Dalmatian coast, having travelled up and down it - and out to the islands - regularly since the mid-1980s. He has made innumerable Croatian friends along the way, and loves the wonderful scenery, landscapes and light - and rarely says no to the excellent local wines and spirits.

British travel writer Jane Foster (jane-foster.com) arrived in Split by overnight ferry from Ancona one dark, cold and wet January morning in 1997 and instantly knew she wanted to live there. And she did. Dalmatia became her home from 1998 to 2003 and has been again from 2011 onwards. She writes primarily about Croatia, and is the co-author of Bradt's Croatia: the Dalmatian Coast, and author of Croatia travel guides for both Frommer's and Footprint. Extensive travels throughout the country, for both pleasure and work, have enabled her to observe many changes over the decades - and to indulge her passion for hiking, cycling, swimming and sailing amid Dalmatia's wild landscapes. She also writes for The Telegraph, Decanter, i-escape.com and various other travel publications.