evidence: By car, the fastest route is the E65 toll highway where you will exit at Mali Prolog for the D425 and then the D8 towards Dubrovnik. You will no longer have to cross the border and drive through a section of Bosnia and Herzegovina, instead cross the newly built Pelješac bridge and continue along the D674 until you reach Ston. [...] Ston and Mali Ston are connected by a stretch of 3km-long fortifications that straddle the hillside between the two settlements. The walls were first constructed when the Republic of Dubrovnik took charge of Ston in 1333 in the hope that the defences would protect saltpans that were instrumental in the Republic’s growing fortunes. [...] Since opening their first restaurant in the 1980s, the Šare family has created a small gastronomic empire by expanding to three more sites in Dubrovnik, Zagreb, and Split. Their original restaurant is in Mali Ston, located in an old medieval castle beside the water. The family’s culinary credentials developed from a history of wine making and oyster farming and people flock from all over the Dubrovnik Riviera to sample their seafood dishes. While their black risotto is one of the best in the region, be sure to try their more unique black gnocchi with Adriatic scampi. It is also one of the few places in the country that you can sample a traditional Ston cake.