Hvar: A Gentle Guide to Croatia's Sunniest Island

Hvar lies in the middle of the Dalmatian islands, a long green ridge of limestone set in very blue water about two hours from Split by car ferry. At roughly 68 kilometres from end to end it is the longest island in the Adriatic, and one of the sunniest corners of Croatia, with something like 2,800 hours of sunshine a year.

What stays with you is not the famous nightlife of Hvar Town, which is easy to avoid, but the smell of the interior: wild rosemary, pine resin and lavender baking in the afternoon. On the north side the land tips down gently to deep, sheltered bays. On the south it falls away in terraces of vines towards the open sea, under Sveti Nikola, the island's highest point at 626 metres.

This is a place you can enjoy almost entirely from a boat deck, a café chair or the passenger seat of a car. Below is how to see the best of it without long climbs — and an honest word about the few places where the slopes and steps really do bite.

A little history

Hvar has been lived on since Neolithic times, but its story really begins in 384 BC, when Greek colonists from Paros founded Pharos — today's Stari Grad, whose name simply means "old town". They did something remarkable: they divided the fertile plain behind the harbour into a grid of rectangular fields separated by dry-stone walls. That grid, the Stari Grad Plain, is still farmed today and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2008.

The Romans came next, then Slav settlers from the mainland in the 7th century. From the 13th century onwards Hvar belonged for long stretches to Venice, which valued the island's sheltered harbour as a naval station on the sailing route to the east. Venice left the island its finest buildings: the Arsenal on the waterfront of Hvar Town, the cathedral of St Stephen at the head of the square, and the fortress on the hill above. Upstairs in the Arsenal is the town theatre, opened in 1612 and often described as one of the oldest public theatres in Europe; it reopened to visitors in 2019 after a long restoration.

Renaissance Hvar was also a literary island. In Stari Grad you can still visit Tvrdalj, the fortified seaside home of the poet Petar Hektorović, built around a fish pond he stocked himself.

Ruins of the Dominican monastery and St Mark's Church in Hvar town.

What to see

Hvar Town and St Stephen's Square

The old town gathers around a broad stone square that opens straight onto the harbour — one of the largest old squares in Dalmatia, and completely flat. The cathedral stands at one end with its tiered bell tower; the Arsenal and theatre close the seaward side. Sit here in the late afternoon and the whole island seems to pass by.

The Fortica, or Spanish Fortress

The 16th-century fortress on the hill is the island's great viewpoint, looking west over the red roofs to the scattered Pakleni Islands. The walk up from town is a shaded zigzag through stepped lanes and then a steady slope, perhaps 20 to 30 minutes and a climb of around 90 metres. If that sounds like too much in the heat, a taxi can take you most of the way up by road, and the terraces in front of the walls give you the view without going inside.

The Pakleni Islands

This little archipelago sits just across the water, low and thickly pined, with clear shallow bays. Water taxis cross in well under fifteen minutes from the Hvar Town waterfront; Palmižana, with its sheltered cove and garden restaurants, is the easiest landing for an unhurried lunch.

The lavender villages

Inland from Hvar Town, the old stone hamlets of Brusje and Velo Grablje sit among terraces that were once entirely lavender. The flowering is roughly late June into July, and the drive out along the ridge is lovely at any time of year for its views down both coasts.

Sveta Nedjelja and the south coast

About 12 kilometres east of Hvar Town, reached by a road tunnel through the island's spine, the hamlet of Sveta Nedjelja clings to vine terraces below Sveti Nikola. This is the heart of the Plavac Mali wine country, and the drive down to it is one of the most dramatic in Dalmatia.

The town of Hvar on the island of the same name.

Gentle walks, easy viewpoints and the comfortable way to see it all

Level walks

• The Hvar Town waterfront promenade west towards Križna Luka and the pine shade beyond: paved, flat, as long or short as you like.
• Stari Grad's harbour quay and the lanes behind it: almost entirely level, with benches and the castle at one end.
• The Stari Grad Plain itself. Farm tracks run between the ancient dry-stone walls on flat, firm ground — the gentlest way anywhere on the island to be out in the landscape, best in the cool of the morning. There is little shade, so take water.
• The seafront path between Jelsa and the little canal village of Vrboska on the north coast is a pleasant, mostly easy walk of a few kilometres; it is simple to do one way and return by bus or taxi.

Viewpoints you can drive to

The road over the ridge between Hvar Town, Brusje and Stari Grad has several laybys with wide views over the plain, the terraces and the channel towards Brač. The tunnel road down to Sveta Nedjelja gives you the whole open southern sea in one sweep. Neither needs a single step.

For a little more effort, Hum (also called Hum–Sveti Vid), the pointed hill above Vrbanj, carries an Illyrian hillfort and the ruins of a small early-medieval church, with the UNESCO plain laid out below. The last stretch is a rough, uneven track rather than a path — pleasant for sure-footed walkers, not for anyone unsteady.

By boat

Honestly, the sea is the best viewing gallery on Hvar. Half-day taxi-boat runs to the Pakleni Islands and longer excursions along the south coast let you see the cliffs, caves and coves with no walking at all. Choose a larger boat with shade and a proper toilet rather than a fast rib, and ask about the sea state before booking.

The high plateau and peaks above Hvar's south coast, with black pine at right.

A day trip nearby

The easiest and most rewarding day out is within the island itself: Stari Grad, about 20 kilometres from Hvar Town, roughly 20 to 30 minutes by car, taxi or local bus. It is a quieter, older, gentler town than Hvar — a sheltered inlet, a stone-paved waterfront, Tvrdalj castle with its fish pond, and the UNESCO plain beginning just behind the houses. Many travellers find it the more restful base of the two.

Further afield, boats run from Hvar Town to the island of Vis and the Blue Cave on tiny Biševo, usually a full day with a good deal of time at sea. The light inside the cave is extraordinary, but the transfer into a small wooden boat at the entrance involves stepping down and ducking low, and the trip can be tiring in choppy weather. It is a treat if the sea is calm and you are steady on your feet; otherwise the Pakleni Islands give you nine-tenths of the pleasure in a quarter of the time.

Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, seen from the air from the south.

Honest advice for comfortable travel

• Stay low and central. In Hvar Town, rooms on or just behind the main square and waterfront save you the steep stepped lanes that climb the hillside. Many of the prettiest apartments are up those steps, with no lift. Ask specifically how many steps there are before you book. In Stari Grad and Jelsa almost everything is flat.
• The old towns are stone and often stepped. Smooth, polished paving can be slippery after rain; sturdy shoes with grip matter more than they look.
• Avoid July and August heat. Midday temperatures regularly sit around 30°C with strong sun and little shade inland. Plan outings for before 11am and after 5pm.
• Catamarans versus car ferries. The fast passenger catamarans from Split are quicker but seat you inside; the car ferry to Stari Grad takes about twice as long and gives you open decks, seats, shade and a far gentler ride. For many travellers it is the better choice even without a car.
• Boarding can be the hardest part. Ferry ramps and gangways are short but can be steep or uneven, and there may be a queue standing in the sun. Arrive early, travel light, and don't hesitate to ask crew for a hand.
• A hire car or a hired driver transforms the island. Roads are good but narrow and winding, with tunnels and hairpins down to the south coast. If you would rather not drive those, local taxi drivers offer half-day island tours.
• Buses exist but are seasonal and sparse. Check return times before you set out, and keep a taxi number to hand.

What to eat

Hvar's cooking is simple, seasonal and built on fish, olive oil and herbs. The dish to look for is gregada, an old fishermen's stew of white fish layered with potatoes, garlic, olive oil and white wine, served in a shallow dish for two or more. Its cousin brudet is richer and redder with tomato. Anything cooked ispod peke — under a heavy iron bell buried in embers — whether octopus, lamb or veal, is slow food in the proper sense and usually needs ordering hours ahead.

For something lighter, grilled fish with blitva — chard and potatoes crushed with oil and garlic — is the Dalmatian standard, and the island's sheep's cheese, capers and olives make an easy lunch. In Stari Grad, ask for paprenjak, a hard honey-and-pepper biscuit with a long local history.

Hvar is serious wine country. The big red Plavac Mali comes from those steep southern slopes around Sveta Nedjelja; the crisp white Bogdanuša is the island's own grape and a far better match for fish. Sweet Prošek, made from dried grapes, appears at the end of a meal, often with a little dish of almonds.

Getting there

Book ferries and accommodation well ahead for July and August, and remember that winter sailings are much reduced.

One of the deep, sheltered bays on Hvar's north-western coast.

Our verdict

Hvar has a loud reputation and a quiet reality. Spend one evening on the square in Hvar Town for the Venetian theatre of it, then give the rest of your week to the other island: the plain with its 2,400-year-old stone walls, the lavender ridge, the long drive down to the vines above the sea, and a slow boat to the Pakleni coves.

It is a comfortable destination if you choose your base on the flat and your season outside high summer. The one real obstacle is the stepped hillside of Hvar Town — and with a taxi to the fortress road and a room near the water, even that is easily managed. Come in September, when the sea is at its warmest and the island exhales.

“On Hvar the hills smell of lavender and the sea does the walking for you.”

Photo credits

• Aerial image of Hvar view from the south: Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Former St. Mark's Church, Hvar 6586: Gampe, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• City of Hvar, Island of Hvar: Boris Tylevich, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Hvar Island South Coast Mountains 2012-09-06: C.Koltzenburg, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
• Aerial image of Stari Grad, island of Hvar view from the south: Carsten Steger, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
• J32 697 Hvar, Lozna: Falk2, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons