Croatia · Dalmatia
Hvar
Croatia's sunniest island: a Venetian harbour town under a hilltop fortress, offshore islets by taxi boat, and vineyards and lavender the length of the ridge.
Hvar is Dalmatia's most glamorous island: a long ridge of vineyards, pine and lavender that ends in a Venetian harbour town where marble lanes climb to the Fortica fortress and yachts crowd the quay. Taxi boats leave the waterfront all day for the Pakleni Islands, a scatter of pine-covered islets in very clear water. The rest of the island is quieter than its reputation - ancient field walls still farmed above Stari Grad, wine villages on the steep south coast, and sleepy harbours at Jelsa and Vrboska.
Suggested stay
3–5 days
Language
Croatian
Currency
EUR
Timezone
UTC+2
Why you'll love Hvar
Hvar Town a small Venetian port built around one of Dalmatia's largest squares, with a hilltop fortress, marble lanes and a harbour that fills with yachts on summer evenings
The Pakleni Islands pine-covered islets minutes offshore by taxi boat, with clear water, hidden coves and beach bars that move the party out to sea
Two islands in one the west end runs on nightlife and yachts, while the east is vineyards, lavender terraces, abandoned stone hamlets and near-empty pebble coves
Wine and lavender plavac mali off the near-vertical south slopes, bogdanusa on the old Greek plain, and lavender that scents the interior in early summer
Best time to visit
Mar-Oct
15-31° days
43.174° N, 16.556° E
UTC+2 · Europe/Zagreb
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Weather & when to go to Hvar
Month by month: typical highs and lows, rainfall and rain days.
✓ Best Mar-Oct
Cards tinted by calculated verdict · big number = typical daily high, small = low · hover for conditions
When to avoid Hvar
July and August are packed and expensive, and late-night noise in Hvar Town is a real factor if you plan to sleep near the harbour. From November through the winter much of the town closes, catamaran sailings thin out and the taxi boats stop, so an off-season visit means a quiet, largely shuttered island. Bura winds can delay ferries.
Top things to do in Hvar
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Fortica - the fortress above the harbour
history scenic 👍 PopularThe Venetian fort on the hill behind Hvar Town, reached by stepped lanes and a zigzag path through agave and cactus. The townspeople sheltered inside when an Ottoman fleet burned the town below in 1571. The view down over the red roofs, the harbour and the Pakleni Islands is the island's defining picture, and it is best at sunset.
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Pakleni Islands - taxi boats to the pine islets
nature wildlife scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedA chain of low wooded islets strung across the bay in front of Hvar Town, reached by small boats from the riva all season. Palmizana has a yacht marina, a botanical garden and beach restaurants; Jerolim and Stipanska draw the swimming and bar crowd; Zdrilca and Mlini are shallow, turquoise and busy with day boats.
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St Stephen's Square - the Arsenal and the cathedral
history culture arts 👍 PopularOne of the largest and grandest squares in Dalmatia, paved in white stone and open at one end straight onto the sea. The cathedral of St Stephen closes the top end with a Renaissance bell tower; the Venetian Arsenal sits at the bottom, and the theatre built above it in 1612 is long claimed as one of Europe's oldest communal theatres.
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Stari Grad Plain - the ancient Greek field grid
history scenic ⭐ Highly recommendedBehind Stari Grad lies the fertile plain that Greek settlers from Paros divided into rectangular plots in the 4th century BC, marked out by dry-stone walls. The grid is still there and still farmed with vines and olives, which is why UNESCO listed it. Best seen slowly, on a bike or on foot along the field tracks.
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Hvar Town after dark - the harbour scene
nightlife music 👍 PopularThe reason a lot of people come: sunset drinks on the waterfront rocks, a long dinner, then bars in the lanes behind the square and boats out to the island clubs offshore. It is loud, it is expensive, and it runs hard from roughly June to September before shutting down almost completely.
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Tvrdalj Castle - Hektorovic's fish pond
history culture artsThe fortified seaside house the Renaissance poet Petar Hektorovic built for himself in Stari Grad, arranged around a walled saltwater pool stocked with grey mullet. Inscriptions in Latin and Croatian are carved into the stonework, and the little garden behind it is one of the quietest corners on the island.
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Sveta Nedjelja - vineyards, cliffs and climbing
food adventureA hamlet wedged under the cliffs of Sveti Nikola, the island's summit, reached through a single-lane unlit tunnel from Pitve. The near-vertical terraces here and at Ivan Dolac grow the island's best plavac mali, and the cave and crag above the village are Croatia's best-known sport-climbing wall.
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Velo Grablje and Malo Grablje - the lavender villages
off beaten path scenicHvar was the lavender island, and the trade was run from these two inland hamlets above Milna. Malo Grablje was abandoned and stands roofless in its valley; Velo Grablje holds on with a handful of residents and terraces that turn purple in early summer. A walking track links the two.
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Dubovica - the cove below the old road
scenicA pebble bay backed by a single old stone house and a stand of pines, down a steep path from the coast road east of Hvar Town. It is the prettiest easily reached beach on the island and it does fill up, so go early or take a boat.
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Franciscan Monastery - the Last Supper by the sea
culture arts historyA 15th-century monastery on the point just south of Hvar Town, with a cypress older than most of the buildings around it and a huge Last Supper canvas in the refectory. Up in the town, Benedictine nuns still weave lace from agave fibre, a craft UNESCO lists in its own right.
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Grapceva Cave and Humac - the far east
history off beaten pathAbove the south coast near the abandoned stone hamlet of Humac, this cave held some of the oldest Neolithic pottery found in the Adriatic and is thick with stalactites. Humac itself has no electricity and no permanent residents, and the drive out there crosses the emptiest part of the island.
Best areas to stay in Hvar
$ Budget $$ Mid-range $$$ Premium
Hvar Town
First-time visitors $$$Venetian harbour town, yachts and late bars
Explore hotels in Hvar Town →
Stari Grad
History & quiet $$Ancient port, stone lanes, calm evenings
Explore hotels in Stari Grad →
Jelsa
Families $$Green mid-island harbour with pine beaches
Explore hotels in Jelsa →
Vrboska
Quiet & affordable $Tiny canal village with bridges
Explore hotels in Vrboska →
Live nightly prices from Booking.com, Agoda and others, centred on Hvar
Getting to & around Hvar
Getting there
Fly into Split, cross to Split's harbour, then take the catamaran to Hvar Town or the car ferry to Stari Grad
Flight
Split Airport (SPU)
Around 60 km away, and the last leg is by sea. Bus or taxi from the airport into Split's ferry harbour takes roughly half an hour, then it is about an hour by fast catamaran to Hvar Town, or two hours on the car ferry to Stari Grad with a 20 min drive on.
Catamaran
Hvar Town riva
Fast passenger catamarans from Split take about an hour and tie up in the middle of town; seasonal sailings continue to Korcula and Dubrovnik. No cars
Ferry
Stari Grad
The car ferry from Split takes about two hours and docks 20 min by road from Hvar Town, with buses meeting most sailings
Ferry
Sucuraj
A short crossing from Drvenik on the mainland coast road, handy if you are driving down from Makarska; the island road west from there is long and winding
Getting around
Bus
Island buses link Hvar Town, Stari Grad, Jelsa and Sucuraj, loosely timed to the ferries and much thinner out of season
TBC
Taxi boat
Small boats run from Hvar Town's riva to the Pakleni Islands and nearby coves through the season, weather permitting
TBC
Car hire
The only sane way to reach the wine villages and the south coast; the Pitve-Zavala tunnel is single-lane and unlit
TBC
Scooter & ATV hire
Popular for short hops between the north-coast towns, though the interior roads are narrow with sheer drops
TBC
Walking
Hvar Town, Stari Grad, Jelsa and Vrboska are all small enough to cross on foot, over steps and polished marble
Free
Day trips from Hvar
Pakleni Islands
Half dayOffshore islets
The archipelago in front of the town: pine, white rock and clear shallow water, with a marina and botanical garden at Palmizana, beach bars on Jerolim and Stipanska, and quieter coves if you keep walking. Boats run through the day so you set your own hours.
Getting there
ferry | tour
10-25 min by taxi boat from Hvar Town
Vis and the Blue Cave
Full dayIsland and sea cave
The standard big day out: the flooded sea cave on Bisevo that glows blue in late-morning light, then Vis itself, closed to foreigners as a Yugoslav naval base until 1989 and still the least developed of the big Dalmatian islands. Rough seas cancel it.
Getting there
ferry | tour
Speedboat excursion, most of a day at sea
Split
Full dayRoman palace city
Diocletian's retirement palace, still lived in seventeen centuries later, with bars and apartments built into the walls and the cathedral occupying the emperor's mausoleum. Easy as a day trip if the catamaran timetable suits, and the obvious place to start or end a Dalmatian trip.
Getting there
ferry
About 1 hr by catamaran
Korcula
Full dayWalled island town
A compact walled town on its own peninsula, laid out in a herringbone of lanes designed to catch the breeze and block the wind, and claimed with more enthusiasm than evidence as Marco Polo's birthplace. The surrounding hills grow the white grapes posip and grk.
Getting there
ferry
Roughly 1-1.5 hr by seasonal catamaran
Bol, on Brac
Full dayFamous beach spit
Zlatni Rat, the shingle spit that shifts its point with the current, is the most photographed beach in Croatia and the local windsurfing base when the afternoon wind comes up. The town behind it is pleasant, and the mountain above it is the highest in the Adriatic islands.
Getting there
ferry | tour
Seasonal catamaran or excursion boat
A little history of Hvar
The island's written history starts on the north coast, where Greek settlers from Paros founded Pharos in 384 BC and divided the plain behind it into a grid of rectangular fields separated by dry-stone walls. That grid is still there, still farmed and still on its original lines, which makes it one of the best-preserved pieces of ancient Greek land division in the Mediterranean. Rome, Byzantium and Croatian dukes followed, and by the 15th century Venice held the island outright, valuing Hvar Town's deep sheltered harbour as a stop for its galleys running down the Adriatic.
Venetian money paid for the walls, the fortress and the theatre over the Arsenal, and also created a resented nobility: in 1510 the commoner Matij Ivanic led a four-year revolt against them. An Ottoman fleet burned the town in 1571 while its people sheltered above in the fort. Venice fell in 1797 and Austria took over, and in 1868 local worthies founded the Hvar Hygienic Society to look after visitors drawn by the mild air - one of the earliest organised tourist bodies in Europe. The yachts and the beach bars are recent by comparison.
Greek settlers from Paros found Pharos, today's Stari Grad, and lay out the field grid on the plain
Venice takes lasting control of Hvar and fortifies the harbour town
Matij Ivanic leads a four-year commoners' revolt against the island nobility
An Ottoman fleet burns Hvar Town; the population shelters in the hilltop fortress
A communal theatre opens in the upper floor of the Arsenal
Venice falls and Austrian rule begins, with a brief French interlude
The Hvar Hygienic Society is founded to care for winter visitors, an early European tourist board
Croatia declares independence; the islands escape the fighting and tourism resumes
The Stari Grad Plain is inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site
Know before you go
Payment
Cards & cash mixed
English
Widely spoken
Wifi
Reliable
Power
Type C / F
230 V, 50 Hz
Dialing
+385
Mobile network & SIM card
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A Croatia eSIM installs in minutes and works the moment you switch off flight mode. No SIM swap, no roaming bill.
FAQs about Hvar
▸ When is the best time to visit Hvar?
Late May into June and September are the sweet spot: the sea is warm, everything is open and the town is not yet at full volume. July and August are the peak in every sense. Spring and October are lovely for walking and the plain, with fewer boats running and some places still closed.
▸ How many days do you need in Hvar?
Three days covers Hvar Town, the fortress and a day on the Pakleni Islands. Five lets you cross to Stari Grad and the field plain, get down to the south-coast wine villages, and take one of the boat trips to Vis or Brac without rushing.
▸ Should you stay in Hvar Town or elsewhere on the island?
Hvar Town if you want the scene, the sights and the boats; it is the most expensive and the noisiest. Stari Grad is calmer and better placed for the ferry and the plain, Jelsa suits families, and Vrboska is for people who want almost nothing to happen.
▸ Is Hvar only a party island?
No, though the reputation is earned in Hvar Town in high summer. Most of the island is farming country: vineyards, lavender terraces, empty coves and stone villages, with an ancient Greek field system and a couple of abandoned hamlets. Base yourself east of Stari Grad and it is a different holiday.
▸ Do you need a car on Hvar?
Not if you stay in Hvar Town and stick to the boats and the bus. You do want one for the south coast, the wine villages, the lavender hamlets and the far east, where buses are sparse. Bear in mind that parking in Hvar Town is limited and awkward.
▸ Is Hvar expensive?
Hvar Town in July and August is among the priciest places in Croatia, particularly for waterfront dinners, beach clubs and rooms near the square. The rest of the island is much closer to normal Dalmatian prices, and the shoulder months bring the whole island down a long way.
▸ How do you get to Hvar without a car?
Fly to Split, take a bus or taxi into the ferry harbour, and catch the fast catamaran straight to Hvar Town in about an hour. Foot passengers can also use the Split car ferry to Stari Grad and pick up a connecting bus. Sailings are far less frequent in winter.
More in Croatia
Dubrovnik
A complete ring of medieval walls around a car-free stone city, with the seafaring republic that built them still legible in every street.
✓ best Jun-AugMakarska
A Dalmatian beach town with a 1,700 metre mountain wall at its back and a glass skywalk on top of it.
✓ best Apr-OctPlitvice Lakes
Sixteen lakes spilling into one another down a forested limestone valley, crossed on boardwalks laid just above the water, with the barriers between them still growing.
✓ best Apr, Jun-Aug