Hvar

Greek settlers founded a city here in 384 BC, and the farmland they divided is still worked today as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hvar Town, on the south-west coast, draws sailors and summer crowds to its harbour, square and fortress, while Stari Grad and Jelsa on the north coast are calmer. The island suits couples, families, sailors and walkers, and vacation rentals range from stone apartments in the old towns to seaside houses in small bays and villas among olive groves.

Where to stay on Hvar

Hvar Town is the island's best-known base, with a sheltered harbour, the main square, the fortress above and fast boats to Split and the Pakleni islands. It is also the liveliest place on the island in summer, so homes on the edges of town or in the hills behind it are quieter at night.

Stari Grad, at the head of a long bay on the north coast, is the oldest town, with stone lanes, a car-ferry port and the UNESCO plain on its doorstep; it suits families and those who want a calmer, more local stay. Jelsa and neighbouring Vrboska, further east, offer small harbours, pine-shaded beaches and good value. The coves and villages of the south coast and the eastern end near Sućuraj are best for a quiet stay with a car.

Hvar Town

Hvar Town grew around one of the safest harbours on the Adriatic, sheltered by the Pakleni islands offshore. Its large main square, the Pjaca, paved in 1780, runs from the harbour to St Stephen's Cathedral, built in stages through the 16th and 17th centuries.

On the square's south-west corner, the Arsenal, rebuilt between 1579 and 1611, houses on its first floor a theatre opened in 1612, one of the oldest surviving theatres in Europe. Above the town, the Fortica, also called Španjola, was rebuilt after a gunpowder explosion in 1579 and now offers wide views over the roofs and islands. A short walk along the shore leads to the Franciscan monastery, whose church dates from the late 15th century.

Stari Grad and its UNESCO plain

Stari Grad stands on the site of Pharos, the colony founded in 384 BC by Greeks from the island of Paros in the Cyclades. The colonists divided the fertile plain behind the town into regular parcels bounded by dry-stone walls, and that ancient layout has survived for more than two thousand years.

The Stari Grad Plain, the largest agricultural area on any Adriatic island, was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008. Grapes and olives are still grown in its fields, and quiet roads and paths make it pleasant to explore by bicycle or on foot, past stone shelters and old walls. The town itself, set deep inside a sheltered bay, has a peaceful harbourfront, small museums and stone houses that are often available as holiday rentals.

Beaches, the Pakleni islands and nature

Hvar's beaches are mostly pebble or rocky coves with very clear water. The Pakleni islands, a chain of wooded islets just off Hvar Town, are reached by taxi boats in summer and offer coves, small beaches and sheltered anchorages popular with sailors. The south coast hides more coves below steep slopes, some reached only by boat or rough roads, and the north coast around Jelsa and Vrboska has pine-shaded shores that suit families.

Inland, the island is a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves and lavender, which has long been cultivated here, together with wine from the Plavac Mali grape on the sunny southern slopes. Walking paths climb to the island's spine and to Sveti Nikola, the highest point, for views across to Brač, Vis and Korčula.

History and traditions

After the Greeks came Romans, Byzantines and medieval Croatian and Hungarian rulers. Venice took the island under its protection in 1331 and ruled it fully from the early 15th century until the fall of the Venetian Republic in 1797, and its Italian name, Lesina, appears on old maps; Hvar Town's walls, loggia and arsenal date largely from that era. The island passed to Austria, France and briefly Britain during the Napoleonic wars, later became part of Yugoslavia and is now in independent Croatia.

The island's best-known tradition is Za Križen, Following the Cross, a night procession on Maundy Thursday. Six processions leave the villages of Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj and Vrboska and walk about 25 km through the night, each returning home around dawn on Good Friday. UNESCO added it to its list of intangible cultural heritage in 2009.

Getting there and around

The usual gateway is Split, whose airport, Split Airport (SPU), lies about 19 km from the city at Kaštela. From Split, fast catamarans reach Hvar Town in season, and car ferries sail to Stari Grad; a short car-ferry crossing from Drvenik on the mainland reaches Sućuraj at the island's eastern tip. Catamarans also link Hvar with Brač, Korčula and Vis in summer.

On the island, buses connect the ferry port at Stari Grad with Hvar Town, Jelsa and the main villages. A car or scooter is the easiest way to reach south-coast coves and the eastern villages, but Hvar Town's centre is pedestrian and parking is limited. Roads across the island are winding, so allow time: the eastern end at Sućuraj is far from Hvar Town.

Weather and when to visit

Hvar has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate with mild winters and many sunny days, with more than 2,700 hours of sunshine a year. Summers are hot and dry, and the sea is warm enough for swimming from about June to October. Most rain falls in autumn and winter.

July and August are the busiest months, especially in Hvar Town, where the harbour fills with yachts. June and September are warm and calmer, and early summer is when lavender blooms across the interior. Spring brings the Za Križen procession at Easter, and autumn is grape and olive harvest time. In winter many tourist businesses close and fast-boat services are reduced, so off-season visitors should check transport and choose a home with heating.