Hvar & the Islands

On Hvar, the town and the island are not the same holiday. Hvar Town is the harbour, the terraces and the noise; Stari Grad, twenty minutes away, is a quiet Greek-founded port beside the UNESCO-listed Stari Grad Plain, and the island runs some 68 km east from there into vineyards, lavender terraces and villages with one restaurant. Most travellers who ask for Hvar want two nights of the town and four of the island.

Catamarans from Split take about an hour to Hvar Town; they are fast but rigid, with one departure, one return and a queue at each end in August. The slower car ferry to Stari Grad lands you in the quiet half of the island. The Pakleni islands sit fifteen minutes off Hvar Town and are reached by tender, as are the south coast beaches below Sveta Nedjelja. A crewed yacht is what keeps the day flexible.

The lavender on Hvar flowers from late June into July, on the terraces above Brusje and Velo Grablje along the spine of the island. It is a short, real window: arrive in September and you will find rosemary, stone walls and the scent in shops, but not the fields in flower. September brings instead a warm sea, thinner crowds and the start of the wine harvest on the Stari Grad Plain.

Yes. Since 2017, walking through the centre of Hvar Town in swimwear or bare-chested has been an offence under the town public-order ordinance, with fines reported up to €600. The rule is signposted and surprises people every summer, although nobody is looking to fine a guest walking from a boat to a hotel with a shirt on.

Hvar Town suits neither easily. Its waterfront is loud until late in July and August, so light sleepers are better placed in Stari Grad or on the north coast, coming into town by boat for dinner. As everywhere on this coast, the beaches are pebble and rock: clear, cold and entered from a ladder. Travellers who would rather see walled cities should start at Dubrovnik.

The best time to visit Hvar & the Islands depends on why you are coming. The lavender flowers from late June into July on the terraces above Brusje and Velo Grablje, a short, real window. Otherwise September is the better month: a warm sea, thinned crowds and the wine harvest starting on the Stari Grad Plain. In July and August the waterfront of Hvar Town stays loud until late, so light sleepers do better in Stari Grad or on the north coast.

Most journeys to Hvar & the Islands run between 4 and 8 days. Wine & Lavender takes 4–5 days, The Island Honeymoon 4–6, Island-Hop by Yacht through Hvar, Vis and Korčula 5–7, and Family by Sea 6–8. Most travellers who ask for Hvar want two nights of Hvar Town and four of the island beyond it. These are points of departure, and your advisor reshapes the length entirely around you.

Yes. Forest Travel treats every Hvar & the Islands journey as a point of departure that your advisor reshapes entirely around you. That can mean a crewed yacht to the Pakleni coves with lunch on the water, a private tasting in a hilltop vineyard as the lavender scents the air, or a family konoba reached only by sea. Light sleepers can stay in Stari Grad or on the north coast and come into Hvar Town by boat for dinner.

A private Hvar trip starts from around US$1,550 per person per night. Journeys run four to eight days, and the figure rises with a crewed yacht, which on Hvar is less a luxury than the only way to keep the day flexible and reach the Pakleni coves and the south coast beaches. Where you sleep matters as much: Hvar Town for the harbour and terraces, Stari Grad for quiet. The planning fee is US$250 per itinerary.

Hvar is the classic one: catamarans from Split take about an hour to Hvar Town, and the slower car ferry lands at Stari Grad, the island's quiet half. From Hvar Town the Pakleni islands are fifteen minutes away by tender. For more than a day, a crewed yacht links Hvar, Vis and Korčula, which is how the Island-Hop by Yacht journey runs over five to seven days, free of the catamaran's single departure and return.