Activities

Three Caves Boat Tour (Literally the worst website on earth but the tour was good. The guides weren’t the most engaging ever, but they structure the tour to avoid crowds)

Cycling in Stari Grad

Eats

Black Pepper (delicious upscale Croatian food)

Fig (Non-Croatian food in Croatia, good for when you need a break from the usual!)

Bocca (decent pizza place on the main square)

Hora Hvar in Stari Grad (Very cool restaurant on a farm. If you go, plan more in advance than me and order the traditional “peka” which requires 3 hours advance notice)

Aroma Gelato

Drinks

Hula Hula (I think this is a day party place, we went at a weird time and it was kinda empty but had a bunch of weird people there. I’m sure it’s more fun if you go at the right time)

Carpe Diem (I don’t even feel like i can comment on this place, we went at an off time of day, and it was COVID so was not its usual vibes)

Accommodation:

Hotel Villa Nora (Great location, very friendly staff and BOMB breakfast, definitely recommend)

Hvar is one of the most-visited spots in Croatia, and with its reputation for being a bit of a party island, I initially wasn’t sure it would be for me! In fact, I originally booked an AirBnb on the quieter side of the island, Stari Grad, which is about 30 minutes by car or bus to the main town. However, after looking at all the recommended restaurants, bars, and activities that I wanted to check out, I realized it was going to be quite a hassle to go back and forth, so canceled at the last minute and booked a hotel in the center of town and was very glad I did.

Margot and I arrived on the evening ferry, and my hotel sent someone to meet me at the port and carry my luggage/walk me to the hotel- seriously, Croatian hospitality is second to none! My initial impression of Hvar was that it was SUPER crowded compared to Dubrovnik and Korčula, it was the first time I felt like I was in a really “touristy” spot, and the first time we had to wait to get a table for dinner! We ate at a place called Black Pepper, where we shared some amazing buratta, black truffle pasta and something called “taste of the sea” (like a tuna bruschetta). A great start to our visit on Hvar!

This post would not be complete without a shout out to the ridiculous breakfast at my hotel…every day included some different tasty surprises.

Just what you want to eat before squeezing yourself into a bathing suit

Our first day was a boat tour of some of the many islands and caves around Hvar. We spent the day jetting around on a small speedboat to several beaches, places to snorkel, and some hidden (and not so hidden) caves.

My main accomplishment on this tour was, for the first time ever, not getting sunburned while being on a boat all day. Yay me!

We of course visited the famous Blue Cave; this particular tour took us in the afternoon to avoid crowds. When you get to the Blue Cave, you have to buy a ticket and go in a different, smaller boat that takes you into the Blue Cave. Apparently in the morning, sometimes you have to wait for 2+ hours to get into the Blue Cave. Luckily, we only waited about 10 minutes before a boat was available to take us inside. Because it was high tide, the already-small entrance to the cave was even smaller, so we all had to duck down to get into it.

For dinner, Margot and I hit up Fig, which has an eclectic menu that includes curry, burgers, and burritos. While I know that doesn’t sound good, it was actually great (so good, in fact, that Margot later also visited to their Split location to try the breakfast burrito!) Both Margot and I had a recommendation for a bar called Hula Hula Hvar, a beach bar, so we decided we should go check it out. I’m not sure if it’s more of a daytime place, or if it was just kinda dead because of COVID, but it was not the happening hot spot we expected. It was a few drunk people and one really old dude, so we stayed for a drink and then went to the much more interesting Aroma for some late night gelato.

After a day of sitting on a boat, we were craving some physical activity, so took the bus over to Stari Grad (where I was originally supposed to stay), and rented bikes to explore the “Stari Grad Plain,” a UNESCO world heritage site, which, according to their website is “cultural landscape that has remained practically intact since it was first colonized by Ionian Greeks from Paros in the 4th century BC.” Obviously we took advantage of all this unique history to….bike to mores wine! This time, in a small village called Vrboska, where we sampled some local wines at Carić.

Margot had heard about a restaurant/winery/farm called Hora Hvar which is located in Stari Grad plain, so we decided to check it out, and ended up spending several hours there tasting their wines, enjoying (you guessed it) homemade cheese, charcuterie, and a giant plate of grilled meats and veggies. We got to see a little bit of the farm as well, including their donkeys!

TBH, not that interested in the donkeys.

Visiting Hora Hvar was an awesome way to spend the day, the only downside being that we had to then bike back after several glasses of wine! If you ever find yourself with the chance to visit Hora Hvar, I would suggest calling ahead ~3 hours and ordering traditional Peka (a dish cooked for a long time under hot coals)

Naps were in order when we returned, but our day didn’t end there! We also wanted to hit up the beach club, Carpe Diem. Now, I know what you’re thinking, which is that I am not at all a beach club person, and you are correct! But we decided that we just wanted to check it out for the sunset, and then leave…the leaving part actually is mandatory because the club is open as a day party until 10 PM, and then closes for two hours, before re-opening from midnight to 5 AM (NO THANK YOU). You have to take a boat to and from the island where Carpe Diem is located, so we got one at 8:30 which was the perfect time to catch the sunset from the water.

When we arrived, Carpe Diem was DEAD. It was like, post-apocalyptic vibes...which was, for me, much better than the alternative of being filled with hundreds of obnoxious drunk idiots. While it was a little eerie, we got to see the whole place with almost no one else there (with the exception of 5 drunk Spanish guys and a French bachelor party). I think the emptiness was a combination of being there at the last-popular time and, of course, COVID.

After a couple of very overpriced drinks and snapping some photos, we hopped on the last boat back to Hvar, where we had a quick bite on the main square at Boca before turning in for the night.

The next morning, we had a few hours before our ferry to Split, so we walked up to the fortress for some exploring and, once again, VIEWS! The theme of this vacation, in case you were wondering is: walk up things for views + eat cheese/charcuterie

I was so glad to have Margot to explore Hvar with, even though we didn’t really do the “party island” thing, we did get to see the ghost-town version of the party spots, which was interesting…and not something I would have done on my own! I’m not sure how fun Hvar would have been had I been there all on my own, but with a friend, a couple of days was the perfect amount of time there.

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