Hvar, cruise port guide

Big cruise ships put down anchor close to Hvar Town and shuttle passengers directly onto the palm-lined seafront promenade by tender. The historic centre is pedestrian-only - wear comfortable walking shoes as you’ll have to navigate cobbles and lots of stone steps if you want to see all the main attractions. There’s a useful tourist information centre on the main square, Trg Sv Stjepana, www.tzhvar.hr

To reach the tiny Pakleni islets, take a taxi-boat from the harbour. To reach Humac you’ll need to rent a car. See www.travelsupermarket.com to compare car hire prices.

For list of cruises that stop at Hvar see…

Where to eat and drink

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Zlatna Školjka
Hidden away in the courtyard garden of a 14-century palazzo, this Slow Food restaurant is one of Hvar’s top gourmet eateries. Owner-chef Ivo Buzolić comes to your table to help you choose your meal, prepared with locally-sourced produce – think sirloin steak stuffed with goat’s cheese and capers, or amberjack in saffron sauce.
Address: P.Hektorovića 8 (one block back from the main square)
Contact: 00 385 98 1688797, www.zlatna.skoljka.com
Opening hours: Apr-Nov, Mon-Fri noon-3pm and 7pm-midnight, Sat-Sun 7pm-midnight
Reservations: recommended.
Payment type: cards accepted.
££
Palmižana Meneghello
On the lush islet of Sveti Klement, this bohemian eatery is decorated in deep red and hung with artwork by contemporary Croatian painters. The menu features fresh seafood and local dishes such as Hvarska gregada (fish and potato casserole), all beautifully presented and prepared with fragrant herbs.
Address: Palmižana, Sveti Klement island (a 20-minute taxi-boat ride from Hvar’s seafront promenade)
Contact: 00 385 21 717270, www.palmizana.hr
Opening hours: Apr-Oct, daily 11am-11pm.
Reservations: suggested.
Payment type: cards accepted.
£
Konoba Menego
Call in at this welcoming wine bar, with exposed stonewalls and wooden beamed ceilings, for platters of tasty Dalmatian specialities such as octopus salad, pršut (prosciutto) and goat’s cheese, plus a carafe of homemade wine. Be sure to check out the ‘visitors book’ - a world atlas where guests pinpoint their hometown with a signature.
Address: Groda bb (up a flight of stone steps, just off the main square)
Contact: 00 385 21 742036, www.menego.hr
Opening hours: May-Oct, Mon-Sat 11.30am-2pm and 5pm-11pm, Sun 5pm-11pm.
Reservations: suggested.
Payment type: cards not accepted.

What to see and do

Cathedral
Overlooking the main square, which claims to be the largest piazza in Dalmatia, Hvar Cathedral is memorable for its distinctive trefoil façade and elegant bell tower. It was built between the 16 and 17 centuries on the foundations of an earlier monastery.
Address: Trg Sv Stjepana bb, old town
Contact: 00 385 21 741152
Opening times: Daily 7am-noon and 5pm-7pm
Prices: Free

Hvar Cathedral is memorable for its distinctive trefoil façade and elegant bell tower

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Castle
Known to locals as Fortica Španjola, this 16-century Venetian-era hilltop castle presides over town, affording fantastic views down onto the harbour and out to sea. To reach it, follow the stone steps off the main square
Address: Groda bb, old town
Opening times: Jun-Sep daily 8am-midnight; Oct-May variable
Prices: 25 Kn (£ TK)

Hvar's 16-century Venetian-era hilltop castle has fantastic views of the harbour

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Franciscan monastery
Set in gardens overlooking the sea, the walled 15-century Franciscan Monastery centres on a lovely Renaissance cloister. From here, you enter the old refectory, which is now a small museum. Pride of place is taken by a magnificent 17-century painting of the ‘Last Supper’, measuring a whopping 2.5 m by 8 m.
Address: Križa bb (a 10-minute walk south of the main square)
Conatct: 00 385 21 741193
Opening times: Jun-Sep daily 10am-noon and 5pm-7pm; Oct-May daily 10am-noon.
Prices: 20 Kn (£ TK)

Hvar's walled 15-century Franciscan Monastery overlooks the sea

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Excursions

Pakleni islets
These tiny pine-scented islets lie just a short taxi-boat ride from Hvar Town and offer secluded beaches for bathing, some nudist friendly.
The most glamorous venue is Carpe Diem Stipanska (www.carpe-diem-beach.com, daily Jun-Sep) a beach club in Stipanska Bay on the island of Marinkovac, with two pebble beaches, a pool with a wooden deck, a scuba diving school, a massage pavilion, and a lounge-bar and restaurant.
Humac
This delightful hamlet of semi-abandoned 16-century stone cottages stands on a hilltop high above Hvar’s isolated south coast. To reach it, drive 26 km east of Hvar Town to Jelsa, continue another 8 km east towards Sučuraj, until you see a wooden sign ‘Humac’.
From here, the village lies a 5-minute walk down an unsurfaced track. Most people come to Humac specifically to eat barbecued lamb at Konoba Humac (00 385 21  768108; Jun-Sep, Mon-Sat 9am-11pm) – there’s no electricity so everything is cooked over charcoal.