Hvar: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
For four centuries Hvar was a base of the Venetian fleet, and its town is a little Venice of white stone around a harbour, under a fortress. In summer it is one of the most crowded and expensive places on the Adriatic; at eight in the morning it is still a quiet stone town. Ninety minutes, with a climb to the fortress.
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A short history of Hvar
In 384 BC Greek settlers from the island of Paros founded the town of Pharos, today Stari Grad, on the island of Hvar. The division of the fields they made on the plain beside it has been preserved almost unchanged, and in 2008 it was declared a World Heritage Site. In the Middle Ages Venice ruled the island, and the town of Hvar was an important stop for its ships. In 1612 a theatre open to all the town's inhabitants was built here, one of the first public theatres in Europe. From the 20th century the island became known for its lavender fields and for tourism.
The ten best sights in Hvar
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1St Stephen’s Square
One of the largest squares in Dalmatia, from the cathedral to the sea
2Arsenal and TheatreA Venetian galley shed with one of Europe’s first public theatres upstairs
3ForticaThe fortress above town; climb at sunset
4Benedictine ConventNuns making lace from agave thread
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5Franciscan Monastery
A cloister by the sea and a giant Last Supper
6Pakleni IslandsPine islands and coves a taxi boat away; Palmižana on Sveti Klement
7JerolimThe nearest island, with a naturist beach
8MilnaA small bay of beaches east of town
9DubovicaA pebble cove reached on foot from the road
10BrusjeA lavender village in the hills
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Hvar →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Hvar:
Free walking tours in Hvar
The Venetian town
For four centuries Hvar was a base of the Venetian fleet, and its town is a little Venice of white stone around a harbour, under a fortress. In summer it is one of the most crowded and expensive places on the Adriatic; at eight in the morning it is still a quiet stone town. Ninety minutes, with a climb to the fortress.
- St Stephen’s Square · The square, about four and a half thousand square metres, was once an inlet of the sea that was filled in, and it runs from the harbour up to the cathedral with its tall Venetian bell tower. The well in the middle, from 1520, was the town’s water.
- Arsenal and Theatre · The great arch on the harbour is the Arsenal, where Venetian war galleys were repaired. In 1612 a theatre was opened on its upper floor, open to every class of townspeople — one of the first public theatres in Europe, and it still stands.
- Benedictine Convent · The nuns here make lace from thread drawn out of the leaves of the agave plant, a craft found almost nowhere else, and recognised by UNESCO as part of the intangible heritage of humanity. Each small piece takes weeks.
- Fortica · In 1571, before the battle of Lepanto, an Ottoman fleet attacked Hvar and burned the town, while its people sheltered in this fortress on the hill. From the walls you see the whole town, the harbour and the Pakleni islands spread on the sea.
- Hvar Riva · The harbour front where Venetian galleys once moored now fills with yachts in summer. Hvar claims to be the sunniest island on the Adriatic, with around two thousand seven hundred hours of sun a year.
- Franciscan Monastery · A fifteenth-century monastery on a point by the sea, with a quiet cloister and, in its refectory, a huge painting of the Last Supper about eight metres long. Its garden holds an old cypress tree several centuries old.
The Greek plain
On the north side of the island is one of the oldest towns in Europe still lived in. Greeks from the island of Paros founded Pharos here in 384 BC and divided the plain behind it into fields with stone walls that farmers still use today. Half a day and a car or bike.
- Stari Grad · Stari Grad, the Old Town, is Pharos, and pieces of its Greek walls can still be seen. Its name in Croatian simply means old town, and it is quieter than Hvar town, at the end of a long narrow bay.
- Tvrdalj · The poet Petar Hektorović built this fortified house in the sixteenth century around a pond of grey mullet, and carved Latin and Croatian verses into its walls. His poem Fishing and Fishermen’s Talk, about a three-day boat trip with two fishermen, is a classic of Croatian literature.
- Stari Grad Plain · The Greek settlers measured the plain into rectangular plots, separated by dry-stone walls and roads, and planted vines and olives. That grid, the chora, has been farmed without a break for twenty-four centuries, and it is a world heritage site.
- Vrboska · A fishing village on a narrow inlet crossed by little bridges, called the little Venice of Hvar. Its church of St Mary was fortified after the Ottoman raid of 1571, and the church of St Lawrence holds a polyptych attributed to Titian.
- Jelsa · Every year on the night before Good Friday, six villages around Jelsa walk the Za Križen procession: each follows a barefoot cross-bearer on a twenty-five kilometre loop through the other villages, all night, without meeting. It has gone on for five centuries and is on UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage.
- Grapčeva Cave · A cave high on the south slope where people lived in the Neolithic, and where archaeologists found painted pottery of a culture named after the island. On one shard is a drawing of a ship from about 3500 BC, one of the oldest pictures of a ship in Europe.
Lavender and the abandoned villages
The hills between Hvar town and Stari Grad were covered with lavender until the twentieth century, when fires and emigration emptied the villages. The old road runs through them: a lavender village, a ghost village of shepherds, the highest peak, and coves on the south coast. Half a day by car; late June is lavender time.
- Brusje · Hvar was once one of the largest lavender growers in the world, and Brusje was a centre of it, with terraces of lavender on the slopes around the village. Lavender oil and dried sachets are still sold from tables by the road.
- Velo Grablje · This village distilled lavender oil in the early twentieth century, and was almost emptied by fires and emigration in the decades after. A few families came back, revived the lavender, and hold a festival every June.
- Humac · A village of stone houses built by shepherds and farmers from Vrisnik, used only in the seasons of work on the fields and now abandoned, with a single restaurant cooking on the open fire. It is still said to have no mains electricity.
- Sveti Nikola · The highest point of the island, about six hundred and thirty metres, with a small chapel on top. From here you see the whole south coast below and, on clear days, the islands of Vis, Korčula and the mountains of the mainland.
- Dubovica · A cove of white pebbles and clear water below the road, reached by a path of about fifteen minutes, with a single old stone house on the beach. It is the classic south-coast beach of the island.
- Pakleni Islands · The name sounds like hell in Croatian, but it comes from paklina, the pine resin once gathered on the islands to waterproof boats. Taxi boats run from the harbour to their coves and to Palmižana, a botanical garden and restaurant founded by a family in the nineteenth century.
Getting to Hvar and getting around
- Split Airport · Then a catamaran from Split: about an hour to Hvar town
- Hvar Riva · The harbour front; catamarans and taxi boats leave here
Cheap eats in Hvar
Dalmatian island food is olive oil, fish and wine. Gregada is the fishermen’s stew of white fish, potatoes, garlic and oil; peka is lamb or octopus slow-cooked under an iron bell covered in embers, ordered a day ahead. On Vis they bake the viška pogača, a flat pie of salted fish and onion. Hvar’s south slopes grow the red Plavac Mali, and its own white is Bogdanjuša. Lavender honey and carob sweets are the souvenirs.
- Hvar Riva · Morning fish and fruit market by the harbour
- Stari Grad · Gregada in an old wine cellar
- Zavala · Plavac Mali from the steep south slopes
- Humac · Peka cooked on the open fire
- Komiža · Pogača, the salted-fish pie of Vis
- Brusje · Lavender honey and oil by the road
Museums in Hvar
Hvar has two thousand four hundred years of history in a small space: a Greek colony, the Venetian fleet, a public theatre of 1612, and a poet’s fishpond house. The museums are small and seasonal.
- Arsenal and Theatre · The 1612 theatre above the galley shed
- Tvrdalj · The poet’s house and his verses on the walls
- Benedictine Convent · The agave lace collection
- Grapčeva Cave · The Neolithic ship drawing
- Franciscan Monastery · The great Last Supper painting
Nature and day trips near Hvar
Hvar is a long limestone ridge of pine, olive, lavender and rosemary, with a clear sea all round. The best water is in the coves of the south coast and the islands offshore, and further out, on Vis and Biševo, are sea caves that glow blue.
- Blue Cave · Best around midday, calm seas only
- Stiniva · A cove inside the cliffs on Vis
- Pakleni Islands · Pine coves by taxi boat
- Sveti Nikola · A hike to the top of the island
- Dubovica · A south-coast pebble cove
- Velo Grablje · Lavender fields in late June
Things to do in Hvar with kids
With children Hvar is about boats and water: taxi boats to the islands, shallow coves, a fortress to climb, and the blue cave further out.
- Fortica · Climb to the fortress and its old cannons
- Pakleni Islands · A boat ride to a beach
- Milna · Shallow family beaches
- Blue Cave · A boat trip into the blue
- Vrboska · Bridges over the little canal
- Jelsa · A calm harbour town with sandy coves nearby
Holy places in Hvar
Hvar’s faith is old and lived: a cathedral on its square, convents of lace-making nuns and Franciscans, and an Easter procession through the night that has gone on for five hundred years.
- St Stephen’s Square · The cathedral and its bell tower
- Jelsa · The Za Križen night procession
- Franciscan Monastery · A cloister by the sea
- Benedictine Convent · Nuns and their agave lace
- Vrboska · The fortress church
Nightlife in Hvar
Hvar town is one of the party capitals of the Adriatic in July and August: sunset bars on the rocks west of town, clubs by the harbour, and an island club reached by night taxi boat. Out of season it goes quiet.
- Hvar Riva · Harbour bars and clubs in summer
- Pakleni Islands · The island beach club, by night boat
- Fortica · Sunset over the islands from the walls
- St Stephen’s Square · The square on summer nights
- Stari Grad · A quieter evening on the bay
Frequently asked questions about Hvar
What is there to see in Hvar?
The top sights in Hvar are St Stephen’s Square, Arsenal and Theatre and Fortica. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Hvar?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Hvar without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Hvar?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Hvar, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The Venetian town.
How do you get to Hvar and get around?
The main ways are Split Airport and Hvar Riva. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Hvar, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Hvar that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Hvar for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.