All this travelling is pretty tiring (ha). Just as well we’ve got 3 weeks visiting 4 of Croatia’s islands for some beach time.  Island hopping is pretty easy with regular ferry services and being later in the season we didn’t even need to book most in advance (although the ferry to and from Hvar to Dubrovnik can sell out pretty often).

Vis

Our first island is one of the furthest from the mainland, Vis. It’s a small waterfront stretch consisting of some bars and restaurants and a few shops.  There are quite a few Konoba’s (restaurants serving traditional Dalmation food) and we were lucky enough one night to get inside one right on the waterfront just before a massive storm hit taking out all power for the island for an hour or so – luckily we had wine and candles, so sat back and enjoyed the lightening show.

The beaches closest to the town had an abundance of kina making for some painful attempts to get in and out of the water, but we found a little beach about an hour walk from our accommodation which was thankfully kina-free.  Most Croatian beaches are stony not sandy,which means amazing visibility.  We were swimming out to 4-5 metres depth and could see the bottom perfectly.

The view from the bar above our favourite Vis beach

Until the breakdown of Yugoslavia, this island was a military base – even having secret submarine bunkers. 

Beautiful clear waters of Vis

Brac

Next up was Brac, the largest island in Croatia, and with a larger main centre.   Unfortunately Brac was also where Scott got food poisoning, so it was a pretty quiet visit here!  Luckily he started feeling better with a few days to spare, and we managed to explore.

A great view after a steep climb

Enjoying a beer waiting for the sunset

A beautiful sunset

Hvar

Known as the party island, I was expecting it to be a bit over-priced and pretentious – but it wasn’t and ended up being a highlight of the island hopping.  Hvar has the biggest centre of the islands we visited, so as well as the great beaches there was much more to do here – and a much bigger buzz at night, so a few good nights out were had.

The main square

Climbing up to the castle

The view from the castle

An easy 30 minute walk from the town brings you to another stunning beach and bar.

Hvar at night

Less than an hour on a small boat and we were in the Pakleni Islands, and yet another beautiful beach and bar (basically our whole trip to the islands can be summed up as ‘beach and bar’).

Lopud

Our final island caused a lot of debate.  Should we stay in Korcula?  Should we stay in the nationa park in Miljet?  Should we stay on the mainland?  We just couldn’t decide.  We ended up settling on Lopud almost by default given it was so close to Dubrovnik – and it turned out to be my favourite spot!  We stayed at the Glavovic Hotel which although nothing overly flash, was positioned about 5 metres from the beach in the heart of the town and managed by the mostly lovely woman and her son – making us feel incredibly welcome.

The view from our bedroom window

The beaches were amazing, and the locals were the most friendly we’ve met on our travels yet.  The Rugby World Cup opening game was on whilst we were there and in  a football mad country we didn’t like our chances of finding it on a television anywhere.  However, one little cafe had the channel and happily turned it over to the game. We settled in with a bunch of English and other tourists, and then many of the locals pulled up chairs to watch and learn how rugby is played!  A great night.

Probably the best restaurants of our time in Croatia too, with the Glavovic and La Villa offering delicious fresh seafood and the local pizza restaurant being pretty tasty too!

Beautiful sunset

On our final day we went for a run around the tiny island and climbed up to some ruins in the centre of the island for a great view. 

Next stop Dubrovnik/ King’s Landing.