The Top Three Things to Do During Your Stay on Hvar

1.FORTICA FORT

Even if you came to Hvar for the reasons mentioned above – and that’s completely OK – we recommend that you plan a visit to the fortress of Španjola/Fortica in the town of Hvar during your stay. It’s located above the town centre and waterfront and offers a great view of the stone houses, harbour, Pakleni Islands, bay and surrounding archipelago. Entrance tickets cost 50 kn (approx. €7) and pets are allowed too.

The fortress isn’t large and you can visit it relatively quickly. It includes a prison, towers, and a collection of amphorae and other items that locals and explorers have found on the seabed near Hvar and the surrounding islands. There’s also a small souvenir shop and a café with an outdoor terrace where you can enjoy the view. We recommend visiting the fort in the morning while the weather is not too hot.

2.WINE CELLAR UNDER THE SEA

Another must-visit place is the Zlatan Otok wine cellar in Sveta Nedjelja. On the western side of the island, on the way to Sveta Nedjelja, there are many sun-drenched vineyards in which the red Plavac Mali variety is mainly grown. Surrounded by a rocky landscape and olive groves, the vineyards are located on the slopes, and the majority are more than 50 years old. Most of the produce of the Zlatan Otok winery comes from these vineyards. The wine cellar is located in a small harbour and is unique because it’s below sea level.

When you go down the stairs, the first thing you see is a wall with award-winning wines. On the left, there’s a window through which you can watch the enchanting underwater world while enjoying a glass of wine, and on the right there are two more rooms with barrels in which the wine matures. Above the wine cellar, there’s the Bilo Idro restaurant, where you can taste and buy wines but also enjoy seafood specialities. The tasting of the top 3 wines costs 80 kuna (approx. €10). For example, you can try a rosé, a white wine (we recommend Pošip), and a red wine – our recommendation is their most award-winning Zlatan Gran Cru.

By the way, we haven’t mentioned yet that on the way to Sveta Nedjelja, near the village of Pitve, there’s a tunnel that is quite peculiar: it seems as if it hasn’t been completed. Since it’s only wide enough for a car to drive through, traffic is regulated with traffic lights. The drive through the tunnel takes about two minutes, but it’s certainly an interesting experience.

3.PETAR HEKTOROVIĆ’S TVRDALJ

Our third recommendation is the fortified summer residence of Petar Hektorović in Stari Grad. Petar Hektorović, a 16th-century Croatian poet, worked on this microcosm for almost his entire life. He imagined a building in which various creatures live side by side – fish, birds, plants and people. In the middle, there’s a fish pond surrounded by beautiful arcades and walls with Mediterranean plants. It has no roof so that birds can nest undisturbed around the tower. Tickets cost 20 kuna (approx. €3), so don’t miss a visit to this enchanting building.

Stari Grad is about half an hour’s drive from the town of Hvar. Along the way, which mostly follows the west coast of the island, beneath the slopes that descend to the sea you’ll find some of the most beautiful beaches on the island. On the other hand, Stari Grad is about 40 minutes by car from the winery but in a southerly direction. We therefore recommend that you choose Stari Grad for your stay, as you’ll be at the centre of things, and the ferry from Split also docks here.