The island of Hvar is among the most popular tourist destinations in Croatia. With an extremely mild climate and the biggest average of sunny days in Europe, it is famous for cultivating wine grapes, olives, figs, almonds and especially lavender. Cultivating lavander and making lavender oil for ages has been the main occupation on the island and today in the months of blooming, the lavender flower covers like a carpet all the islands’ fields. Aside from fields of lavander the island is covered with vineyards.
The southern slopes of the island are endowed with dry and sunny days, because of which it is not necessary to treat the grape for parasites, and so they yield the highest quality red wine among which is the most famous plavac. From long ago the wine was kept in cold rocks of today’s Pitve tunnel. In the central part of the island is found a few very picturesque villages, among them are Humac, Pitve and Vrisnik, in which you can find konobas with the best offer of food. Apart from fish and seafood dishes, you will find traditional island dishes under the bell on the menu. The whole of Hvar coast is known for its beautiful beaches covered with fine white pebbles – popular beaches hidden in coves all over the island. If you are looking for peace and isolation, there are beautiful beaches at the foot of Bogomolje and Gdinj on the eastern side of the island or in places on the southern coast between Zavala and Sveta Nedjelja. For those who prefer a crowd, there are equally beautiful beaches in Milna and Zaraće near the town of Hvar. The town of Hvar is the second oldest settlement on the island of Hvar, established in the 1st century before Christ as an Illyrian settlement with the ruin of a castle.
Today it is the most developed town for toursim on the island which together with the neighbouring Pakleni islands is one of the most fashionable centres in the Croatian part of the Adriatic. The town has a wide stone paved square, closed on three sides and with one side open to the sea. At the bottom of the square is one of the most beautiful churches in Croatia, the cathedral of Saint Stjepan which became a cathedral back in the 13th century. On the western part of the square, with a view on the town harbour, is one of the oldest community theatres in Europe founded in 1612 and above the town is a fortress from the 16th century with a beautiful view of the town and Pakleni islands. The oldest town on the island, but also in Europe is Stari Grad, which was founded by Greek sailors in the 4th century BC. The town itself and its surroundings are full of well preserved antique locations and among them is the Starograd fields – Ager – with the best preserved ancient Greek division of land in the Mediterranean, which is why it is included in the UNESCO list of world heritage. 
In the old town centre, in the narrow streets in which small, intimate restaurants have put out their tables, and the beautiful stone houses, there are a few historically valuable buildings among whom the most significant is Tvrdalj, a renaissance castle of the great Croatian poet Petar Hektorović from the 16th century. On the wide square in front of the castle in the summer are organised different cultural and entertainment events. On the island there is still a very charming smaller tourist place Jelsa, from which is connected by a walk next to the sea and along a row of holiday homes with the picturesque Vrboska in which there is a small marina. Its not necessary to emphasise how much sailors simply adore this island, and a large number of world tourist magazines already for years have included it in their top world destinations.
Accommodation on the island of Hvar
Things to do on the island of Hvar
