Island Hvar – Your place for best holiday

Dive Center Hvar

This large professional dive center near the Hotel Amfora runs diving trips between Hvar and the island of Vis, which recently has become the darling of extreme sports enthusiasts. The Dive Center offers a long menu of dive services and trips and supports other watersports such as water-skiing, snorkeling, kite boarding, windsurfing, and banana boating. It also rents boats, kayaks, and equipment to go with all its sports. Dives run from 250kn ($43) for a single dive including equipment to an all-inclusive certification course for 2,360kn ($405).

Fortress

The large 16th-century fortress that stands above Hvar Town once was a medieval castle. The current structure, built by the Venetians, is worth the climb to see spectacular views of Hvar Town’s rooftops and its harbor from the ramparts. Inside the fortress you’ll find displays of amphorae found offshore; and you can visit a spooky dungeon. There is a small cafe atop the castle. The walk up to the fortress is a nice but challenging trek during the day, but at night the climb can be treacherous because the steps/path leading up to the site are not lighted.

Franciscan Monastery

Walk along the sea to the 15th-century monastery south of the center and enter through a lovely cloister, where concerts are held every 2 days during the season. Inside you’ll find a nice museum with a collection of sacral art. The museum opens to an idyllic garden with a view of the sea. The adjacent church, Our Lady of Mercy, also dates from the 15th century and it is home to three polyptychs and many other pieces of religious art.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

St. Stephen’s is a rather unremarkable triple-aisled church with a nice 17th-century bell tower. The inside has quite a few late Renaissance paintings and a nice wooden 16th-century choir area.

Venetian Loggia & Clock Tower

The Loggia and Clock Tower are part of the Hotel Palace’s face to the world. The Loggia is a magnificent example of Renaissance architecture, but it was damaged by the Turks in 1571, repaired, and then used as a cafe from the late 19th century to as recently as the early 1970s. Today it frames an elegant salon in the Hotel Palace, complete with a grand piano. The clock tower was built in the 19th century on the site of the ducal palace. The palace was destroyed in the same assault that damaged the Loggia.

Viking Diving Center

The Petrinovic family runs this establishment right next to the Podstine Hotel, and it can furnish equipment, instruction, and even rooms. Many of Viking’s diving excursions go to the waters off Pakleni Otoci. Viking offers a wide range of options: You can buy almost any service, from a single dive at 220kn ($38), to a package of 5 days and 10 dives for 1,720kn ($300), to a full-day trip with cave diving for 490kn ($85), to everything in between. Equipment rental is extra.

Vis archeological collection

The collection is part of Vis island attractions. It is on display at the fortress Our Lady’s Batarija, built during the Austrian rule in the early 19th century. Submarine archeology collection is the most attractive part of the collection – the exhibition space complex is left in a way that amphorae have been transported bellow the deck of ancient ships. Besides amphorae, visitors can see the largest collection of Hellenistic objects exposed in one place in Croatia. Here is exposed a large number of invaluable Hellenist pottery: Corinthian containers for perfumes, south Italian vases, ceramics, and elegant Issian vases. The central display is a famous bronze head of the goddess Artemis, made on the basis of Praxiteles sculptural tradition.

Together with this valuable archaeological collection, there is also Vis ethnographic and cultural heritage exhibition. There are exposed items associated with fishing, shipbuilding, wine, transport of goods and modern history.

The exhibition is opened to visitors only during the summer: 9-12h and 17-20h. On Mondays the museum is closed.

Bishop’s Treasury

The Bishop’s Treasury, behind the tower and adjoining the Cathedral of St Stjepan, houses the cathedral treasury of silver vessels, embroidered Mass robes, numerous Madonnas, a couple of 13th-century icons and an elaborately carved sarcophagus.,

The intricately carved Venetian architecture and wide, welcoming seaside promenade of Hvar Town has helped make Hvar Island the chicest and most visited of southern Dalmatian islands. It’s a top sight in Croatia and one of the country’s most romantic spots. By day, excursion boats head out to one of the pine-wooded offshore Pakleni Islands of Stipanska or Jerolim where naturists have their own private coves.

For nightlife, you can’t do better .At night, the sleek and chic relax in one of the harbourside bars, sipping tropical cocktails and comparing tans.

Hvar is an island of sun and crickets, an island of lavander, palms, agaves, pine trees, laurel, sage and wine, an island of rosemary and lonely lagoons.
Hvar Theatre which is also one of the oldest Europen theatres, Fortress, Arsenal, City lodge, Cathedral, Franciscan monastery, are just some of the monuments that will enchant you with their beauty and take you back in time when Hvar was governed by Venice, Austria or Napoleon…

Summer night life in Hvar is by many said to be «the richest on the Adriatic». Parties literally last all night long, and guests can visit numerous cultural events: plays, exhibitions, concerts – from the offer of Hvar’s summer manifestations. Classical music lovers can assist many musical nights in the Franciscan monastery or Illyrian and organ musical nights in the Cathedral. Open air cinema in Veneranda is also very popular. There are a lot of different musical and folklore events going on all over the town (walking by the sea you will most probably find a local music ensemble Galešnik singing their tunes). The town has many original shops that offer souvenires made by local craftsmen, like lavender and rosemary oil that represents a real tradition of this island that, ever since the ancient times, has been called the island of lavander and rosemary. In the old part of the town there are traditional taverns where you can taste domestic wine and Dalmatian smoked ham.

Later in the night, people are gathering around many bars such as “Archie’s bar”, “Atelier”, “Loco bar”, “Kofein”. If you are into some “harder” partying do not miss to visit “Nautica” and “Kiva” (party is guaranteed!), and don’t forget the best cocktail bar in Croatia Carpe Diem, or “seize the day”, who’s round the clock programme will surely satisfy you…and if you want to see the dawn and the most beautiful sunrise on the Adriatic you can pay a visit to the discotheque “Veneranda”…
More romantic types can follow the old road to Brusje until they reach a path that almost imperceptibly turns right and climbs to the astronomical observatory with the best position in Europe. You’ll be able to watch the sun rising from the open sea replacing the stars, while peaks of little Hvar’s archipelago islands emerge from the clouds. By far famous Pakleni Islands are situated just a couple of nautical miles away. We could, without exaggeration, say that Pakleni Islands are the most beautiful part of Croatia and also the whole Croatian coast; playfull string of wooded islands dipped into the clear, azure sea, a couple of beaches, excursion centers and myriad of little hidden shores, sunny stone terraces and gorgeous lonely lagoons.