Roadtrip around Hvar Island in Croatia

In my last post (What to do in Jelsa, Hvar), I talked about what to do in a small town on Hvar Island - Jelsa but this time I want to talk about the road trip around the whole island. I already mentioned that I had Dalmatia on my travel bucket list for 2023 and I'm so glad that it worked out and I got to visit a whole new island once again (you can see my post about a road trip on Brač here).

Beach Malo Zaraće

A few things to consider

Just as I said about Brač, the best time to have a road trip is just before summer (May, June) and late September, or October. When we were there around the end of July, the start of August, it was 29°C and it was okay to travel around but keep in mind that it will be hot(ter).

You can't get lost, there is one main road, where you can see most of the towns (from Jelsa, Vrboska, Stari Grad to Hvar town) but you have so many side roads that usually lead to breathtaking views. We probably drove on every single street on the west side because it was fun always discovering an amazing view or a small private beach (or even some construction sites where you can see cool old machines).

In every town you have free parking for scooters, so it's not a problem leaving it somewhere in the city and strolling around on foot. Saying that, it is prohibited to drive through the towns with scooters.

I would say one day is enough to experience the main towns and beaches but two days are perfect. On the first day, we went through the towns, stopped in each, and got something to drink and/or eat. On the first day, we also drove around the whole west coast of the island. On the second day, we mostly visited the beaches and the north side of the island. One tip - don't go north or east because you drive in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing to see. We did stumble upon a beach or two that looked very pretty but it's very hard to get to them from the main road because it's too steep and narrow.

Prices: everybody says that Hvar is expensive and touristy and that you shouldn't go if you are on a budget but it's not true. Prices are the same as anywhere in Croatia and cheaper than at the popular places in Slovenia - except Hvar town. The prices there are insane (8€ beer, 20€ burgers, and 15€ tacos), so don't eat there if you want to save some money.

Start: from Jelsa to Vrboska

We started in Jelsa, where we were staying. I recommend KGM RENT for a scooter (or quad or anything other) rental. The price for a scooter was 35€/day. Since we were staying at Jelsa and already knew the town, our first stop was Vrboska. I think this one isn't so popular with tourists but I saw some pictures and I needed to visit it. It's a perfect little village that I fell in love with, it's definitely my favorite out of all the towns. It has a little island inside the bay and they call the town "Little Venice". The first thing that you see when you drive up to the town, is a gorgeous stone bridge that connects both parts of the bay. The town is empty and quiet - and that's in the middle of a high season. There are a few locals in the coffee shops but that's it. Highly recommend everyone to visit this hidden gem.

Vrboska or "Little Venice"

Next Stop: Stari Grad

Stari Grad is quite a popular town due to its ferry port (which is actually located a little out of the town) since most of the ferries from Split drive only to this town. This is also a gem that you have to put on your must-visit-when-on-Hvar towns. I loooved the town. We parked the scooter right by the center of the town and got lost in the streets. The streets are very pretty, there's lots of cobblestone and stairs everywhere (which are nicely decorated with flowers and other greenery). Truly, such a lovely town.

Streets of Stari Grad

Next on the list: Hvar (The town and the fortress)

Then we visited the most popular and well-known town - Hvar town. I'm just going to say it straight - I didn't like it, at least not half as much as Vrboska and Stari Grad. This is a very touristy city, yachts and boats from all over stop here. It's a party town, so it's always crowded, the prices everywhere are also high. In all the other towns you mostly meet locals - Croatians and lots of Slovene, of course, since the Croatian coast is our number one destination for summer vacations - but here in Hvar, there are mostly English-speaking tourists that just come to drink and take photos everywhere.

One thing that you have to visit is the city fortress, where you get an amazing view over the Hvar town and over Pakleni islands. We actually missed the entrance of the fortress but accidentally found a viewing spot where you get the most amazing view. We actually decided not to go to the fortress and save some money on entrance fees.

Hvar town

FORR | Hvar Harbour Waterfront Restaurant

FORR | Hvar Harbour Waterfront Restaurant

"Neštu između" 

Croatians would say "neštu između", which means "something in between", meaning we just drove on every road on the west part of the island. Nobody talks about this but here you can find so many good viewing points, where you can see Pakleni Island, Vis Island, and more (you are higher than the Hvar fortress, so the view is better). Sometimes it feels like you are driving to the dead end because you really are driving in the middle of nowhere but then you are rewarded with the most amazing views. We also drove through towns like Velo and Malo Grablje, Brusje, etc.

Famous Beaches

You probably heard about the popular Hvar beaches on the south part of the island (Malo Zaraće, Velo Zaraće, Dubovica, Lučišća, Jagodna, etc.). We only visited Malo and Velo Zaraće because these beaches are very hard to reach with a scooter, you will need a stronger scooter or better - a quad (if you want to reach them on foot, you will walk quite far and you also can't leave your scooter just everywhere). I do recommend visiting Malo Zaraće, we were there in the middle of the day and it was not crowded at all, and it's beautiful. Velo Zraće, on the other hand, is more touristy but you also have a restaurant there. If you come with a car - to both of these beaches - good luck with parking it because there just isn't a lot of space down there.

Beach Malo Zaraće

Stairs to beach Malo Zraće

I know that I said this before but I highly recommend visiting Hvar island. Don't skip it just because people say it's touristy and expensive because that's just Hvar town, other towns are 100% worth visiting. As I said, I loved Vrboska and Stari Grad, Jelsa, of course, and some little towns that we came across while we were driving in the middle of nowhere. I loved the whole trip and I'm already planning on what Dalmatian island to visit next year. If you are interested in Hvar or travel content in general you can follow me on TikTok or Instagram :)

Thank you for reading!