susansweet8756

I'm so grateful for your love of photography and the storytelling to go with it! Can't wait for the next installment! (You're helping me narrow some thoughts I've been pondering about our own itinerary for early June.) Thanks!

whitehall

What a nice comment! Thank you. We will try to wrap this up over the next several days, and we will post a separate, but brief, trip report on our 24 hours in Bosnia and Mostar. A perfect side trip.

whitehall

We had to walk through the outdoor public market in Split every time we went to and from our apartment and the waterfront. We love the daily public markets of Europe. Some of our favorites are Catania, Palermo, Rome, Nice, and Barcelona, and, at a minimum, we eat a daily bowl of fresh fruit. So, even as tourists, we are customers. Split’s market covered a couple squares and streets and was colorful and included, fish, clothes, fruits, veggies and flowers. It had the fewest customers we have ever seen at such a market, but that might explain why many vendors work long days into the evening. The fish vendors work shorter hours, and fire hoses clean up their area at the end of their day.

whitehall

Near the waterfront, there are large digital sign boards like you might see in a big rail station. This helps passengers navigate the many, many ferries that operate to islands and coastal towns from Split. The ferries come in all shapes and sizes, but are mostly comfortable and modern.

whitehall

Hvar, maybe even more so than Korcula, appeared to be an island worth more than a day trip. We have read about its evening party scene, probably too wild for us. However, a day trip, even on a perfect weather day, doesn’t provide much of a clue. We saw rope lines set up at one bar (obviously for the expected later crush) and got to enjoy a couple of late afternoon cocktails in fancy seating where royalty and film stars probably gather after dark. We did see a harsh sign warning of heavy fines for not wearing the proper clothing or certain types of party behavior, but, at least in the daytime, Hvar Town, where we were, came across as a beautiful laid back picturesque town with its fortress above.

Hvar is also famous for its celebrities, and, if you go, make sure you rent a car ahead of time. Our landlord told us about the old specialty VW convertibles that his uncle owned, and, regrettably we decided to hold off. When we got to the island, we couldn’t find anyone we could talk to about rentals, and we missed out on visiting communities like Stari Grad and Jelsa. Nor did we see any of the famous island beaches. Another alternative you might consider are water taxis and boat trips to little islands and other parts of Hvar itself. And, we did see a bus.

There are vineyards and wineries, and the only glimpse we got was someone unloading grapes into an unmarked building, maybe a family operation.

But no problem, this was a day for us to just relax. We still found time for a nice lunch, a castle visit, a tour of a neat old theatre and a little people watching in an uncrowded town.

KarenWoo

We love Hvar Town! We visited Hvar as a day trip from Split. We walked to the top of the fortress (the views are gorgeous), had lunch by the harbor, and then we walked along a coastal path that is west of the Old Town. The path took us past a cactus garden and a children's playground with green pine trees contrasting with the blue skies and blue Adriatic! It took us past the Amfora Hotel to a small cafe where we had drinks. This was one of our favorite days of our trip. I love your photos! Brings back such wonderful memories of our day on Hvar. We didn't see the rest of the island, either.

Where is the bar in your last 3 photos? We didn't see it. It looks lovely!

rialtogrl

I'm so glad you enjoyed Hvar Town. Fun fact - that theatre is one of the oldest in Europe. In Hvar they will tell you it IS the oldest, but it is #3 or something like that.

There are not a lot of celebrities hanging out in Hvar after dark. I have never seen one (that I know of) but if someone passes through they usually go to Gariful restaurant and then everyone talks about it for a couple of days. It is a bit of an urban myth that the streets are awash with celebrities. And unfortunately the fines for behaving badly are not very well enforced. I wish they were.

If you can ever get back, you can for sure find enough to keep you occupied for a few days!

whitehall

We hiked up to the castle (Tvrdava Fortica or Spanjola) that looms over Hvar Town to get sensational panoramic views, but you can also drive up. It has roots in the 13th century, but experienced rebuilding in the 16th and 19th centuries. Not too many years ago, before its latest historic status, it reportedly hosted a popular disco, not surprising for this party town.

whitehall

The castle views are terrific as we just posted. The bar was right along the promenade where the ferries park. And, even late afternoon, there was a group of very fashionable people off one of the large private yachts there.





We love old theaters and have visited many in Italy over the years. Unfortunately, many have small budgets, and they are kept closed. We also have been to some performances ranging from tiny towns (where we laughed at comedy shows in a language we don't know) to Milan's La Scala Opera House, where we had the best box in the house for a tiny off-season price. This theatre, as we recall, was very nondescript outside (at least with all the photos we take, we don't have one of the exterior). But once inside, they allowed us to have a run of the place.

whitehall

Getting to and from Hvar is by boat, many via the power and sail small private cruise lines. Of course, we came by a comfortable ferry. On land, we saw everything from a luxury Bentley with Czech Republic license plates to the iconic VW customized convertibles you can rent. And, on land, there were bikes, and on the water even electric hydrofoil boards.

KarenWoo

Do you take your photos with your Iphone? Your photos seem to have much better and more intense color than our photos.

I don't know how we missed that bar. It is beautiful! Your report and photos makes me want to return to Croatia, but there are so many other places we haven't seen yet.

whitehall

Yes on IPhone. I stopped lugging camera equipment years ago when a security person at the Naples, italy, airport, seized my tripod as a possible weapon.

I am not a photo or computer expert, but I have been around both for quite a while. First, I work hard to brace myself against something when possible to have the most steady photo possible. Your iPhone is more than point and click to begin with. While taking photos, I also try to quickly play with light and focusing, touching the screen in an area, where the sky looks more washed out than it really is, for example. It often can turn a sky that might looks almost white in your screen to the true blue you are seeing with your eyes. Later, you won't be able to turn a white sky into a blue one without ruining the photo and really spending a lot of time editing.Most of my photos on Fodors come from an album I created for family members at the time of travel. Some of them were quickly digitally "enhanced" (nothing like Photoshop that magazines use), using the simplest of Apple Photos software that comes with my computer. They have a one-button auto enhancement feature, as well as a simple slider move that can sharpen your photograph to a point that it looks more realistic than the first image the camera created.

Keep in mind that digital photos, by their very nature, have been altered or enhanced in a way, simply by the processing that your camera does to turn the data into a jpeg format, based on settings in your camera.

In the past, I have shot 35 mm digital in RAW format, which is the best original digital source, took multiple photos automatically at different settings and combined two or three of them to make a super sharp HDR photo. It’s difficult to enhance a terrible photo to look good, and you don’t want to over-enhance your photos so they don’t look realistic. When I do minor enhancement, it usually involves only changing the lighting or contrast to bring out what I believe looks more like the brilliance and sharpness that I saw in person. Some photographers with more sophisticated cameras use such things as filters to solve common issues with contrast, but these simple enhancement sliders can provide the same result.

natylou

Loving this report! The timing is perfect, as I am planning a trip for Turkey and Croatia, the Croatia portion being at the end of May, beginning of June.

Today I have been researching ferry sailings, and am a bit dismayed to see that it seems there are not many sailings in May. I have found TP Lines has a sailing from Dubrovnik to Korcula, and also from Korcula to Split, but the latter leaves at 5:40 in the afternoon, and arrives Split at 8:30 pm which means that we will have no time to spend in Split on that day.

I don't think driving from Dubrovnik to Korcula is an option, because I don't see any car ferries running at that early date, so we would have to drive back almost to Dubrovnik before continuing to Split, instead of taking the car ferry to Split.

Your report on Korcula is inspiring...It seems there is quite a lot to do there with 2 nights' stay. And your photos are just beautiful.

rialtogrl

natylou of course there are car ferries to Korčula, just not from Dubrovnik. Check Jadrolinija for car ferries from Orebić and when you leave the island there is a car ferry from Vela Luka to Split. Make sure you are booking a car ferry, not a catamaran.

The fancy bar in Hvar is Carpe Diem…

Adelaidean

I’m not planning a trip to Croatia, but wish I was!

Gorgeous photos, I love the stunning landscapes, mixed with everyday life.

whitehall

Brac is another fairly large island, maybe 30 miles end to end. Ferries go from Split to Supetar on one end or Bol on the other. We took the one to Bol, about the same one hour length of the prior day’s ferry to Hvar.

Bol, although picture perfect, seemed a bit quieter than Hvar Town, with most of the foot and car traffic headed to a magnificent and famous beach, not far from the town.

As we approached Bol on the ferry, we noticed some high mountain limestone peaks, the highest Vida Gora, which is popular with hikers. Brac is drier than the more lush islands like Korcula and Hvar, but it has a bunch of olive trees (and a rare variety of olives), as well as vineyards.

A large winery is one of the center pieces of Bol, and its ancient building (wine cooperative since early 1900's) belies the fact that this winery is fairly new.

We stuck mostly to seaside paths on either side of town. Another great place for lunch and some Croatian wine. And, certainly more places to explore if we did an overnight.

whitehall

Thank you. As ​​​​rialtogrl suggested, there are about 14 car ferries a day, even in May, from Orebic. We found that easy, quick and reasonably priced.

whitehall

The name Zlatni Rat doesn’t sound inviting but “rat” means cape or horn and described the stunning beach for its peninsular shape. This beach is often listed as one of the best beaches in the world, and it covers nearly 10 football fields. It is said that winds, and its location, provide for ever changing and shifting sands so the shape of the beach might be different each time you visit.

The pebble beach frames the crystal clear turquoise waters that Croatia is known for. It’s a busy place, with all kinds of food, entertainment, water facilities, and kite surfing.

You can drive there, but we took the very long pine-shaded promenade that takes 20-30 minutes to get to the beach. The pine trees are so large, it’s hard to imagine that this property once was a vineyard before the municipality took it over. We passed hotels, from nondescript to boutique, and mega mansions that were large and very contemporary. There also was a large tennis center and archery facility.

natylou

rialtogrl Thanks I was looking at the wrong port of course. I think that will work out perfectly. Also I believe the bigger car ferries will be easier for me than the catamarans as I get seasick very easily, unfortunately.

Whitehall, which part of Sept/Oct was this portion of your trip? This will be our first trip to Croatia, and I am hoping for warm weather at the end of May.

whitehall

Sept. 16 - 25. It was summer-like then. May should be pleasant. I recall a few rain drops for a couple hours our first day, and it was a bit rainy on our last day. We have mostly travelled in the Mediterranean in the fall, almost always with good luck. But last year, we spent the month of May in Sicily. It was so perfect, we are heading back there this spring again.