Croatia part 3: Hvar, Brač, Trogir
Jun. 13th, 2026 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaPart 3 of our Croatian adventure! If you missed them, Part 1, Part 2.
In the morning the Romantica left Vela Luka on Korčula island and motored to Hvar (the town, which is also the name of the island). The guides told us that Hvar is popular with celebrities, though it must have been too early in the season for them as I failed to spot Beyoncé, Tom Cruise, Novak Djokovic, or Prince Harry. (I don't know, they might have been there and I just failed to recognize them, since I only have vague ideas of what they look like.) The harbor was full of yachts, though, including long rows of charter sailboats. A picturesque fortress (called Fortica or Tvrđava Španjola, the Spanish Fortress) overlooks the town and harbor, and since we had some time before the day's ride, many of us hiked up to visit it.
The path to the fort is pleasantly graded and shaded. It passes a pretty little chapel that dates from the 15th century, and wanders among interesting cactus and other plants.
We paid the small entry fee and walked around on the battlements. Some of the interior rooms were given over to museum displays, but mostly we were there for the views:
The fort was built beginning in 1278, though new construction was repeatedly layered over old. It was damaged in 1579 due to an explosion in a gunpowder storage area, rebuilt in the early 17th century, and added to during the 18th and 19th centuries. The prison looks particularly ancient:
Before going over to the fort, though, we had taken a few photos of the bike-unloading process, since the boat was tied up directly to the harbor wall, which made it easier to photograph. (It was more interesting when the boats had to be handed down to the lower level of another boat, then handed from boat to boat - but harder to photograph, and doubtless harder to do, too.)
We got back to Romantica and had lunch, then changed to our biking gear and headed off. You can see the fort on the top of the hill in the center of the photo!
The road climbed up past the fortress and then headed up and across the island. We passed many mounds of rock that were the ruins of old dry stone walls (that is, made without mortar), and got a nice view of our destination, Stari Grad.
Because poor weather was expected to come in the next afternoon, the guides decided to compress the trip a little. After reaching Stari Grad, about 13 miles from Hvar, we had the option of ending our ride at the boat or continuing with part of the loop ride that was originally planned for tomorrow. Most of us chose to continue on. The rest of the ride was very flat, across "Stari Grad Plain" which has been planted with grain, grapes, and olives since the time of the Greeks. Dry stone walls crisscrossed the plain, along with occasional "Trimi", stone shelters built using the dry stone construction technique.
Here's the map of our ride:
Back in Stari Grad we wandered around the pretty harbor and the old town. ("Stari Grad" means "Old City" in Croatian.)
The next morning we headed for Milna on the island of Brač to do the ride that was supposed to be for the last day of the tour; since that day was predicted to be rainy, the idea was that we could enjoy the bikes on the nice day and visit museums and walk around a city on the rainy day, which all of us agreed sounded better!
As usual we took our time (and stopped at a cafe for snacks along the way) but eventually we arrived at the town of Postira in time for lunch on the boat, after 18 miles across the island of Brač.
Some people opted to take the bikes out again and ride to what was reputedly a very pretty beach, but the weather was already starting to get a little windy and cloudy, so Britt and I left our bikes at the boat and strolled the town. (Okay, we got gelatos first. Which was actually somewhat challenging, as the tourist season hadn't officially started yet, and most of the gelaterias were closed, but we did find one! And yes, too cold for swimming in the Adriatic, not too cold for gelato.)
There was quite a bit of nice artwork in Postira. Even the manhole covers were attractive!
The next day was indeed rainy. The guides had informed us that although the official itinerary had us disembarking in Split, a big construction project at the pier meant that the Romantica couldn't actually go there. Instead we'd go to Trogir, a medieval city not far west of Split built on a tiny island connected to the mainland and a larger island by bridges, and spend the day there, and early on the final morning a bus would take us to Split. This turned out to be a happy problem, as Trogir is stunning.
After breakfast several of us went to the Trogir Museum, where I saw the biggest cock I've ever seen in my life!
(It's the figurehead from a Turkish galley that was sunk in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. I am amused that it already has way more views on Flickr than anything else I've posted from this trip. Kind of like my picture of boobies from our sailing days - they were the blue-footed variety. Can you blame me for naming my photos literally?)
The museum had all sorts of interesting things found in excavations of the area. This display included various coats of arms of the important families:
When the rain let up a bit we walked through the narrow streets:
The doorway to the Cathedral of St. Lawrence, carved in the 13th century by an artist known as Master Radovan:
Kamerlengo Fortress was built by the Venetians in the 15th century. It looks very Disney lit up at night:
We had another incredible meal here at Il Ponte, a restaurant that is not in the old city but on the other side of the pedestrian bridge to the mainland. ("Il Ponte" means "The Bridge" in...Italian!) It's anything but pedestrian, though, as the previous bridge was replaced in 2024 (in one day!) by a modern steel piece of art that was selected through a competition. My photos are terrible, but here is Atlas Obscura's page about the bridge, with photos. I did take a picture of the cute little amuse-bouche cracker in the shape of a fishbone, though!
Overall, it was an excellent trip! I did occasionally get a little irritated at the compromises that must be made when you're traveling with 30+ people, but the combination of boat and bike was a really great way to see these islands.
Next up: Split!
In the morning the Romantica left Vela Luka on Korčula island and motored to Hvar (the town, which is also the name of the island). The guides told us that Hvar is popular with celebrities, though it must have been too early in the season for them as I failed to spot Beyoncé, Tom Cruise, Novak Djokovic, or Prince Harry. (I don't know, they might have been there and I just failed to recognize them, since I only have vague ideas of what they look like.) The harbor was full of yachts, though, including long rows of charter sailboats. A picturesque fortress (called Fortica or Tvrđava Španjola, the Spanish Fortress) overlooks the town and harbor, and since we had some time before the day's ride, many of us hiked up to visit it.
The path to the fort is pleasantly graded and shaded. It passes a pretty little chapel that dates from the 15th century, and wanders among interesting cactus and other plants.
We paid the small entry fee and walked around on the battlements. Some of the interior rooms were given over to museum displays, but mostly we were there for the views:
The fort was built beginning in 1278, though new construction was repeatedly layered over old. It was damaged in 1579 due to an explosion in a gunpowder storage area, rebuilt in the early 17th century, and added to during the 18th and 19th centuries. The prison looks particularly ancient:
Before going over to the fort, though, we had taken a few photos of the bike-unloading process, since the boat was tied up directly to the harbor wall, which made it easier to photograph. (It was more interesting when the boats had to be handed down to the lower level of another boat, then handed from boat to boat - but harder to photograph, and doubtless harder to do, too.)
We got back to Romantica and had lunch, then changed to our biking gear and headed off. You can see the fort on the top of the hill in the center of the photo!
The road climbed up past the fortress and then headed up and across the island. We passed many mounds of rock that were the ruins of old dry stone walls (that is, made without mortar), and got a nice view of our destination, Stari Grad.
Because poor weather was expected to come in the next afternoon, the guides decided to compress the trip a little. After reaching Stari Grad, about 13 miles from Hvar, we had the option of ending our ride at the boat or continuing with part of the loop ride that was originally planned for tomorrow. Most of us chose to continue on. The rest of the ride was very flat, across "Stari Grad Plain" which has been planted with grain, grapes, and olives since the time of the Greeks. Dry stone walls crisscrossed the plain, along with occasional "Trimi", stone shelters built using the dry stone construction technique.
Here's the map of our ride:
Back in Stari Grad we wandered around the pretty harbor and the old town. ("Stari Grad" means "Old City" in Croatian.)
The next morning we headed for Milna on the island of Brač to do the ride that was supposed to be for the last day of the tour; since that day was predicted to be rainy, the idea was that we could enjoy the bikes on the nice day and visit museums and walk around a city on the rainy day, which all of us agreed sounded better!
As usual we took our time (and stopped at a cafe for snacks along the way) but eventually we arrived at the town of Postira in time for lunch on the boat, after 18 miles across the island of Brač.
Some people opted to take the bikes out again and ride to what was reputedly a very pretty beach, but the weather was already starting to get a little windy and cloudy, so Britt and I left our bikes at the boat and strolled the town. (Okay, we got gelatos first. Which was actually somewhat challenging, as the tourist season hadn't officially started yet, and most of the gelaterias were closed, but we did find one! And yes, too cold for swimming in the Adriatic, not too cold for gelato.)
There was quite a bit of nice artwork in Postira. Even the manhole covers were attractive!
The next day was indeed rainy. The guides had informed us that although the official itinerary had us disembarking in Split, a big construction project at the pier meant that the Romantica couldn't actually go there. Instead we'd go to Trogir, a medieval city not far west of Split built on a tiny island connected to the mainland and a larger island by bridges, and spend the day there, and early on the final morning a bus would take us to Split. This turned out to be a happy problem, as Trogir is stunning.
After breakfast several of us went to the Trogir Museum, where I saw the biggest cock I've ever seen in my life!
(It's the figurehead from a Turkish galley that was sunk in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. I am amused that it already has way more views on Flickr than anything else I've posted from this trip. Kind of like my picture of boobies from our sailing days - they were the blue-footed variety. Can you blame me for naming my photos literally?)
The museum had all sorts of interesting things found in excavations of the area. This display included various coats of arms of the important families:
When the rain let up a bit we walked through the narrow streets:
The doorway to the Cathedral of St. Lawrence, carved in the 13th century by an artist known as Master Radovan:
Kamerlengo Fortress was built by the Venetians in the 15th century. It looks very Disney lit up at night:
We had another incredible meal here at Il Ponte, a restaurant that is not in the old city but on the other side of the pedestrian bridge to the mainland. ("Il Ponte" means "The Bridge" in...Italian!) It's anything but pedestrian, though, as the previous bridge was replaced in 2024 (in one day!) by a modern steel piece of art that was selected through a competition. My photos are terrible, but here is Atlas Obscura's page about the bridge, with photos. I did take a picture of the cute little amuse-bouche cracker in the shape of a fishbone, though!
Overall, it was an excellent trip! I did occasionally get a little irritated at the compromises that must be made when you're traveling with 30+ people, but the combination of boat and bike was a really great way to see these islands.
Next up: Split!