Hvar

Hvar is one of Croatia's most famous islands and one of Europe's sunniest: 2,800 hours of sunshine a year (against 2,700 in Split and 2,500 in Saint-Tropez), a climate so remarkable that some hotels historically offered guests free stays on days without sun. The island, 68 km long but just 4 to 11 km wide, unfolds its limestone cliffs, lavender fields and vineyards between the Dalmatian coast and the open Adriatic. Its popularity exploded in the 2010s, propelling Hvar Town to the rank of Croatia's nightlife epicentre — Yacht Week, electronic festivals, beach clubs — to the point that the municipality had to impose in 2017 fines for public drunkenness, vomiting and nudity in town.

But Hvar is not just its party reputation. Stari Grad Plain, an ancient Greek agricultural parcelling still cultivated, has been UNESCO-listed since 2008 — one of the best-preserved cultural landscapes in the Mediterranean, with dry-stone walls that have outlined identical plots for 2,400 years since they were traced by Greek colonists from Pharos in 384 BC. Stari Grad ("old town") is itself a charming fishing village with Venetian alleys, a peaceful alternative to Hvar Town for travellers seeking calm. To the east, Jelsa is another lovely fishing village.

The island produces some of Croatia's best wines — plavac mali (a red grape, cousin of California zinfandel) on the steep southern slopes (Sveta Nedjelja, Ivan Dolac), white pošip on the plateaux, prošek (traditional sweet wine). The lavender fields are discovered in June (spectacular bloom) — production was once the island's leading economic activity. A hundred metres offshore from Hvar Town, the Pakleni Islands ("islands of hell" — debated etymology, possibly from "pakal", the resin used to waterproof boats) form an archipelago of 21 islets with secret beaches (Palmižana, Stipanska, Jerolim), reached by 15-minute water taxi.