Hvar atracciones

Lying just minutes offshore from fashionable Hvar Island along Croatia’s spectacularly indented Dalmatian coastline, the Pakleni archipelago (Pakleni Otoci in Croatian) forms 17 sand-fringed low-lying speckles lapped by crystal-clear seas and backed by stunted pine forests. While they are mostly uninhabited in winter, these car-free islands are one of the most popular summertime getaways in the Adriatic, for their pocket-sized beaches and easy walking through the heather-scented maquis scrub. The central island of Sveti Klement offers several photogenic and miniscule settlements including Palmižana, which has a small museum of island life, elegant villas, botanical gardens and smart beach restaurants, and the ancient fishing hamlet of Vlaka with its 14th-century church, tumbledown stone houses and vineyards.

There’s no better place to take in the essence of Hvar than in its main plaza while admiring the Cathedral of St Stephen. Set upon a backdrop of green hillside, the church you see today was built between the 16th and 17th centuries, with elements of an even older church still preserved inside.

Though the cathedral boasts a relatively humble interior, it is noted for its attractive altars, late Renaissance paintings, and 15th-century wooden choir stalls. For most, though, it’s the exterior that really leaves the biggest impression, with its scalloped rooftop and four-story, 17th-century bell tower that both grandly watch over the expansive limestone plaza that rolls out to the Adriatic Sea.