Hvar
As soon as I got to the coast, I recognised that I truly was in holiday Croatia – cars and buses with Czech license plates everywhere. I drove straight along the coast from the mouth of the Neretva to the north-west only to Drvenik, where I took a ferry to the island of Hvar, which I crossed along its length. Apart from the coastal towns is the Hvar island quiet, with almost no cars on the one main road and beautiful view from the island to both sides, ideal for a ride. From the local ridge, which runs through the middle of the prolonged island, I had a beautiful view both to the north to the coast and later to the island of Brač, as well as towards Korčula and the smaller islands to the south. “Impressive” was also a short but wild thunder and wind storm that caught me on the ridge in the evening.
Local tourist destinations are the towns where ferries land: Sućuraj, Stari Grad and especially the town of Hvar itself. Hvar town looks as if straight out of a postcard: a harbour surrounded by medieval stone houses and narrow, marble-paved, car-free streets, curved and usually with stairs going up the surrounding hills. No wonder there are more tourists than locals in the summer.
In Hvar land no car ferries, only passenger ones – large catamarans, which considering their large size can go surprisingly fast (up to 70 km/h), but also stop surprisingly quickly, or turn around on a spot in the small town port. Such a ferry I took to Split. The disadvantage of these fast catamarans is that you must stay in a cabin and can only watch the beauty of the sea and the surrounding islands through a dirty window.
Adriatic coast
Along the coast I continued through the typically Mediterranean towns of Split, Trogir and Šibenik. Nearby Šibenik I spent the night in an interesting place: on a small island in the middle of the channel to the Šibenik Bay, where the entrance is guarded by an old fortress on yet another islet. The first island can only be reached by a wooden walkway, the next one can only be reached by wading.
From Šibenik I turned inland: around the Krka river canyon and then over the hills towards Velebit and the town of Obrovac.
