21.July.2009
This time we thought we’d catch the 8.00 ferry to Hvar, but then we woke up at 7.25 and so we caught the 11.30 Catamaran.
Traveler’s Note: The Catamaran is only about 20 minutes faster, costs the same price and you can only sit inside. My advice, buy a round trip ticket on the regular ferry to save some money and enjoy the ride.
We got to Hvar around 1pm and checked it out. There are a couple monasteries and a lot of cool buildings to check out and a wicked cemetery. There’s also a fortress up on the hill overlooking the town. But before we went there we checked out the town proper. It’s fairly cool and there’s a lot to see. But everything there is a little on the expensive side as one would imagine, given that it’s a tourist destination. There were some massive yachts in the harbor and at anchor just off the island. We snapped some photos of the Franciscan Monastery but they too wanted money to go in and look around and I just didn’t think it worth it. The city is cool to see but there’s not much to do. It’s all cafes, restaurants and hotels. You could do some hiking but if you look at the pictures you can see the environment that you’d be hiking through. I’ve started to think that Brač would have been a better place to go. But since we only spent most of one day on Hvar I can’t say it’s all bad. There are some caves and beaches there as well.
Traveler’s Note: The Fortress has an admission of 20 Kuna (about 3 euro). It is absolutely NOT worth that price. Basically they have turned the entire place into a big restaurant/cafe…which you just paid to get into. Sure, it’s in the shape of the fortress and they tried to give it some cultural value with a tiny museum of artifacts. As far as I’m concerned it’s a scam and you can have just as nice pictures by climbing up and walking in front of it without paying to go in. There is no longer any historical or cultural value of that place. It’s a shame really.
Anyway, Hvar Town was cool enough I guess but they’ve certainly got a system. It’s 42 kuna to get there (by Catamaran or car ferry) and it’s 42 Kuna to get back. But if you’re in Hvar Town, you have to get a bus (25 Kuna) to Stari Grad (or rather, the ferry terminal)… ridiculous, I know. You can save a little of that by just taking the ferry both ways and buying a round-trip ticket (did I say that already?)…
Traveler’s Note: If you want to do both Hvar Town and Stari Grad in one day you need to catch the ferry at 8.00 or 8.30 and head back to Split on the 20.00. That will give you about 10 hours to tour both towns which would probably be just enough time. Be sure to allow yourself some time to make your way from Stari Grad to the Ferry terminal which is a ways out of the town.
KPICASA_GALLERY(21July2009)