Menu
For years the European summer trip had a fixed script. Paris, maybe Amalfi, and Santorini for the pictures. Then somewhere around 2019 my cousin’s wedding party ended up on a Croatian island none of us could pronounce, and the group chat has not recovered since.
Hvar, said with a soft h and a rolled r, is the island off Croatia’s Dalmatian coast that the yachting crowd found first. It has most of what people love about the Greek islands, warm sea, white stone, long evenings, with fewer crowds, better food and prices that have not yet caught up with its reputation.
Big families, big villas
The first thing that makes Hvar work for us is space. Desi holidays are rarely a couple in a boutique hotel. They are twelve people, three generations and someone’s friend from Toronto. Hvar has a large stock of restored stone villas, many with pools and sea views, that sleep eight to fourteen and rent by the week. Split the cost across the group and it often comes out cheaper than a mid-range hotel in Mykonos.
The villas cluster around Hvar town, the harbour village of Vrboska and the quieter north coast near Stari Grad. Book early, because the good ones for July and August go by spring, and read the fine print about air conditioning and parking. An island house with charm and no AC in August is a test of family bonds nobody needs.
One thing to know: the island does not really do big resort hotels. The handful that exist are small and expensive. If your family is used to all-inclusive, this will feel different, in a good way. You shop, you cook a couple of nights, you eat out the rest, and the villa becomes the base for the whole trip.
The wedding question
Croatia has become a real destination wedding option in the last few years, and Hvar is at the top of that list. The scenery does the work: a sunset ceremony on a terrace above the Adriatic, a sangeet in a stone courtyard strung with lights, a baraat down a Renaissance square with the whole town watching. Local planners have started catering specifically to South Asian weddings, which means they understand that the guest list is three hundred people, the event runs across three days, and the caterer needs to handle a full vegetarian menu without blinking.
A few practical points. Croatian civil marriages for foreign nationals involve paperwork and lead time, so most couples do the legal part at home and hold the celebration on the island. Indian caterers and DJs can be flown in from London or Dubai, and several couples have done exactly that. And late September, when the sea is still warm and the August crowds have gone, is the sweet spot for a multi-day event.
Eating well, especially if you are vegetarian
Honest answer: Dalmatian cooking is seafood and grilled meat heavy. But it is not hard to eat well as a vegetarian here if you know what to ask for. Blitva, Swiss chard cooked with potatoes, garlic and olive oil, is on every menu and is excellent. Grilled vegetables, local cheese, fresh bread, tomato salads dressed with proper olive oil, and pizza that is far better than it has any right to be, will get you through a week happily. Many konobas will also prepare a vegetable peka, slow-cooked under an iron bell, if you order a day ahead.
Bring your own masala dabba if you are self-catering. Supermarkets stock the basics but not much beyond that, and there is no Indian restaurant on the island as of this writing. The upside is that fruit and vegetables at the morning market in Hvar town are the kind you remember.
Beaches, boats and the party
The Pakleni islands sit just off Hvar town and are reached by taxi boat in ten to fifteen minutes. This is where the day trips happen: swimming in clear water, long lunches at the bay of Palmizana, and if you rent a small boat with a skipper for the day, a private cove that nobody else has found. For the group, a boat day is the single best thing to book.
Hvar also has a nightlife reputation, and it is deserved. Beach clubs like Hula Hula fill up for sunset, and the harbour bars run late. It is easy to keep the parents and the cousins happy in the same place: they go back to the villa after dinner, you carry on.
For the older relatives, the island is manageable. Hvar town has cobbles and steps but the waterfront is flat, and the beaches near town are pebbly rather than sandy, so water shoes are a good idea for everyone.
Getting there
Fly into Split, which connects to the big European hubs and, seasonally, to the Gulf. From Split airport it is a bus or taxi to the port and then an hour on the catamaran to Hvar town, or a car ferry to Stari Grad if you are driving. Rent a car on the island if you want to explore the lavender fields and the villages inland, which you should.
For planning, especially with a large group, the local guide at Hvar island covers ferry schedules, villa rentals, boat hire and what is actually open in a given month, and it saved us a lot of back and forth.
One last thing
Croatia is not yet on the desi travel map the way Italy or Greece are, and that is exactly the point. You will not run into your neighbour from Edison at the beach club. Give it three years.
