A wonderful day trip from Split, Hvar Town is on Hvar Island, reached in just over an hour by frequent catamarans. The town is home to 4,000 inhabitants but receives up to 20,000 visitors a day, though when I visited in early June it wasn’t that busy thankfully. It is an upmarket sort of place, with a beautiful waterfront.

To keep things decent they have some rather large penalties for misbehaving in the town centre…

Once an important part of the Venetian Empire, much of the town dates from the 16th century when it was rebuilt following damage defending against the Ottomans. One of the first buildings after disembarking from the ferry is the Hvar Arsenal, a 13th century warehouse rebuilt in the 16th century. Downstairs the wonderful space has been filled with an exhibition on 25 prominent Croats, most of who were unfamiliar to me.

Upsides the delightful Hvar Theatre was built in 1612, one of the oldest in Europe.

The Pjaca main square is one of the largest in the region. It stretches from the Arsenal to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The cathedral took several centuries to build, and was finally completed in the 18th century.

Typical of towns built before cars it is full of narrow and atmospheric side streets, now home to shops and restaurants.

After climbing lots of steps there was a pleasantly graded path leading up the hillside.

Up to the magnificent Fortica Fortress, built by the Venetians in the 13th century. This offered panoramic views of the city and nearby islands, sparkling on a sunny day.

There was more to the fortress than expected, with many viewpoints offering slightly different perspectives on the surrounding landscape.

Back down at sea level, Križna Beach is one of the closest to the town centre, but thankfully the rules above don’t apply here.

By the beach is an attractive Franciscan Monastery, built in the late 15th century.

Further round the waterfront is Križna Luka Beach.

Following a Maps.me route through the nearby woods took me to a dead end at someone’s house, but offered a town views along the way.

Returning to the town centre and along the waterfront in the opposite direction took me through the pleasant Hvar Park.

At the end of which was the upmarket Bonj Beach…

… and the rather flash Amfora Hvar Grand Beach Resort.