Korcula island travel guide
- Korcula town - a perfect walled town
- Wonderful sandy beaches in Lumbarda
- 15 minute ferry crossing from Orebic
- Fashionable beach bars and great restaurants
- Proizd island, Vela Luka
- Must see: Marco Polo's house
Historic towns and undiscovered coastline, sandy beaches and villas with direct sea frontage; ferries from Split and Dubrovnik
Top of the list to visit, stone walls, medieval turrets, sandy beaches, memories of the Silk Road, crisp white wine, olives, dancing with swords. Korcula island is about 80 km north-west of
Dubrovnik. It is a "one off" and a great place to stay in a villa or explore. The weather is excellent from March to December. If you are anywhere in southern Croatia, it is top of the list to visit. Covered in oak woods, vineyards and olive groves, with plenty of clean, sandy and pebbly beaches, with tradition of fishing going back thousand pf years, Korcula offers fresh fish, home made pasta with interesting sauces, grilled meats, exceptional olive oils and delicious local white wines Posip and Grk, and some wonderful reds coming from the grape called Plavac.
There is snorkelling and sandcastles for families, all kinds of watersports and excellent windsurfing. It is a great island for hiking and biking inland or along the glorious coast. Two largest towns on the island are the
town of Korcula ("mini - Dubrovnik", a cheaper, but not less beautiful version of
Dubrovnik) and
Vela Luka, and attractive fishing port at the west end of the island.
Korcula Town is one of the jewels of the Croatian Adriatic, a small town surrounded by high medieval walls and turrets, with imposing steps to the city gates greeting you as soon as you get off the ferry. Narrow alleyways, overgrown with bougainvillea and hibiscus, wind down from the centre towards the sea, which you can glimpse from everywhere. Korcula is considered to be a possible birth place of the 13th century explorer Marco Polo.
It is a beautifully preserved medieval town where you can watch the local dance called Moreska, played with swords and representing a battle. The cobbled streets and town squares are full of bars, restaurants, ice cream parlours, shops and galleries. Young adults will love climbing up a ladder to reach an open air cocktail bar on one of the turrets, offering stunning views. There are nearby beaches and the best is a large sandy beach in the bay of
Lumbarda about 6km from
Korcula town.
On the north side is Bilin Zal beach, a strip of sand perfect for paddling, cafe on the beach. For a day trip, go to the small island of Badija, pine covered, with its 14th-century monastery. The second town of the island is
Vela Luka is on the west side of the island, its fishermen's cottages charmingly lining the beautiful bay. Fishermen are still there with their nets and lobster pots, and restaurants serve the freshest fish. For an interesting day out visit Vela Spila cave, and the heavenly small island of Proizd which has huge flat slabs for sunbathing. The village of Prizba on the south side of the island has luxury villas with direct sea frontage and private moorings. Down a narrow windy road, Pupnatska Luka beach is covered with fine pebble, a great little beach on the south coast with a cafe-snack bar at the back of the beach.
Getting there. The island of Korcula can be reached by both car and passenger ferries which run from
Orebic on the
Peljesac peninsula to the
town of Korcula at the east end of the island. The short ferry ride takes only 15 minutes, or if you are coming on a
ferry from Split, it is a 2 hour scenic journey to the west of the island to
Vela Luka. From
Dubrovnik, there are occasional ferries. Croatian Villa Holidays run private transfers and speedboat tours to Korcula Island.