To say that I’m in love would be an understatement. For those who read my post about Croatian islands that are on my bucket list for this year, knew that I’ve put the island of Korcula on the frist position. Why? Basically because it was the island I was longing to see for a such long time. Why? I had no idea. But now I know. Korcula got me immediately. Even after traveling the whole day and being so tired.
Getting there
I took the morning flight from Zagreb to Split then had to wait in Split for couple of hours till the catamaran to Korčula. And that catamaran also stops in Hvar. So, yeah, Korcula is really far away. Even more than you imagine while searching for it on the map. Especially when you have only one catamaran line that goes on the afternoon. Pre-season or high season, doesn’t matter. Just be aware to book in advance if going in the top season. What you also need to be aware of is the time when the catamaran is going back to Split. Talking from my experience, a week before my trip on the Jadrolinija page it was written that catamaran goes at 1pm on Sunday from Korcula to Split. And I planned everything based on that fact, having in mind that my plane leaves later afternoon. But the evening before my return trip, I checked if that information is correct, and to my surprise there was no catamaran on 1pm. Only the early morning one. They just changed it without any notice. Not funny. I eventually found an alternate way; a ferry from Vela Luka to Split that was going early afternoon. So, just have in mind that the timetable can, obviously, change and be sure to check it regularly.
Pre-season (end of May) catamaran ticket. One way: 60kn
Where to stay
I haven’t actually stayed on the island of Korcula. I was planning it first but then I found a great hotel, just across Korcula, on the peninsula of Peljesac, in Orebic. The hotel was 15 min boat ride from the town of Korcula. The boat was leaving every hour or every hour and half from the Orebic harbour (15 minutes walking distance from the hotel). Even from the hotel, there was also a little boat going to the town of Korcula twice a day. So there were basically a lot of options and you can choose which one suits you more. The hotel itself is a perfect combination of a great accommodation, nice beach, great food and the beautiful view. Located on the sea, it had decent pool and the unbeatable view – the skyline of the town of Korcula and nearby islands. So be sure to get the room with a sea view as you’ll be looking at the beauty of Korcula day and night.
Stayed in the Aminess Grand Hotel Azur
Korcula, the beauty
Where do I begin? Will you understand if I say that, when I first stepped on the island, I had a feeling I already was there before?! Some strange familiar feeling. Could the reason be that I was wanting it for so long, so over the years I basically learned all the history facts and saw hundreds of images of the island?! Probably. Or maybe I was there, long before I knew even about it. So that’s where the love for Korcula first came from. Who would know. It doesn’t even matter. The only thing that matter is that the town of Korcula is unbelievably beautiful. Full of old, narrow streets with plenty of small workshops, galleries and other art based shops and jewelry craftsmanship. Find something for yourself, buy a souvenir, visit the Marco Polo’s house (it was closed while I was there) or his museum, or just take a walk around this small town and step back in history. There’s so many things to do. But to be honest, you can also be doing nothing of that and still be having a good time. For example, on my last afternoon on Korčula I decided to just sit on the seafront and watch the colors of town changing while the sun was setting among the palms.
Day trips
Since I hadn’t got plenty of time, I decided to contrentate solely on the town of Korcula (although when I went to ferry for Split, I went to Vela Luka by bus which stopped at many villages on Korčula so I got to see Blato and Smokvica, too. So at the end I was kinda glad they chaned the timetable of the catamaran). But in my own itinerery, one day was reserved for a full day trip on the nearby island of Mljet.
More about Mljet and visiting the National park in my next post.
But, while waiting for the Mljet post, have a look at some more photos I took of this beauty called Korcula:
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