Brac Island
Brac Island – Getting There
After leaving Plitvice Lakes our next night was booked on Brac island. We had intended to stop on-route at Krka National Park for more waterfalls but instead decided to head straight for Split and an earlier ferry. Ferries from Split to Brac are very regular and reasonably priced. If hiring a vehicle in Croatia however expect the premium to increase if you plan to visit one of the islands or visit Dubrovnik (which entails going through Bosnia & Herzegovina).
The ferry takes about 50 minutes and you arrive in a town on the north of Brac Island called Supetar. It’s an interesting town which we would spend some time exploring before our return to the mainland. For now though we wanted to make our way to Bol on the south of the island to check-in to our accommodation.
Catching an earlier ferry meant that we would not be driving in the dark. As we approached Bol we were greeted by a sunset, image below.
Brac Island – Villa Jasmin
Our accommodation for our one night visit was Villa Jasmin. It was great value with very friendly owners. We would happily visit again. After we unloaded our luggage we decided to head into town to find something to eat. The owner of Villa Jasmin kindly gave us some advice on where to eat. Her recommendation was to visit Ranc Restaurant which was closer to the apartment and apparently slightly cheaper than restaurants directly on the seafront. Both Ewelina and I loved the food and drink and we agreed it was probably our favourite meal of the entire trip to Croatia.
Brac Island – What to see
With less than a full day on Brac Island we started our day early. We walked from the Villa Jasmin to Zlatni Rat beach, probably the most famous sight on Brac. Most of the iconic photos you see of Zlatni Rat are aerial images taken directly above this distinctively shaped beach. Since we don’t own a drone the image below is the best we could manage.
A gentle stroll along the promenade back in the direction of the centre of Bol followed where we treated ourselves to ice cream. Bol has a lovely relaxed feel to it. There are many honey coloured buildings, cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating and boats bobbing in the harbour. The image at the very top of this article shows you Bol as you approach the centre of town.
After taking some more photographs we returned to our car and left Bol for the last time. We were headed for Vidova Gora, the highest point on the island at 780 metres. There is a car park at the top for those who don’t fancy the hike up, or like us those who are very short on time. You do get an aerial view of Zlatni Rat beach from the top but it’s not as impressive as the images taken directly above and there was also a little heat haze when we visited.
We had considered visiting another town or two on the island but decided to instead head to Supetar for the berry back to Split. There was a brief stop when we saw a sign in the middle of nowhere advertising the sale of olive oil. Besides the olive oil we also purchased a cherry liqueur.
On arrival in Supetar we had recently missed a ferry. There was a longer gap than normal before the next one because of a break for lunch. This allowed us time to walk around Supetar and to sit down for a meal. The following image was taken from where we stopped for a meal, looking over the marina.
It had been a brief visit to Brac but we agreed that we both loved it. Being off season probably helped but it felt so much more chilled out and relaxing compared to Plitvice Lakes or Dubrovnik which was to be our next destination.