Brač

Beach life is the reason most people come to Brač. The best-known beach is Zlatni Rat at Bol on the south coast, a long tongue of fine pebble reaching into the channel towards Hvar, its tip bending with the wind and the current. The water is very clear, with pine shade behind the beach. In high summer it is crowded, and beyond it a string of quieter coves runs west towards Murvica.

The north coast is gentler. Supetar, Sutivan, Postira and Splitska have shallow town beaches and small bays, and Lovrečina near Postira is one of the few sandy ones. The sea is warm enough to swim from June to early October and reaches about 25°C in August. Almost every beach is pebble or rock, so bring water shoes.

Eating on Brač means konobas, family taverns in stone houses and harbour fronts, serving grilled fish, octopus cooked under an iron lid, and the island's lamb. Look for vitalac, lamb offal wrapped and spit-roasted, and hrapoćuša, a dense walnut cake from Dol. The olive oil is the island's pride, and the red wine from the slopes above Bol is worth trying.

The range stops there. Bol and Supetar fill their waterfronts with menus written for summer visitors. Fine dining is rare, and inland villages such as Dol, Nerežišća and Ložišća have the more authentic tables. Out of season many places close.

Brač is known for its white limestone, quarried here since Roman times, and the island's heritage lives in its stone villages. Pustinja Blaca, a hermitage built into a cliff on the south coast and reached only on foot, is the most striking sight. Škrip, the oldest settlement on the island, has Illyrian walls, a Venetian tower and a small island museum. Pučišća, a harbour of pale stone houses, still keeps a stonemasonry school.

In Bol, the Dominican monastery on the headland has a small collection that includes a Tintoretto altarpiece. Elsewhere there are hilltop chapels, parish churches and old olive mills. It is pleasant to explore over a few unhurried days, but there are no large museums and no landmark of world rank.

Nights on Brač are mostly about a long dinner and a drink on the harbour. In July and August Bol is the liveliest spot, with beach bars along the path to Zlatni Rat and a few open-air dance venues that run late. Supetar has a strip of waterfront bars, and the smaller harbours are quiet by midnight. Outside high summer there is very little. Visitors after a real party scene take the catamaran to Hvar town instead.

The interior of Brač is a high, stony karst plateau of dry-stone walls, olive groves, pine and maquis. It climbs to Vidova Gora, at 778m the highest peak on any Adriatic island, which looks straight down on Zlatni Rat and across to Hvar. You can hike up from Bol in a steep morning, and a walk across the southern cliffs leads to the Blaca hermitage.

On the water, the channel off Bol is a serious windsurfing and kitesurfing spot, with a reliable afternoon westerly in summer. Sea kayaking, diving off the south coast and gravel cycling on the island's quiet roads fill out the offer. Spring and autumn are best for walking, because the summer heat on the bare plateau is fierce.

The best day out is Split. The car ferry from Supetar crosses in about fifty minutes, and the town centre is built into Diocletian's Palace. Trogir, a small walled medieval town on its own islet, is about half an hour further by road or bus.

From Bol, a summer catamaran links the island to Jelsa on Hvar, and from there buses reach Stari Grad and Hvar town. From Sumartin a ferry crosses to Makarska on the mainland, with the fortress town of Omiš not far up the coast. All of these depend on the ferry timetable, which thins out quickly once summer ends.

Brač suits families who want a calm seaside vacation. The north coast towns of Supetar, Sutivan and Postira have shallow, sheltered beaches, short waterfront promenades and apartments with kitchens. Villages are safe and relaxed, and children are welcome late into the evening on the harbour fronts.

There is little else made for children: no zoo, aquarium or theme park, and the nearest larger attractions are on the mainland. Zlatni Rat drops off fairly quickly and is crowded at midday. The midsummer heat is strong, so most families settle into a routine of early mornings at the beach and slow afternoons.

Most visitors arrive on the car ferry from Split to Supetar, or by catamaran to Bol or Milna. The island's small airport mainly takes summer charters. Once you are on Brač, a car or scooter makes the most sense. Roads are quiet and distances are modest, though the road from the north coast over the plateau to Bol is slow and winding. Local buses link Supetar with the main villages, but not often enough to plan around.

Within each town, everything is walkable. Bol and Supetar are compact harbours, and many beaches can be reached on coastal paths. Ferry queues to the mainland are long on summer weekends.

Shopping here comes down to what the island makes. There are carved objects in Brač stone from the workshops of Pučišća, bottles of local olive oil, wine, honey and lavender, and the usual souvenir stalls along the harbour fronts at Bol and Supetar. For anything more, visitors go to Split.

In July and August Brač is not cheap. Hotel rooms in Bol, waterfront meals and sunbeds at the main beaches cost about what you would pay in Western Europe, and ferry fares for a car add up. Private apartments and rooms are the best value, especially in the north coast villages or inland. Supermarket shopping and simple grilled food at village konobas also keep costs down. June and September are noticeably easier on the budget than midsummer.

There is no theatre, concert hall or regular live-music venue on the island. In summer, Bol and Supetar host open-air concerts on their squares, and on festival evenings you may hear klapa groups singing the unaccompanied harmonies of Dalmatia. Anyone looking for a real programme crosses to Split, where the summer festival stages opera and theatre in the old town.

Brač has no bathing tradition. Its spas are inside the larger hotels at Bol and Supetar, offering massages, saunas and pools. What it does offer is pace. The quieter harbours of Milna, Pučišća, Povlja and Sumartin, the stone villages inland, olive groves and long evenings over the water slow a visit down naturally. June and September are the calmest months, when the island feels restful rather than busy.