7 nights Croatia island hopping

Unless you’re really interested in exploring stuff inland on the islands there’s no sense in having car. 90% of your activities are going to be on/via the water, using water taxis or booked excursions (of which there are plenty.) It’s all pretty easy, the water taxi place even lent me snorkeling gear. You’ll be a little out of season, so you might want to inquire ahead a bit. I’m sure you’ll still be able to do this stuff, but they won’t be running every hour like in high season.

On Korcula specifically: There’s a few small nearby islands that you can access by a regular water taxi. You can rent scooters, bikes, and e-bikes in town and they’re great for doing a little exploring nearby. I rented an e-bike and rode to Lumbarda and the vineyards there. It was an easy ride, and a lovely day. You can also take a water taxi to Lumbarda, but it’s quite a hike from the town to its big beaches.

There is a car ferry to Korčula but it leaves from Orebić. You really don’t need a car there though. Taxis are inexpensive and you can always rent a bike. The Island has some small hills but is it okay. Last October when we were there we saw a group who had rented dune buggy Type vechilcles. They looked like fun.

We haven’t been to Vis.

The 3 islands are all very different from one another. Tiny Vis is a sleepy place with only 3,500 residents on the entire island.
Vis is a draw for skin and scuba divers.

In Split, the Roman Emperor’s retirement home- Diocletian’s Palace- is the focal point and the place to stay. Beautiful Bacvice beach is less than one mile away.

Korcula is relaxing with Korcula Town—a completely intact walled city with its original ancient gateways and lookout towers— its showpiece. The island has nice beaches about 4 miles away, but you can swim in the gin-clear waters right off Korcula Town’s promenade, which has stairways leading down to the water.

Hvar is the most happening of the 3 islands with its hub, Hvar Town, being labeled a “party town.” For quiet, stay just outside of the center somewhere near Amfora beach, about a 15- minute walk from the ferry docks. Stari Grad, a 30-minute bus ride from Hvar Town, is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited towns on 🌎 earth, with archaeologists still unearthing Roman mosaics and villas underneath Stari Grad’s sidewalks.
If you do decide to go to Vis, the fastest ferry connection is on the once-daily summertime ferry ⛴️ from Hvar taking less than one hour.
Consider taking passenger ferries between all these islands after departing Split. Croatia is really about relaxing and taking the catamarans and boats is the way to accomplish that. Linking all the locations ( Split- Hvar-Korcula-Dubrovnik) means you only have a 1 to 2-hour catamaran ride for each transfer. Without a car, you can take the Krilo Catamaran from outside Diocletian’s Palace in Split directly to Hvar Town and then directly to Korcula Town. If you are burdened with a car, you will have to take ferries from other ports further away from the Old Towns and this is going to cut into your time. A car really is of limited use on the islands, with cars banned from the centers of most of the old towns.

Thanks, everyone! This is all super helpful and good to know taxis easy to come by and inexpensive. I was hesitant about them because so many of my internet searches were returning prices in the 60-80 Euro range for a round trip pretty much everywhere. Seems like the islands are really set up for folks to not bring cars over, which is definitely our preference. We'd be fine biking if it's not super hot, but if the weather is anything like last September it likely will be!

One other question, we are thinking of staying in Jelsa when on Hvar - is that too far out? Our friends loved it, but they did have a car to get around. We would want to visit Hvar Town and Stari Grad as well as do some beach hopping, so I'd love some insight on staying in Jelsa.

Thanks again!

Jelsa has bus service to Stari Grad in 15 minutes. The 🚎 bus continues onto Hvar Town reaching it in an additional 20 minutes or a total of 35 minutes. Tickets can be bought from the bus driver. Biking involves a lot of steep hills between Stari Grad and Hvar Town, so the bus is the better option.

Thanks for the intel on the bus, Kenko. The car definitely seems like more work than it's worth. Thanks, too, for the imagery of "gin-clear waters!" I'll continue to conjure those words to get through the last dreary days that are February and March in Seattle!