Journey 03 · Croatia
Islands in a Row
Dalmatia by ferry
Published 3 Jul 2026 · Travelled 8–20 Jun 2026
- 9 moments
- 13 days
- 311 km
- Summer
- Croatia
- 23mm · f/5.6 · 1/640
- 43.5081° N, 16.4380° E
- Riva, Split
- 07:15
- 24°C, clear, mild
Diocletian built a retirement palace and the city simply moved in and never left: laundry between Roman columns, a sphinx older than the empire watching people order espresso. I walked the Riva at seven when the stone was still cool and the boats were still deciding.
- 23mm · f/4 · 1/1000
- 43.3500° N, 16.5500° E
- Ferry, Split to Hvar
- 10:30
- 26°C, light maestral
The ferry to Hvar takes an hour and the deck is a reading room with weather. A woman across from me finished three chapters; I finished none, because the islands kept sliding past like slow scenery changes and my book lost on points. Salt on the lens by the time we docked. Worth it.
- 23mm · f/8 · 1/500
- 43.1740° N, 16.4410° E
- Fortica, Hvar
- 08:20
- 27°C, already warm
Climbed to the Španjola fortress at eight through pines full of cicadas already at full volume. Below, the harbour laid out its boats and red roofs, and the Pakleni islands scattered offshore like stepping stones someone gave up arranging. By ten this view costs you a queue. At eight it costs you a hill.
Overheard · Hvar ferry pier · 07:40
"Which ferry is best for Korčula?" — "The one you catch." — The woman behind the glass had answered this question ten thousand times and had refined it to sea-glass. She then wrote the time on my palm-sized map anyway, in pen, with care.
- 23mm · f/2.8 · 1/125
- 42.9600° N, 17.1350° E
- Konoba lane, Korčula
- 13:40
- 30°C, deep shade, hot lane
Up a Korčula back lane, a stone house grills fish for the neighbourhood under a vine that predates the menu. Sardines, blitva, house white in a carafe with no label because labels are for strangers. The grandmother watched me finish everything and nodded once, which I have decided was a diploma.
the carafe was refilled without discussion. diploma confirmed
- 23mm · f/8 · 1/640
- 42.9607° N, 17.1355° E
- Korčula old town
- 17:10
- 28°C, golden, breeze
The old town is a fishbone of lanes on a knuckle of land, engineered centuries ago so the maestral cools every street. From the bell tower the roofs run terracotta to a sea with no patience for any other colour. Marco Polo was allegedly born three lanes from where I stood. Every second shop has notarised this.
- 23mm · f/2.8 · 1/250
- 42.6410° N, 18.1080° E
- 23mm · f/2.8 · 1/250
- 42.6410° N, 18.1080° E
- Stradun, Dubrovnik
- 09:50
- 23°C, summer rain
It rained my first Dubrovnik morning and the Stradun turned to a mirror, limestone polished by four centuries of feet doing the polishing for free. Umbrellas bloomed, the tour groups hid, and the side alleys went back to belonging to cats and laundry. Rain is the best guide this city has.
08 · Ferry receipts, kept for no reason
- Old harbour, Dubrovnik
- 20:15
- 25°C, clear dusk
- Last frame
Last evening I took the boat out past the old harbour and looked back at Dubrovnik the way ships have for eight hundred years: towers, walls and roofs stacked against the dusk, absolutely certain of themselves. The Adriatic went from wine to ink. Somewhere on the wall a bell tried once and thought better of it.
- 23mm · f/2.8 · 1/125
- 42.6414° N, 18.1120° E
The route
9 stops
Journey completed
Thirteen days, nine stories
- Frames exposed
- 1600
- Ferries boarded
- 4
- Swims, spontaneous
- 11
- Scoops of gelato
- unaudited
- Favourite moment
- Reading on the ferry deck between Hvar and Korčula while the islands changed places
- Best food
- Grilled sardines and blitva at a konoba up a Korčula back lane, the grandmother approved of my appetite
