DUBROVNIK - In Your Pocket

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dubrovnik neretva county
Lastovo
Lastovo is not furthest away from coast - that honour goes
to Vis - but it takes the longest to get here, over four hours.
Maybe that’s why the island culture is so different and well
preserved. Like Vis, Lastovo was a military base until 1989,
so access to the island was restricted. With not a great
deal to do, the island became depopulated. But Nature has
been left pretty much undisturbed, so you could say it’s an
untouched ecological paradise.
Many people sense in
Lastovo a spirit unlike
anything else, a sense
of the breath of ages.
Las tovo town si ts
uphill in a basin facing
away from the sea to
escape the attentions
of pirates. The mellow
stone of the houses
basking in the warm
sunlight is captivating.
Walking in the town’s
streets, those with a
sense for the antique
and the eccentric will
wonder at a culture
so very detached from
modern urban life.
Lastovo is a town of
chimneys. In times
past, a sign of the wealth of a household was the size and
ornateness of one’s chimney, and many unusual examples
still stand. Another vital aspect of Lastovo’s heritage is
the “Poklad” - the traditional pre-Lent carnival celebrating
the island’s deliverance from Catalan pirates. An effigy of
the Catalan messenger takes centre stage, spectacularly
released from a hilltop to slide on a rope to the town centre
with firecrackers exploding at its feet. Humiliating indeed. At
this time, as well as during summertime festivals, you can
see the island’s folk costume, where the men wear scarlet
and black with embroidered braces and hats decked with
colourful flowers.
With so little (except carnivals)
to disturb them, fish adore
Lastovo, and you can be sure of
an excellent meal here. Yachties
far and wide religiously attend
Konoba Triton at Zaklopatica,
known for working magic with
fresh fish and local capers.
Lastovo has poor transpor t
connections, few shops, and
there is little accommodation
apart from one hotel and a few
families offering private rooms.
But if you’re ready and able to
explore, and happy to adapt to
the treacle-slow passage of time here, this could well be the
start of an enduring love affair.
Mljet - Odysseus’ isle
Getting There and Around: These days regular ferries
provide services to and from the mainland; daily connections
from Dubrovnik and Prapratno on the peninsula of Pelješac to
Sobra. Two ferry types are available to/from Dubrovnik, a car
ferry and a catamaran. During the summer season there are
also connections with Korčula, Lastovo and Bari.
Dubrovnik In Your Pocket
Mljet is cca 5 miles away from the peninsula of Pelješac,
cca 12 miles away from Korčula and cca 23 miles from
Dubrovnik. Sobra is the main port of the island. The best
sheltered harbours are Polače and Okuklje, very popular
among yachtsmen.
Where to stay: Mljet has just one hotel, but with two
campgrounds and a plethora of private rooms and
apartments, there is enough accommodation to triple the
island’s population during the summer. For information about
private accommodation, you can contact the island’s tourist
offices at the Sobra ferry port, (tel. 74 60 25, tz.mljet@
du.t-com.hr and in Polače tel. 74 41 86, tz-mjesta@
du.htnet.hr).
Hotels
Camp Marina (tel. 74 50 71) is in Ropa, on the
southern coast. The turnoff is about halfway between
Babino Polje and Goveđari.
Mungos campground (tel.74 53 00, 74 52 24) is
on the main road just west of Babino Polje.
Hotel Odisej Pomena b.b., tel. 36 21 11, fax 74 40
42, info@hotelodisej.hr, www.hotelodisej.hr Located
in Pomena, about an hour’s drive from the Sobra port,
the Odisej has just about all you’ll need for a pleasant
stay on Mljet. The rooms have air conditioning, but you if
you get a room with a balcony and view over the harbour,
you may just want to enjoy the fresh breeze. The hotel
offers a restaurant, spa and exercise room, kiddie pool,
and a pizzeria, hair salon and souvenir shop nearby. Both
of the main vehicle rental, scuba and sailing companies
post agents and their products out front. (Prices are per
person and include breakfast. 157 rooms, 12 singles, 139
doubles, 2 4-person apartments. There are four sets of
family rooms, each of which consists of two rooms that
can be joined.)
Sounds of Mljet: A breeze brushing through pine boughs...
the flapping of a sail out in the channel, heard from high on a
seaside ridge ... the bray of a donkey. Silence.
Mljet gets a growing
share of tourists,
but as one of the
more remote and
less developed
islands, with limited
fe r r y s e r v i c e ,
it lacks the kind
of mass tourism
of much of th e
Dalmatian coast
and some other
more accessible
islands. This isn’t
the place to come
for late night bars,
concerts, discos.
One might hope it
never will be.
A n d ye t, Mlj e t
isn’t that hard to
reach, if you try. By
catamaran, it’s as close as an hour from Dubrovnik. Ferries
from Dubrovnik, are slower but perhaps more appropriate for
a leisurely visit to the island (and making a stopover in Šipan)
take a couple of pleasant hours. Another ferry connects the
island with Prapratno (Pelješac peninsula).
Be prepared to fall in love with nature all over again, for this
island has a stunning landscape waiting for you to discover.
Croatia’s 8th largest island is approximately 3 km wide and 37
dubrovnik neretva county
km long, making it attractive to explore for a short or lengthier
stop. It has an area of roughly 100 square km with 131 km
of coastline and many little niches and coves to discover,
so you’d be forgiven for wanting to stay. With five distinct
forest tree varieties, abundant fauna and lush vegetation,
it’s easy to see why Mljet is called the “Green Island.” Mljet
offers a panorama of coastline, cliffs, reefs and numerous
islets as well as the
rich topography of the
hills that rise steeply
above the sea and
plummet back into
deep valleys sheltering
ancient stone villages.
The submarine world
includes quite an array
of fish and several
types of corals. With
fan tastic weath er,
sailing, recreational
spor ts, swimming,
scuba diving, hiking
and bicycle paths are
only a fraction of the
pleasures that you
can enjoy here. The
western end of Mljet
has been protected
as a National Park since 1960.
The ancient Greeks who settled here left the first record of
the place, calling it Melissa or Melitta, (meaning, bee; honey)
because of the many bees that made their home there. Greek
settlers became familiar with this island whilst colonising
nearby Vis (Issa), Hvar (Pharos) and Korčula (Korkiru).
Summer 2008
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