Korcula Old Town
Korcula Old Town is a popular place to visit for anyone who is visiting the area around Dubrovnik, Split or Peljesac in Croatia. It is a small medieval walled town that was built on the tiny peninsula on the northeast coast of the Korcula island. The town is also known to be referred to as ‘a small Dubrovnik‘ due to its resemblance to the more popular tourist spot.
Photo: views over Korcula Old Town
The old town of Korcula is one of the most important and best-preserved urban complexes in the Adriatic. Densely built inside powerful defensive walls, located on the most extended part of the channel, architectonically complete in whole and in part, it gives an exciting and authentic picture of medieval architecture.
The town has resisted the invasion of the cars and has kept its basic urban rhythm. It has remained a town for people and has created an atmosphere of togetherness, exemplifying the great Hellenic truth about man as the measure of all things. (see more info about the history of the Old Town)
The old town itself is just about a few hundred meters long and under one hundred meters wide which makes it easy to walk around and explore its streets, old houses, palaces, churches, museums, and town walls.
Getting to the old town:
You can get to Korcula’s old town by bus or ferry from Dubrovnik, Split, Mljet, Hvar, Brac or Makarska. From Zadar or even from Zagreb or Plitvice Lakes you can also take a direct daily bus. There are no trains nor planes that get to here so the only public transport is bus or ferry.
Photo: small foot passenger ferry that takes people from the mainland (Orebic) to the Old Town
If you are driving you can get here by ferry from Orebic on Peljesac or by ferry to Vela Luka from Split and then drive to the Old town. It will take you about 40 minutes. Once you arrive you can park here either on an hourly basis on the eastern harbor of the old town or further up above the town near the shopping center where you can leave your car for a day or two, a week or even months. From there it will take just about 10 minutes to reach the old town which is a car-free zone.
Popular Routes: Split to Korcula, Korcula to Split, Dubrovnik to Korcula, Korcula to Dubrovnik
If you are considering taking a taxi, here is a telephone number.
Photo: Old Town’s port where the ferry from Dubrovnik, Mljet, Hvar, Brac, Makarska, and Split arrives.
What to see in Korcula Old Town:
Photo: Old Town’s entrance from the port
The town walls and its forts and towers are the musts to see in the old town. There are also several museums, churches, and palaces that are great to visit. Walking along the streets and all around the old town’s peninsula is a good starting point for exploring it further. Don’t miss visiting the birth house of Marco Polo.
To see the town’s beautiful shape the best views are from a high, vantage viewing point that offers panoramic views of the Old Town is from the street above the town and hill of Forteca.
It takes about 15 minutes to walk and reach this point along the street and steps of street Ulica Bernarda Bernardi.
On your way back just walk further and along the street Put Svetog Nikole to see beautiful western facades of the old town’s houses, walls, and cathedral. You can also take a similar tour using a boat that you hired.
Another great thing to do if you wish to see town walls is to rent a kayak to paddle around the shore of the old town. The alternative is to take a ride on the local semi-submarine or take a water taxi to give you a short ride along the town walls and fortifications. The same applies to cycling along the town streets that offers views over the old town.
See some info about the history of the island, about medieval sword dance Moreska, the statute of the town, and St Mark’s Cathedral.
Tour of Korcula Old Town:
The best and easiest way to see the old town is to take a guided tour organized by local, born and bred guides from Korcula. If you wish to book one in advance let me know. I will make sure you get the best local guide available!
Restaurants, Cafes, and Bars in the Old Town:
There are numerous restaurants and tapas bars in the old town. You can get here great ice creams, coffee, and cakes, try the lovely local cuisine of fish, meat, or vegetarian dishes, have good meals and occasional tapas in local wine bars where you can taste locally grown and produced white and red wines.
Some of the eating and drinking places offer good value for money while others are overpriced and can make you feel like you got caught into the tourist trap. My suggestion is to check menus and prices even for drinks, not only for meals.
A friend of mine told me recently that a friend of a friend got into the bar where he ended up paying his beer 80 HRK (12 Euro). This is so overpriced. I suggest you always check prices before you sit anywhere in the old town. There are plenty of places that offer good value for money and rip-off places should be avoided at all costs.
As you most probably know, a good starting point to keep on the safe side is to check restaurant reviews on the TripAdvisor site.
Beaches in the Old Town:
Photo: Small pebble beach in the Old Town
You can swim and sunbathe in the Old town on several spots including eastern, northern, and western shore. Most of the beaches and spots are rocks while there are two small pebble beaches right in front of the old town’s towers and walls (see below and above photo)
Photo: Pebble beach on the north side of the Old Town
People swim in the open waters here between April and October. The rest of the year is considered to be too cold to swim. Nevertheless, sunbathing is available all year round!
Where to stay in the Old Town:
Several hotels, numerous private rooms, and apartments are all available for a stay here. There is no campsite in the old town, however, there are 3 or 4 camping grounds about several kilometers away from here, the nearest one on about 20 minutes walk in Porto Pedoci bay which is halfway between Korcula town and Lumbarda. If you wish to book your accommodation in the old town you can do it here.
Nightlife:
There are several tapas and wine bars as well as bars with live music along the streets of the old town. There are also some bars with live music that are outside of the old town.
Some of them have local DJs that mix contemporary music while others have live bands playing anything from soft rock, Latino, folk to traditional jazz sessions.
Most of the music stops around midnight while there is a place or two where you can enjoy music until the early hours.
Photo: Panorama of the old town from the west side of the bay from Put Svetog Nikole street
Old Town Map:
Photo: Basic map of the old town where you can see the peninsula shape of the Old town with its main street, circled promenade, and dozens of side streets that branch from the main, central street. It also shows town walls and forts as well as churches, museums, restaurants, etc.
More articles about Old Town:
History of Korcula Old Town
Numerous precious experiences of all the history of town’s building seem to be sublimated in the urban organization of Korcula Old Town. It grew out of the remote prehistorical instinct for choosing a place of defence, later became an Illyrian observation-post from which they could control the shipping, then a … Read more > History of Korcula Old TownThe Restoration of Marko Andrijić’ Ciborium in St. Mark’s Cathedral, Korcula
The cathedral of St. Mark’s is located within the walls of the town of Korčula, made out of stone extracted from nearby quarries (locally called ‘petrali’) and built over several centuries through architectural knowledge and stonemasons’ skills of many masters: “…several stone-carving generations worked and each left signs of their … Read more > The Restoration of Marko Andrijić’ Ciborium in St. Mark’s Cathedral, KorculaThe St Mark’s Cathedral Korcula
On the happy assumption that you have decided to visit and stay for a while in our historic town of Korčula in order to learn more about this jewel of the blue Adriatic and of our homeland Croatia, we would like to present you with some essential data before you … Read more > The St Mark’s Cathedral Korcula
