Korčula
An old town laid out like a fishbone: the air gets through, the strong winds don't
- When to go
- October 18° · 8 rainy days
- Per day
- €€€price 3 of 5
- How many days
- 2days
- For you
- 6 questions →
- Nearest airport
- 52 km Brač · 93 km Split
- Right now
Korčula is two days: one for the old town, the other for Lumbarda or Vela Luka. Inside the walls a medieval plan set the streets out like a fishbone, so that air moves freely while the strong winds are kept out, and the plan has survived intact.
The old town is small, so the rest of the day belongs to the island. Lumbarda, on the eastern tip, has sand beaches and the vineyards of grk, a white wine made mostly there. At the opposite, western end is Vela Luka, with the Vela Spila cave above it.
Since 2022 you can drive in without a border: the Pelješac bridge bypasses Neum in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Orebić–Dominče ferry takes about fifteen minutes. Dominče is three to four kilometres from the old town, so without a car you either allow for that stretch or come by catamaran from Split.
Guides for Korčula
Shorter, practical pages for one concrete question each — how many days, how much money, where to sleep, where to escape the city.
Korčula in 2 days
→The first day stays inside the fishbone streets of the old town; the second chooses between a sand beach in Lumbarda…
Day trips from Korčula
→Mljet needs a catamaran and a national park ticket; Vela Luka and Lumbarda sit on the same island, reached by bus, with…
Where to stay in Korčula
→The old town keeps the walls, the harbour and the Moreška stage a few steps away; Lumbarda keeps the beach, at the cost…
What to eat in Korčula
→Octopus peka is ordered a day ahead, žrnovski makaruni are rolled by hand, and black risotto stains everything on the…
The best time to visit Korčula
→The date on Korčula does not just change the sea — it also decides whether the Moreška is even on that evening.
What to see in Korčula
St Mark's Cathedral
Five centuries in the building, from 1301 to 1806, so Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance follow one another up its front. Stone lions frame the doorway.
The walls and the statute
Of the twelve towers that defended the town, seven still stand. The town statute of 1214 prohibited slavery.
free
Lumbarda and Vela Pržina
“Pržina” is the Lumbarda word for sand, and the beach is exactly that: sandy, with a shallow way into the sea. Bilin Žal and Tatinja are sandy too.
free
- G
Grk from Lumbarda
White wine from the sandy vineyards of the Lumbarda plain. The grk vine has only female flowers, so plavac mali is planted between the rows to pollinate it.
The Moreška
A sword dance in which a white king and a black king fight over a girl, documented since the seventeenth century and probably older. It is performed from late April to mid-October, several times a week.
€20 · 1 h · closed every day except Monday and Wednesday (per the 2026 late-season schedule)
Vela Spila
A cave 130 metres above Kale bay near Vela Luka, reached by a 950-metre footpath or 2.5 km of road. Ceramic figurines found inside are 15,000 to 17,500 years old.
closed Sunday
Two things you probably did not know
The Moreska is a sword dance performed on Korcula since the sixteenth century, with real swords and two kings fighting over a girl. It came from Spain, but survived only here.
Korcula claims to be Marco Polo's birthplace and shows the house where he was supposedly born. There is no proof, but Polo was indeed captured at the naval battle off Korcula in 1298, and dictated his book in prison.
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