Jelsa - heart of the island surrounded by pine woods and beautiful beaches
Jelsa is a tourist centre on the northern side of the central part of the island. It used to be one of the most significant maritime, shipbuilding and trade centres of the Adriatic, starting point for ocean-going sailing vessels carrying best wines of Hvar, olive oil and salted fish. It was a homeland of many famous captains and seamen, and among them was Niko Dubokovic, the most prominent captain. As a small town and port it was first mentioned in 14th century, but discoveries from the Neolithic, the Roman and the Illyrian times testifiy how old the history of the island actually is..
Dense pine woods, beautiful sandy beaches, vineyards and olive groves make Jelsa particularly attractive. Situated in the middle of the island it is almost an ideal starting point for many excursions organized to reveal you the beauty of the islands of Hvar and Brac, and Makarska...
Gastronomic offer of traditional dishes, top-quality Hvar wines, beauty of the town, position, variety of accomodation and recreation are all attributes which make Jelsa one of the favorite destinations of many tourists...

Beaches

Jelsa has a well-indented coast line with numerous bays and promontories on which you can find a true pleasure and peace. We will mention some of the most popular places closest to the town of Jelsa.

MINA
the most popular sandy beach situated only 500 m from the centre of Jelsa. Ideal beach for small children...
Restaurant: Mina beach

GREBISCE 
popular sandy beach situated about 1.5 km from Jelsa. It consists of two sandy bays: Vela i Mola Grebisce (Small and Big Grebisce)...
Restaurant: "Corni Petar" beach club

ZENCISCA
bathing place situated 3 km east from Jelsa. It is used to be a beach of  hotel which is derelicted nowdays...

BAY OF ST LUKE
A pebble beach situated 4 km to the east of Jelsa is also an archeological site where the remnants of ceramics and buildings belonging to the Roman Times were found. It is well known due to a church on the promontory...

BOCIC
Bathing place paved with concrete and stone is situated some 300 m from the centre of Jelsa. Includes the area from the Jadran hotel to the Fontana hotel....

SOLINE
A peninsula, some 6 km from Jelsa is full of beautiful small pebble beaches on the southern part while the northern side offers mainly flat stones regularly shaped...

ZECEVO
small islet situated infront of Jelsa, about 20 minutes by taxi boat... It used to be popular nudist  beach.

MALA STINIVA
Driving some 30 minutes from Jelsa there is a marvellous pebble beach with crystal  sea. It is well known for the sheer cliffs surrounding it.

NUDIST BEACHES
Due to numerous bays in this area there are many naturist beaches including also some parts of the Soline peninsula, the islet of Zecevo...

Entertainment

Rhythm in Jelsa is somewhat slower than in Hvar which actually leaves you more time and space for gastronomic offer and  hedonism. In the very centre you need 10 minutes by walking or 5 minutes by car to pass from the first to the last bar and restaurant  and final destination which gravitates toward Jelsa is some 3 km away.
Start your day with the sweet smell of organically grown fruit coming from a small open market at the entrance to the town. If you wake up before the sun is too high you should have your first cup of coffee at the town square, where you can pick out Tarantela bar with its recognizable style and a wide choice of music. It is getting hot, everyone seems to be still in bed and you are not in a mood for a famous banana split from a nearby pastry shop. Walk along the coast to the Dgigibaoo bar for an aperitif. If you are one of those “party animals” you should better get to know the place where you will most likely spend next few days until dawn.
You should choose promontory Corni Petar for swimming. That is the place where the sun sets late and you will easily swim across to the sandy beach Grebišca which is part of the promontory. There is a bar amazingly integrated in the woods with chaise longue to lay on late in the afternoon, and you can watch the sun go down listening to the music. The owner of the bar offers his wine made of top quality grape sorts for a very reasonable price. I recommend his plavac wine with salt pilchard salad.
Dinner time is getting close. In the village of Pitve, just above Jelsa there is a restaurant Komin known for years due to the best lobster pate´after which you will have great scampi risotto. For those who are still hungry a grilled fresh fish follows. If you had in mind few glasses of wine and you don't want to get back to your car, visit a restaurant Pelago in Jelsa, a place with extremely creative approach to the Mediterranean gastronomy and quality service.Their wide offer of cold and main dishes along with a wine card will make you indecisive, so take it easy, and let the owners make you pay them another visit.
Night life in Jelsa naturally flows from Tarantela bar to Tabu lounge bar known for its big hit – a wide choice of home made brandy (rakija) and herb brandy. Having left Tabu bar try cocktails in Villa Verde enjoying the sight of dancers with fire, percussionists or cabaret. At dawn dance with resident & guest DJs in a nearby Dgigibaoo club. When you leave the last bar closes its doors, on your way back home don't miss bakery on Riva, which has become a ritual in summer. Sweet smell of baked milky rolls will attract you, and you may even see those that you were watching secretly during the night but in a careless moment disappeared without a trace...

VILLA VERDE -  a cocktail club best described in one of the articles by the top-of-the-list German magazine DER SPIEGEL ...behind the high walls, hidden as monastery secrets, you'll see an incredible whirl of half naked, literally ardent Hungarian girls, the jet-set outcasts, abdicated members of aristocracy, fast swingers, pretty women of all colours, local excentrics and half-crazy but highly professional personnel in a paradise garden.
Refreshment and guarantee for reaching a high percentage of alcohol in blood can be found in numerous delicious cocktails made according to the highest ecological and human standards. Quite astonishing and unintrusive yet inspiring muzak  and some cocktail food  are delicious companion to the served cocktails. Villa is a place you wish to visit again! (at least it is said so)...

DGIGIBAOO CLUB - Basic music of the club is the house music.
Thanks to its unique  atmosphere and spiritual aura, Dgigibaoo makes the night life of the island of Hvar unforgettable. Feel "near the sea" vibes and dive into the summer siesta. Become a member of the Dgigibaoo family...

HULJIC TAVERN -  in a family restaurant of a professional winemaker you can taste for free Huljic wines in a pleasant home atmosphere. They offer you entirely organic food, home made bread and pasta, products from their organic garden and olive grove, as well as all famous Dalmatian specialties, dishes from the baker's oven and grilled dishes: fish, meat, mussels with specific spices from the island of Hvar...

Sights

The old town of Jelsa (Civitas Vetus Ielsae) –the remnants of the onetime fortress wall situated in auto camp Mina are a living testimony of the existance of this old town... Today's wall is between 2,5 and 3 m tall and in the lower layer we can still find the holes for the guards.

Not far from the Fortress wall, on the site of today's cementery the Augustians built monastery which existed until 1787. Only the church with tower bell from 1605 is still preserved

The first houses were built around the Gothic church of St Michael.
Another group of houses developed around the Baroque church of St John in the 15th century. This church is placed at the picturesque town square, and surrounded by the Renessaince and the Baroque houses of the boat owners of Jelsa.

The parish church of Sts Fabian and Sebastian was built in the 16th century. A part of the church was reshaped in the fortress. An interesting stone collection is exhibited in the church courtyard. The church keeps valuable artefacts among which is also the polyptych by Urban de Surgge from Bavaria.

In the 70-ies of the 19th century the Park of Jelsa was completed and within it we can find the statue of the captain Niko Dubokovic. This Park is one of the biggest and pretiest in Dalmatia.

Along with the sights connected to the relatively modern history we can still find, on 3 sites around Jelsa, examples from the Neolithic and the ancient times...
Grapceva cave is the cradle of Hvar's culture and civilization. The cave is one of the prehistoric findings dating back to the New Stone Age (Neolithic Period) 5000 - 4000 years BC and one of the oldest discoveries in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.

Tor is a square tower built of megalithic (Cyclopean) blocks of more than 2 m long. It was built on the hill south-east of Jelsa and overlooks the whole area of the islands of Hvar and Brac. The archeologists believe it to belong to the 3rd century BC.

The city - Grod was built to the east on the hill in the late ancient times. This fortification was the base of mighty family Slavogost, who rebelled against the Venetians who destroyed this town...

In the nearby bay of St Luka we can see the remnants of buildings and pottery from the Roman period. Supposedly, it was the settlement with a port in the ancient times.

Surroundings

PITVE - managed to preserve its centuries-old rural architecture - small village squares, narrow streets....
Pitve consists of two parts: Old or Gornje (Upper) Pitve and New or Donje (Lower) Pitve. Gornje Pitve provides the most magnificent view of the large valley, the Island of Brac, the Hvar channel, Jelsa and the surrounding area of Vrboska, Mt. Biokovo and the Makarska coastline.
Pitve are situated 4 km from Jelsa.

VRISNIK  was built on the slopes of a hill, using drystone support walls that shape the area within which houses, courts and gardens were built, which makes Vrisnik very appealing.
Vrisnik is situated 3 km from Jelsa.

SVIRCE  is situated at the foot of St. Nikola, the highest peak on the Island (626 m), where on a clear day one can see all the way to the Italian coast (152 km), a number of Dalmatian islands and the Adriatic coastline.
Svirce is situated 4 km from Jelsa.

HUMAC - once a shepherds' settlement,  was established in the XVII ct. The houses of Humac are well preserved, simple and made of stone. They belong to a unique rural type of architecture and are therefore considered as being an ethnographic monument.
There is an ambiance restaurant open to guests during the summer.
Humac  is situated 7 km from Jelsa.

SCEDRO - a small island on the southern side of the island is approx. 1 mile from the settlement of Zavala. The island is 6,5 km long and 1,5 km wide. Šcedro is a favourite destination of sailors and today, ancient war ships and wooden two-masted coasters
were replaced by expensive yachts and sailing boats.
Old fishermen's houses have become top restaurants in which you can taste various fish specialties...
Every day excursion boats from Zavala will take you to the island of Šcedro...

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