Friday, June 6, 2025

72 Hours in Korčula: Ancient Caves, Sparkling Wine, and A Royal Welcome at The Heritage Hotel

Day 5 – Travel to Korcula and Experiencing The Heritage Hotel (Tuesday April 1)

After an unforgettable stay in Split, I set off on the next chapter of my Croatian adventure—an island escape to Korčula. The journey began with a bit of drama, as I narrowly made my ferry thanks to a heroic taxi driver who expertly navigated the morning traffic maze.

With “Dancing Queen” by ABBA setting the tone aboard the boat, I arrived on the picturesque island ready to slow down and soak in its charm. My first impression? Absolute magic. The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel staff greeted me like royalty, and I was instantly swept up in the elegance, history, and warm hospitality of this coastal gem—once graced by the likes of Jackie Kennedy and David Bowie. Day 5 turned into a perfectly balanced mix of relaxation, indulgent food, local discoveries, and the kind of island charm that makes you never want to leave. 

72 Hours in Korčula
The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
72 Hours in Korčula
The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
View from my room at The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

For lunch I went to a spot recommended to me by Monika, who I met at the Split Wine Festival. It’s called Bazita and has only been open for a month. Don’t let it being inside a shopping mall fool you, it has the coolest vibes, city views and delicious comfort food. I tried all my favorite American classics like fried cheese, pasta carbonara, and fries with cheese and bacon. At the end of the meal, the owner sent me an iced tea that had mint, strawberry and sugar. It was to die for! 

Bazita Restaurant in Korcula, Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
72 Hours in Korčula
Bazita Restaurant in Korcula, Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
View from Bazita Restaurant in Korcula, Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After lunch, I walked around the old city. I went into the beautiful St. Mark’s Cathedral and loved that I could see water at the end of every beautiful stone alley. Still a bit tired from the weekend, I decided to head back to the Heritage and watch the old Anthony Bourdain No Reservations episode on Croatia. I have never felt closer to him as I watched him fall out of the chair due to overconsumption of Croatian wine. 

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
Inside St. Mark’s Cathedral in Korcula, Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

For dinner, I went to 7 Seas, the restaurant at the hotel, to enjoy the local cuisine. I dined on local prosciutto with cheese and chutney. After the charcuterie, I went for the sea bass, which was so good I even ate leeks. Dessert was a light and lovely lemon and walnut creation. They offered me local wines and seemed devastated when I said I didn’t want any because it is so special and only available on the island. I had to show them photos of that sheer amount of wine I had been drinking earlier to prove that I was ok. 

72 Hours in Korčula
7 Seas Restaurant at The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
Dinner at 7 Seas Restaurant at The Aminess Korčula Heritage Hotel Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

All in all, despite a stressful start, I had a lovely, relaxing day on the island. 

Day 6 – Exploring Vela Luka and Blato City (Wednesday April 2)

So today was adventurous. I went to a cave. And I had more wine tasting. And cheese, and candied lemon peel, and olive oil and – the list goes on and on. I might be moving to Croatia, specifically Sanja Protić’s house. 

First, I was driven about an hour out from Korcula city (the main city on the island) to a little port town called Vela Luka, known for its olive oil production. They have olive varieties I’d never heard of before and an EU original label with a special blend of olives. 

72 Hours in Korčula
Mosaics in Vela Luka Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel

There’s a really cute place in Vela Luka where you can make your own mosaic with local artists so you leave something behind when you take your memories. The mosaics are running all throughout the sidewalks across town. It’s an homage to the olive terrace walls with little stones and is actually the longest mosaic in the world. 

Mosaics in Vela Luka Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel

Dorjan Dragojevi, the director of the Vela Luka Tourist Bureau, took me on a tour to the Vela Spila, a historical cave about a 25 minute walk from the downtown area (or a 10 minute drive!). The cave is like 20,000 years old, and thought to be one of the oldest examples of clay workmanship in Europe.

Cave in Vela Luka Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After the cave tour, we took a short walk and he pointed out that the walls are terraced for growing olive trees. Nearby the caves on the walking path is a breathtaking overlook of the entire city and island and should not be missed.

72 Hours in Korčula
Views from the cave at Vela Luka Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

In the afternoon, I went to Blato city, where I went to an archeological museum, saw the working shipyard in the heart of the city center and tons of artifacts that they excavated from children’s burial sites. 

Blato City on Korcula Island in Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
Archeological museum in Blato City Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

Most importantly, we went for a cake and wine tasting at OPG Protic Sanja, which is basically just this woman’s house where she hosts cooking classes and events with a focus on indigenous products and local recipes. This is the place I will be moving to. (Joking but seriously considering)

72 Hours in Korčula
Sanja Protic poses by her lemon tree in Blato City Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

We had her beautiful handmade Lumblija, a special cake traditional to the island made with fruits and nuts and warm spices. The story behind the cake is that some 200 years ago, a French soldier and baker fell in love with a girl from Blato, and when he had to leave the island, he gave her a homemade cake and left with the words “ne m’oublie pas” or “do not forget me”. She did not speak French so that phrase eventually turned into “Lumblija”, and the cake got its name.  

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

It was a delicious cake, so full of fruit and spices. We had it with sparkling wine made from the local grape Cetinka – sparkling and white. 

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

We had local cow cheese with candied mandarin, and beautiful candied lemon peels made from her own lemon tree. Everything paired beautifully with each wine, brought over by Mirna Petković, the wine representative for Bačić winery in Blato. The sweets were so delicious, the bites were all incredible, I had to be pulled out of here. 

After Sanja’s home, we went to Black Island Winery, where we tried their Posip. My favorite wine was a 2023 rosé with a hot pink cork. I got one of the last bottles. So excited to drink it and remember this amazing day. 

72 Hours in Korčula
Black Island Winery Tasting Room Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
Black Island Winery Tasting Room Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

Day 7 – Korcula City Tour and Pasta Making (Thursday, April 3)

Another packed day of adventure and charm in Korcula City- Croatia seems to have a lot of amazing gastronomy and whimsical food adventures. Everything is very local and very integrated. Today I even went out of my comfort zone here & took a cooking class. 

I started the day with a city tour. My guide was Lea Čumbelić, and I highly recommend learning about Korcula with her – she covered so much while being so fun to talk to. There are 25 streets, including the most famous Marco Polo street. Marco Polo has a bit of a funny history with Korcula.

Amy Harris and Lea Čumbelić on Korcula Island, Croatia Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

Korcula claims that Marco Polo was born there to a family of shipbuilders, and you can visit the house in which Korculans claim he was born. Most historians would disagree. Marco Polo is largely agreed to have been born in Venice, however the evidence is not definitive nor conclusive! We do know for sure that he lived on the island of Korcula.

72 Hours in Korčula
Marco Polo Museum in Korcula Photo Credit: Amy Harris.The Travel Addict

Originally there were two walls of fortification for the city of Korkula built in the 13th century – 9 towers still stand. In 1298, Marco Polo was captured by the Genoese and imprisoned in one of the towers for 11 months. You can climb to the top and see where he was held. This is agreed upon by both the people of Korcula and historians in general, as there is a first hand account from a fellow prisoner at that time. 

Views from the top of Marco Polo Museum in Korcula Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

We also visited the beautiful St. Mark Cathedral, designed by Marko Andrijic. He was a stonemason from the 15th century, regarded as one of the best master builders and architects of that time. He was known for his exceptional stone cutting and redesigned the medieval fortifications of Korcula to more renaissance style and standards. 

72 Hours in Korčula
St. Mark Cathedral Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After the church, we visited the Korcula Town Museum, located in an old Venetian palace. In the basement, they have the most ancient pieces and as you go up, you learn about the history of the town. They have amphoras, paintings, maritime history, old tools and a really cool old camera.

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
72 Hours in Korčula
Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After the tour, I visited the town of Lombarda, a small fisherman’s village on the eastern end of the island, for some local culture and artisans. I learned about the Grk grape varietal, a white wine grape grown only here on the island of Korcula. It grows in the seemingly desolate sandy topsoil of Lombarda near the sea, and only 50,000 cases of it are produced each year. 

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

We stopped at Vlaho Kompareks’ honey bee farm. He’s got a big personality and gave a very fun talk about honey production (and olive oil & gin). There’s special honey food for adult bees and totally different pollen food for bee larvae. Who knew? He led a honey tasting, and I found out that I love honey made by bees who pollinate heather. 

72 Hours in Korčula
Vlaho Kompareks at his honey farm Photo Credit:Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

A very crafty guy, in 2020, he started making gin in his “factory under the sky” during the pandemic. What else was he supposed to do? His main herbal flavor for the TRUT gin is a bitter orange peel harvested on the island along with the traditional juniper berry. 

Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After leaving the honey bee farm, we headed to Škatula, a local bakery in Lombarda, for a pasta making cooking class. I have very little patience for cooking but I made Zrnovski makaruni, a traditional Korcula noodle dish. In the class, we learned how to make the dough, cut it to the correct size and roll the noodle dough around wooden dowels to make their unique shape. 

72 Hours in Korčula
Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict
Pasta Making Class at Škatula Bakery Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel Addict

After the cooking class, we enjoyed wine tasting paired with our fresh pasta dishes for some much needed refreshment. We went to Casa Boschi and enjoyed a few different award winning Lombarda Grks, which was a super cool experience. Such a special grape – grown only here, with the sea on 3 sides, struggling through the sandy topsoil. There’s a slight bitterness at the end of each sip, which is very interesting. 

72 Hours in Korčula
Photo Credit: Amy Harris/The Travel

Korčula captured my heart in the most unexpected ways—through its sun-drenched stone streets, stories passed down through centuries, and flavors I won’t soon forget. From spontaneous ferry rides to heartfelt meals in locals’ homes, every moment felt like an invitation to slow down and savor the island’s rich culture. Whether I was making pasta by hand, sipping Grk by the sea, or standing in a cave older than history itself, Korčula offered a beautiful balance of connection, discovery, and indulgence. As I packed up my bags and took one last look at the shimmering coastline, I knew this chapter of my Croatian adventure would stay with me long after the journey ends.

Stay tuned for our adventures in Hvar!

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Amy Harris
Amy Harris is a writer and photographer who has been traveling for 20 years and flown over 2 million miles to visit over 80 countries on 6 continents. She is a freelance photographer for Invision by Associated Press, AP Images and Rex/Shutterstock. Her work can be seen in various publications and websites including: Rolling Stone, AP Images, National Geographic Books, Fodor’s Travel Guides, Forbes.com, Lonely Planet Travel Guides, JetStar magazine, and Delta Sky Magazine.

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