On this occasion we went to Hvar, probably the most famous Croatian islands. Known for being the sunniest of all the islands in the Adriatic, it also attracts a hedonistic crowd looking for hot days spent on their boat, followed by long equally hot nights partying in one of the several bars and clubs! We were staying in the town of Stari Grad, located on the North East of the island. Stari Grad a slightly smaller and sleeper than Hvar Town, which is where the hedonistic set hang out!
As always before we left, we spoke to a few people about the best route to take and as always we got varying opinions. However, we learnt that rather than going all the way up to Split and taking the ferry direct to Stari Grad, there is also the option to go to Drevnik (a small coastal town located about 75km south of Split). From Drevnik, it is possible to get the ferry into Sucuraj which is on the east coast of Hvar. Option two seemed preferable, we wouldn’t need to drive as far up the coast, we could avoid the cost of the motorway tolls, the ferry crossing is only 35mins (a opposed to 2hrs) and it was much cheaper. The only additional point to consider is that we would need to drive from Sucuraj to Stari Grad... not a problem... it is about 65km.
As it turns out... this 'simple' drive is the section of the journey we needed to be most concerned about as the road is more commonly known as the 'Road of Hell'. The articles written about this road, are not kind, neither are some of the stories which we subsequently heard from people in Sarajevo (locals and internationals) who had taken this route. A couple which stand out... 'Don't drive it at night, at all, it is lethal...' ...'the road is a single track, with few passing places, with shear drops on both sides....'
my favorite has to be... 'I once had to drive through a forest fire which was on both sides of the road. There was no other option as there is no other road, so i just went for it....' We were slightly skeptical of these comments as how much worse than Bosnian roads can it really be?
We made it to Sucuraj just before it got dark (already ignoring one piece of advice given), but we had about 45mins of getting used to it before it got really dark! Okay, so for the reality... it really is not that bad (we were almost slightly disappointed not to be met by a forest fire or a hungry boar). It is narrow in some sections, and when passing another car you both need to pull right in and slow right down, something the locals and Italians hadn’t quite got to grips with! Some of the drops are spectacular, and there is definitely a lack of crash barriers. Additionally, some parts are raised about 3 meters either side, which means that when met with another car there is nowhere to pull into without crashing off the road... we saw one car which had done this and need to be rescued by a tow-truck. However, having had six months practice on Bosnian roads, we took it reasonably slowly and it was fine. It takes about an hour and half from the ferry terminal to Stari Grad and there is very little on the road - no petrol station, a couple of one-horse towns which actually look almost uninhabited and no street lights. However the views are breathtaking and in my opinion a preferred route to the motorway up to Split.
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