Brela Holidays

The sleepy, popular town of Brela can be found on Dalmatia’s Adriatic Coast. It’s set in the foothills of the pine-cloaked Biokovo Mountain. Drive for about an hour from here, and you’ll reach Croatia’s second-largest city, Split.

Pan your eyes down past the leafy forest that blankets Brela, and you’ll spot its famous coastline. The area boasts six kilometres of sand-and-pebble beaches. Brela’s best one, Punta Rata, once came in at number six in American magazine Forbes’ countdown of the world’s most attractive.

Brela’s a good starting point for daytrips to some of the other thousand-plus Croatian islands. Take a boat across to Hvar, for instance, and you’ll come across the pretty Renaissance buildings and lavender fields that have earned this island its nickname of the ‘Croatian Madeira’.

Brela’s sea-facing taverns plate up seafood straight from the Adriatic Sea – baked octopus and squid-ink risotto are both local favourites. It’s not all about the fish, though – you’re likely to see pršut at the top of every menu. It’s a smoked ham, a lot like Italy’s prosciutto.