Makarska and its riviera are rarely on my radar. We have no guests ever going there and I find other areas far more interesting. However, it is quite a lovely seaside town with nice beaches located just bellow the impressive Biokovo mountain.
Biokovo is a unique mountain. There aren’t many mountains in the world that are so impressively close to the sea as Biokovo is. The views are great but I find the views from the Vransko lake panorama far more exciting despite being on a much lower height than Sv Jure.

I have never been on the highest peak of Biokovo – Sv. Jure – so it was just about the time to visit it. Sv. Jure is the third highest peak of Croatia and the only one with the nice, asphalted road leading straight to the peak. Perfect for a weekend getaway!
From Split, it is about 40 min to an hour to reach Makarska  – it can be much longer in peak summer traffic! – and reaching Biokovo and Sv Jure is easy. Just turn right on the last traffic lights in Makarska. After Konzum. Follow the road to the entrance to Nature Park Biokovo and you are there: 50 kn per ticket. Continue up the road and watch for horses and traffic from an opposite directions as this is a one line road! There are numerous places where cars can pas one another but, it is still tight and with many, many curves.

First stop is a stone hut/info center at Ravna Vlaška with some quite nice views. We did not choose the best day for sightseeing as the air was hazy and we could not see even Vis. Still a lovely stop and lovely views!

And this is only half way up to Sv. Jure! We also had a nice chat with a park ranger who was friendly and informative.

And then we continued driving… Luckily, there were only few cars coming down the peak and we had no problems enjoying the curvy roads, fall foliage, picturesque hillside…

And then we reached the peak. It is everything we thought it would be (minus 30 minutes of driving) with the TV antenna on the very summit and that very area being fenced and restricted to the visitors.

Sv. Jure (or St. George in English) is 1762. meters high and offers great views of the region. It is possible to see Italian coast on a clear day and deep into Hercegovina. This is one of the coldest points in Croatia and, for most of the year, it is covered in snow! It is also a moody mountain and rapid weather changes are quite common

And then it was time to drive back to Makarska. A 40 minutes drive…

Early October is usually fabulous for visiting anywhere in the region – much better than it was this Summer – and only drawback being that there are only few restaurants in Makarska open in October.

In short – a lovely day trip. One can choose to hike up Biokovo marked trails but we did not have that much time. I only wish we had a picnic planned somewhere in the hillside. Next time!