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The reason for staying on the Makarska Riviera is sun, sea and - well pebble beachs. With a good choice of hotels and lots of water sports, it’s an area to lie back and do nothing, sit on the beach or spend time out on, or above water. Starting from the north the first village is Brela and it’s a pretty mixture of old and new houses, pine woods and lots of beaches. Next is Baška Voda, once a village of farmers and fishermen, and today a modern tourist resort with all features of the small Mediterranean town.The next two villages Promajna and Krvavica - are much quieter. Look out too, for Bratuš, a pretty little fishing village that the Riviera throng seems to have passed by. However, the heart of the Makarska Riviera is of course the town of Makarska itself. Birthplace of footballer Alen Bokšić who played for clubs in Croalia, Italy and England, and home fo Croatia's best rugby team. Makarska somehow has more hiscorical ballast than the other towns along this coast. It has been ruled at diffcrent times by the Romans, the Turks, the Venetians and the Austrians, and the influence of the last two can be seen in the lovely Venetian mansions and dignitied Habsburg-era hotels that stand out next to the drifts of modern apartments, restaurants, tourist agencies, banks and shops. Although there is a Town Museum, a monastery and an exccllent seashell museum, the main reason for coming to Makarska is to swim, soak up the sun, and possibly do a bit of walking.

Despite two hundred years of Turkish occupation, little of Ottoman vintage survives, and the Venetian and Habsburg era buildings on the seafront Riva coexist with modem apartment blocks thrown up after the lounsm boom. All that survives of the old town is one central square, Kačićev trg, which slants up just behind the waterfront to the Baroque St. Mark's Church (Crkva sveti Marko). Outside is Ivan Rendić's statue of Andrija Kačić-Miošić (1704-1760). The Franciscan friar whose Razgovor ugodni naroda slavinskog“ ("A Pleasant Conversation of the Slav People") was the most widely read book in the Croatian language until the twentieth century, after which its archaic stvle fell out of fashion.

Kašić's work,  a history of the Croats written in verse, and containing material taken from folk poems recounting Slav heroism in the face of the Ottoman Turks, was a landmark in the creation of a modem Croatian consciousness. There's a rather pedestrian Town Museum on the Riva, featuring old nautical relics and photographs. The Franciscan monastery, just east of the centre, is worth visiting for the enormous contemporary mosaic in the apsc of its church. Completed by Josip Biffel in 1999, it's rich m greens and turquoises, with Christ the Pantokrator presiding over an array of colourful sea-creatures. The Seashell Museum (Malakoloski muzej) in the monastery courtyard is more engrossing ihan vou might expect, its colourful exhibits shown to maximum advantage in a stylish and well-planned display.

The main beach is west of town, where a seafront path backed by the main package hotels stretehes for some 2km. Far more attractive is Nugal, an enticing stretch of pebble squeezed between red-streaked cliffs 3km southeast of town - to get there, head to the eastern end of Makarska's Riva and pick up the marked trails leading up into the woods.

Makarska riviera is one of the most beautiful parts of adriatic coast. The fame of Makarska riviera is based on kilometers of beaches, pebbled beaches streched all along the riviera, or because the mountain Biokovo with its high peaks, which arises directly from the sea and give you such a beautiful view on the seaside surounded by the islands of Brac and Hvar. The villages all have sweeping beaches and seem to be divided in two: a business section along the coast road, and beach plus hotels down by the sea. In detail there may not be much to write home about, but the general effect of the string of orange-roofed villages curving around the deep blue Adriatic, against the spectacular backdrop of the towering, pale grey Biokovo Ridge, is breathtaking. Makarska is the center and famous touristic destination but not the only one: there are a lot of villages in which you will be able to catch mediterranean spirit - and listen the symphony of cicades, sea and wind. Beyond Makarska, the villages and beachcs of the Riviera - Tučcpi, Podgora, Igrane, Drvenik, Zaostrog - stretch down towards Ploče, ending at Gradac.

This attractive town and port is the center of the Makarska Riviera that is 50 km of coastal area in the foothills of Mt. Biokovo. A lot of cliffs and ridges form an impressive backdrop for many beautiful beaches. The base of town is protected from harsh winds and covered with lush Mediterranean vegetation - pine forests, olive groves, fig trees and orchards. With plenty of hiking and summer opportunities in such a spectacular natural environment, it is not surprising that tourism has a long history in this region. The recent war in former Yugoslavia has greatly disrupted the arrival of visitors, however, beyond the short summer season, which lasts about six weeks in July and August , in the town itself there are no major traffic jams. Makarska is the largest city in the region and makes a good base for exploring the coast and the mountain slope. Located on a large cove, bounded on the southeast with cape Osejava and the peninsula of Saint Peter in the northwest, mountain Biokovo above the town dominates the landscape. Also Makarska offers a very exciting night life on the coast, and is extremely popular among the young Croatian and Bosnia and Herzegovina people. Roads and trails that crisscross the mountain range can be overwhelming for hikers, but less energetic people can simply relax on the beach and watch the play of light and shadow on the mountain rocks.

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