- Where
- Adriatic Sea, 13 km south of Korčula
Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia - Coordinates
- 42.76° N
16.87° E - Area
- Main island about 47 km²
46 islands in all - People
- 792 (2011 census, municipality)
- Protected
- Lastovo Islands Nature Park, 2006
- Getting there
- Catamaran or car ferry from Split
about 3 h 15 by catamaran - Best visited
- May to October
The old town sat in a green hollow, its back turned on the sea, every roof crowned with a tall round chimney like a little tower. I climbed among them through the smell of pine and hot stone while cicadas shouted. That night, in a still bay, there were so many stars that some had settled on the water. I could not choose a favourite.
The short answer
Lastovo is an island, an archipelago and a municipality in Croatia’s Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Wikipedia records: 46 islands with 792 people at the 2011 census, most of them on the main island, which is about 10 kilometres long and up to 6 wide and lies 13 kilometres south of Korčula, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the Adriatic. The Croatian government declared the archipelago a nature park on 29 September 2006; it covers about 196 square kilometres, 53 of land and 143 of sea, by the protected-area listings of the Dinaric parks network as indexed.
Why it's worth knowing
Closed for forty years. After the Second World War, like neighbouring Vis, Lastovo became a Yugoslav military area barred to foreign nationals, which led to economic stagnation and depopulation; the ban was lifted in 1988, by Wikipedia’s account (a passage it marks as needing a citation) and by the Croatian national tourist board’s Lastovo leaflet and travel guides as indexed. The Yugoslav People’s Army left its bases on the island only in July 1992. The island’s population peaked at 1,738 in 1948 and has fallen since, chiefly through emigration.
A town that faces inland. Lastovo town spreads over the steep sides of a natural amphitheatre overlooking a fertile field, facing away from the sea, unusual among Adriatic island towns, Wikipedia records. About twenty Renaissance houses of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries gave it its look of broad terraces, and tall cylindrical chimneys, the fumari, that resemble miniature minarets, although no Arab or Turkish influence is known to have reached the island; the chimney of the sixteenth-century Biza Antica house is probably the oldest preserved in Dalmatia, by Wikipedia’s account.
The field notes
The carnival and the pirates
Lastovo’s great event is the Poklad, a three-day carnival in mid-February in which the whole island turns out in folk costume. It retells a legend: Catalan pirates who had attacked Korčula sent a messenger to demand Lastovo’s surrender; the islanders armed themselves, a storm wrecked the pirates’ ships, and the messenger was paraded through the village on a donkey, Wikipedia records. Islanders from all over Croatia come home for it.
Pines, lighthouse and dark skies
Despite major fires in 1971, 1998 and 2003, about 60 per cent of the island is forest of holm oak and Aleppo pine. The Struga lighthouse, built in 1839 on the southern tip near the sheltered bay of Skrivena Luka, is one of the oldest in Croatia, Wikipedia records. The nature park runs stargazing evenings, and sky-brightness readings of 21.6 to 21.8 magnitudes per square arcsecond have made the island a candidate for DarkSky International status, Croatian travel press and the park report; it has not been designated.
A fumar, one of the island's chimneys built like a little minaret.
Lastovo town under a starry August sky, 2023.
Photograph: Boris Stromar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped
Stone houses stepping down the slope in Lastovo town.
Photograph: Björn Ehrlich · Lastovo Ort · CC BY-SA 3.0
Grapes ripening in a vineyard below the town in September.
Photograph: Björn Ehrlich · Lastovo Weinberg · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Take the slow boat over once, and spend the crossing outside, watching the islands go by.
- Raise your eyes to the chimneys first. Every house has its own opinion.
- Write the evening’s items by starlight. Read them back by daylight, and keep them anyway.
- The carnival belongs to the islanders. If you come for it, stand where they ask you to and take their lead.
- Obey every fire rule through the dry summer. These pines took ages to grow this tall.
A fumar. One of the tall, round chimneys of Lastovo town, rising from the roofs of its fifteenth- and sixteenth-century houses and shaped, by Wikipedia’s account, like a miniature minaret, though no Arab or Turkish influence is known to have reached the island; the one on the Biza Antica house is probably the oldest preserved in Dalmatia. They are seen from the lanes and the hillside above the town, on houses that are people’s homes.
Tally, in the marginI took the chimneys for ornaments until the evening the cooking started, when the whole roofline began to breathe together. Since then I have regarded them with more respect, and supper with more again.
Getting there
How to get there. By sea from Split. Jadrolinija’s catamaran runs from Split by way of Hvar and Vela Luka, on Korčula, to Ubli, Lastovo’s port, in about three hours and fifteen minutes in summer, and its car ferry from Split by way of Vela Luka takes longer, travel guides and the island’s tourist board report. Split’s airport is the usual way in from abroad. Lastovo has no airport, and its main town lies inland from the port at Ubli.
When to go. May to October for swimming and walking; the Poklad carnival is in mid-February. Summers are long and dry, with about 622 millimetres of rain a year, Wikipedia records, and the dry months bring fire risk.
What to arrange ahead. Ferry or catamaran tickets in summer, a bed, and a nature-park ticket: staying in the park needs a valid ticket or vignette, sold online and at the park’s kiosks in Ubli and Zaklopatica, the park reports.
Safety. The State Department has Croatia at Level 1, exercise normal precautions (advisory dated 18 May 2026 in its feed, read 5 October 2026), its latest issue removing an area of increased risk elsewhere in the country. The hazards here are the place’s own: summer wildfire, sun and steep paths. A small fire broke out on Lastovo in mid-July 2026 and was put out the same day, while a large one burned on neighbouring Korčula, Croatian Radiotelevision reported; obey every fire warning.
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Common questions
Where is Lastovo?
Lastovo is an island and archipelago of 46 islands in Croatia’s Dubrovnik-Neretva County, 13 kilometres south of Korčula in the Adriatic Sea. The municipality had 792 people at the 2011 census, and it is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the Adriatic.
Why was Lastovo closed to foreigners?
After the Second World War Lastovo became a Yugoslav military area barred to foreign nationals, like neighbouring Vis, and the ban was lifted only in 1988, by Wikipedia’s account and Croatian tourist-board material. The Yugoslav People’s Army left its bases in July 1992.
How do you get to Lastovo?
By Jadrolinija catamaran from Split by way of Hvar and Vela Luka to Ubli, about three hours and fifteen minutes in summer, or by the slower car ferry from Split via Vela Luka. Lastovo has no airport; Split Airport is the usual gateway.
What are the fumari of Lastovo?
The fumari are the tall cylindrical chimneys of Lastovo town’s fifteenth- and sixteenth-century houses, which look like miniature minarets though no Arab or Turkish influence is known there. The Biza Antica house’s chimney is probably the oldest preserved in Dalmatia.
What is the Lastovo Poklad?
The Poklad is Lastovo’s three-day carnival in mid-February, when islanders wear folk costume and retell the legend of Catalan pirates whose ships were wrecked by a storm before they could attack, their messenger paraded through the village on a donkey.
Is Lastovo a nature park?
Yes. Croatia declared the Lastovo archipelago a nature park on 29 September 2006. It covers about 196 square kilometres, 53 of land and 143 of sea, and visitors staying in it need a park ticket or vignette, sold at kiosks in Ubli and Zaklopatica.
Is Lastovo a dark-sky park?
Not yet. Sky-brightness readings of 21.6 to 21.8 magnitudes per square arcsecond have made Lastovo a candidate for DarkSky International status, Croatian travel press and the nature park report, and the park runs stargazing evenings, but no designation has been made.
What is the Struga lighthouse?
The Struga lighthouse, built in 1839 on Lastovo’s southern tip near the bay of Skrivena Luka, is one of the oldest lighthouses in Croatia, Wikipedia records, and stands inside the Lastovo Islands Nature Park.