Central Dalmatia, Croatia
Makarska Riviera
The Makarska Riviera for UK travellers: the 60km beach strip under the Biokovo mountains, which resort town to base in between Brela and Gradac, and how a package week really works in euros.
In short
Makarska Riviera at a glance
The Makarska Riviera is a roughly 60km ribbon of pebble beaches squeezed between the Adriatic and the grey wall of the Biokovo mountains, running from Brela in the north down through Makarska town to Gradac in the south. It is Croatia's most UK-package-friendly stretch of coast: Jet2, TUI and easyJet holidays all sell it, the beaches are blue-flag pine-backed shingle rather than the rocky shelves further north, and the whole strip is a 60โ90 minute transfer from Split airport. Makarska town is the lively hub with the nightlife and the ferry to Braฤ; Brela and Tuฤepi are the prettier, calmer family bases. You don't need a car for a beach week, but one buys you the Biokovo skywalk, the islands and the quieter coves.
The Makarska Riviera is the stretch of Croatia that UK package holidays were built for: a 60km run of pine-backed pebble beaches pressed between the warm Adriatic and the sheer grey wall of the Biokovo mountains, close enough to Split airport to land and be on the sand the same afternoon. It rarely makes the glossy lists that Hvar and Dubrovnik dominate, and thatโs rather the point โ the appeal here is a straightforward, good-value beach week in a postcard setting, not a checklist of old-town sights. Makarska town gives you the buzz and the bars; Brela and Tuฤepi give you the prettier, calmer beaches a short bus ride away.
The mistake first-timers make is treating it like the wider Dalmatian coast and trying to move along it โ a night in Brela, a night in Makarska, a night in Gradac. Donโt. The towns are minutes apart, the beaches blur into one another, and youโll spend your holiday packing. Pick a single base that matches your speed (lively town versus quiet family strip), unpack once, and dip out for the two excursions that actually justify a car or a tour: the glass Skywalk high in the Biokovo park, and a boat across to Braฤ or Hvar. And whatever the brochure photo suggests, these beaches are pebble, not sand โ bring water shoes.
The route
Unlike a touring region, the Makarska Riviera rewards staying put and dipping into the rest of central Dalmatia from one base. This is a one-week beach plan built around Makarska town as the hub, with the headline land and sea excursions slotted in. Drive and ferry times are from Makarska town itself; shift them 15โ20 minutes if you base in Brela or Gradac.
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Days 1โ2
Settle into Makarska town
Transfer in from Split airport (about 1h15 by road). Find your feet on the long crescent beach below St Peter's peninsula, walk the palm-lined Riva at dusk, and eat a street back from the harbour rather than on it. No car needed for the town itself.
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Day 3
Biokovo Skywalk & nature park
Drive or join a tour up the hairpin road into Biokovo Nature Park to the glass Skywalk at 1,228m โ about a 45-minute climb from the coast on a narrow toll road (entry ~โฌ20pp by car). The view down the whole Riviera to the islands is the single best thing inland.
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Days 4โ5
Braฤ by ferry, or the northern beaches
The Jadrolinija car ferry from Makarska reaches Sumartin on Braฤ in about an hour (foot passenger ~โฌ5). Or stay on the strip: bus or drive 20 minutes north to Brela's Punta Rata, the most photographed beach on the coast.
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Days 6โ7
Slow days and a boat trip
Spend the last days on your home beach and take a half-day boat trip โ Hvar and the Pakleni islands run from Makarska's harbour in summer. Keep the final morning free for the transfer back to Split.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Makarska town
ยฃยฃ mid-rangeThe lively hub: the only town on the strip with a proper old core, a buzzing Riva, bars and clubs, a marina and the ferry to Braฤ. The long pebble beach below St Peter's wooded peninsula is the best in-town beach on the Riviera. Busier and noisier than the villages, but the only base where you don't need a car for evenings out.
Best for: First-timers who want nightlife, restaurants and a town as well as a beach
Brela
ยฃยฃยฃ premiumThe prettiest and most upmarket resort, 15km north of Makarska, built around the pine-fringed Punta Rata beach โ regularly rated one of Europe's best. Quieter and more spread-out than Makarska, with smarter hotels and a steep, leafy seafront promenade. Better for a calm couples' or family week than for nightlife.
Best for: Couples and families wanting the best beach and a calmer base
Tuฤepi
ยฃยฃ mid-rangeA long, low-key resort strip just south of Makarska with the longest beach on the Riviera (around 4km) and a flat seafront path that's good for buggies and bikes. Apartment-and-mid-hotel territory rather than a real town โ you'll bus or stroll into Makarska for variety โ but the calmest family option on the coast.
Best for: Families wanting space, a long flat beach and a quiet base near the hub
Getting around Makarska Riviera
There's no airport on the Riviera, so almost everyone arrives by a 60โ90 minute road transfer from Split airport (SPU) โ a private transfer runs roughly โฌ70โโฌ90 for the car, a pre-booked shuttle from about โฌ20pp, and a taxi โฌ90โโฌ110. Along the strip itself you mostly walk: the resort towns are small and the beaches are at your feet. Promet Makarska buses and the FlixBus coastal line link Brela, Makarska and Gradac cheaply through the day, and the Jadrolinija car ferry crosses from Makarska to Sumartin on Braฤ in about an hour. Hire a car only if you want the Biokovo Skywalk, the inland villages or the freedom to chase quieter coves โ and remember Croatia drives on the right.
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