Just across the Pelješac channel (Pelješki kanal) from Korčula is the Pelješac peninsula, a mountainous finger of land which stretches for some 90km from Lovište in the west to the mainland in the east. It’s an exceptionally beautiful place, with tiny villages and sheltered coves rimmed by beaches, and although it’s an increasingly popular holiday area, development remains low-key. The downside is that public transport is meagre except along the main Korčula–Orebić–Ston–Dubrovnik route, and most of the smaller places are impossible to get to without a car.
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Ston and Mali Ston
Ston and Mali Ston
Some 60km east of Orebić, the twin settlements of Ston and Mali Ston straddle the isthmus joining Pelješac to the mainland. An important salt-producing town on the southwestern side of the isthmus, Ston was swallowed up by Dubrovnik in 1333, becoming the most important fortress along the republic’s northern frontier. The republic built huge defensive walls stretching across the isthmus to the nearby harbour of Mali Ston, which became the northern bastion of a unified fortification system. Nowadays the twin town is primarly known for Mali Ston’s oyster beds – the aphrodisiac effect of the local molluscs makes the place an ideal venue for romantic weekend breaks.
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Food and drink in the Pelješac peninsula
Food and drink in the Pelješac peninsula
The Pelješac peninsula is famous above all for its shellfish; the village of Mali Ston is particularly well known for the kamenice (European flat oysters) and dagnji (mussels) farmed in its adjacent bay. Mali Ston’s oysters are best eaten in the clutch of excellent restaurants on the harbour; there’s something special about gulping down these molluscs only yards from where they are harvested.
The Pelješac is also one of Croatia’s most prolific wine-producing regions, celebrated for the earthy dry reds derived from the indigenous Plavac mali grape. The villages of Postup (4km east of Orebić) and Dingač (16km east) stand at the centre of the best-known vineyards, and wines bearing the Dingač label are highly rated by connoisseurs.
