Hvar

On Hvar the party worth going to starts in the afternoon. Carpe Diem Beach is a club in Stipanska Bay on Marinkovac, one of the Pakleni Islands, a quarter of an hour by taxi boat from Hvar Town. It has its nights, which run into the early hours. The after-beach session is the one to know about: late afternoon into early evening, dancing in daylight and a very good time, with a boat the next morning still a reasonable idea.

The island under all this is a limestone ridge 68 kilometres long, dark with pine, with vineyards in among it and the lavender it is known for. Hvar Town sits on the south-west coast, its Venetian-era square opening straight onto the harbour. In summer the harbour fills with yachts and sailboats, and the town keeps the hours of the people on them. The Pakleni Islands lie just offshore, close enough for lunch, which is how we used them.

We went in midsummer, from a wedding in Dubrovnik, with friends and no children, and summer is when we would go again. Stay in Hvar Town or close to it, where the boats and the restaurants are; the catamaran from Split comes straight into its harbour in 50 minutes to an hour. Stari Grad, on the north coast, is the quieter choice: the island's oldest town, once a Greek colony, where the car ferry from Split comes in. It suits a slower stay, and every boat trip starts with a 20 to 25-minute drive.

Give a whole day to a boat, with no plan beyond the water: islands to explore and the best swimming spots to find, out as far as Brač and Korčula. Lunch is at Laganini, a lounge bar and fish house at Palmižana in the Pakleni Islands. It has its own beach and its own dock, so the boat ties up for lunch and stays for the cocktails. Of all the restaurants on that trip, it is the only one we can still name.