This week’s travel dream: A Croatian island about to have its moment

The island of Hvar is a study in contrasts, said Charly Wilder in The New York Times. “Permanently perched on the cusp of next-big-thing status,” this sunny escape in the Adriatic may finally break through now that Beyoncé and Tom Cruise recently dropped by and Croatia’s admission into the European Union is set to bring new visitors to its excellent beaches. For now, though, a wily visitor can still find a grandmother willing to rent out a room for $30 and mix with the locals working and dining at a family restaurant. On a typical morning, you might hike to a medieval ghost town. On a typical night, you might find yourself watching girls in dark lipstick dancing to techno music atop a bar ringed with flames.

The island’s largest town, also called Hvar, still looks the part of the important port it was to 16th-century Venetians, with its limestone porticos and hilltop fortress. It’s there, in the picturesque marina, that yachts regularly converge, “pulling in at high tide and unloading their tipsy, suntanned cargo, who saunter across the main piazza and disappear into cobblestone alleyways.” I met a group of artists at a nearby restaurant one night, and joined them for a morning drive to an older city to the north. Founded by the Greeks in the 4th century B.C., Stari Grad and its simple stone houses “offered a quietly timeworn counterpoint to the hubbub of Hvar Town.” On the road back, we passed hillsides covered with olive groves and lavender fields.

I eventually hit a few open-air clubs, including “decadent” Carpe Diem and Hula-Hula Hvar, a hook-up spot for the younger crowd. But a tavern perched in an abandoned cliffside village interested me even more. One night, an intrepid taxi driver took a friend and me off-road through dark brush before dropping us off amid crumbling ruins. As we climbed stone steps toward a hilltop terrace, large birds fluttered ominously overhead. But the tavern’s gregarious owner greeted us warmly when we arrived and loaded our plates with roast lamb and local vegetables. When he drove us back hours later, all we could hear was the wind in the trees.

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At Amfora Hvar Grand Beach Resort (suncanihvar.com), doubles start at $135.