Have you ever seen or been to Europe’s most beautiful beach? After a vote by 10.000 travelers in 2016, the croatian Stiniva beach on the Vis island was voted as the most beautiful beach in Europe. A few month ago we got the chance to hike down to the beach and had a look on what this award-winning beach has to offer…

Stiniva beach or also called as Stiniva cove is located on the east coast of the small and wild Vis island in Croatia. Many tours and many people will advice you to access the beach by boat but belive me, save your money and hike down for free! Unless you want to take a boat tour combining Stinivia beach with other sites as the Blue grotto, you can hike down to Stiniva beach! Not only it is for free and easy, if you hike down early in the morning or late on the afternoon you can beat the crowds and have this wonderful beach all for yourself!

We started our day very early in the morning by parking our van by the parking area and you will immediately see the trail sign. There is even a sign warning you of the danger and risk if you walk down the path to the beach. I was a bit worried, but as experienced hikers a warning sign never stop us of trying…or at least have look! Our motto is always to try because you can alway turn around and walk the same way back!

Time : About 30-45 minutes

Elevation gain: About 150 m

Kilometers: About 1 km

The first 5 minutes of the walk down to Stiniva beach wasn’t that hard or complicated.

Then the rocky trail down got steeper and at some part you will need to use your butt and hands for assistance, you will need to take yourself down from small cliff and the rocks can be slippery! But if you wear a good pair of shoes and if you go slowly, this trail isn’t that bad as many wrote on Tripadvisor for instance. We did it with our 3 years old daughter! She walked all the way down by herself with some help from us! I must add though that this is not a hike for anyone who are scared of hights, but other than that I really belive everyone can do it, but some might be faster down than the other. We did the hike on 30 minutes.

The Stiniva cove on sight! And the beach seems to be empty!

The Stiniva pebble beach is beautiful, but is the beach Europe’s most beautiful? We don’t think so.

However, as we were the only one there that early morning by the beach we felt there was something special about being “hugged” and “protected” by the high stone walls and the green transparent water inviting us for a swim. It felt like this place belonged to us…

The Stiniva Cove was created many of hundreds of years ago in the distant past. The cove was once a cave and the ceiling of the cave collapsed into the sea that formed this beautiful landscape. Since the 1960s the whole Stiniva bay is a protected significant landscape with the intention to preserve its original look and feel.

Stiniva beach is surrounded by steep cliffs so that half of the beach is always in the shade. If you come very early like we did there is no sun and we had to wait till around noon before the pebble beach got some light! But with the sun came also the people! People were docking their boat by the entrance of the cove, some swam onto the shore and some came by a plastic boat. We were there during the shoulder season in October so the Stiniva beach wasn’t that crowded as what I imagine can be during high season.

There is also a small cafeteria where they sell cold soft drinks and beer and simple sandwiches I think. We even arrived before the restaurant opened and saw the owner and his wife walking down on the trail with a bag full of bread.

So here you go, don’t be scared to walk down to the small but beautiful Stiniva beach on the Vis island in Croatia, but remember, be careful because the trail is not like a trail on a walk in the park!

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