Best Old Town Area Hotels in Makarska
Makarska's Old Town centres on Kačić Square, named for the Franciscan poet Andrija Kačić Miošić, and staying near it means shops, cafés and restaurants within a short walk rather than a drive along the coastal road. Sunny Makarska by Valamar is the clearest option here, set roughly 1.5 km from the centre among olive trees but close enough to the Old Town's main square for an easy evening walk once the beach day winds down. Travellers who want Makarska's older streets and market atmosphere within reach, alongside a proper beach stay, should look at this pavilion-style resort over the tighter Riva-side hotels.
Kačić Square's shops, cafés and restaurants form the genuine commercial heart of Makarska, distinct from the beach hotels and resort strips that most visitors associate with the town, and the Old Town's pace slows down considerably once the daytime market crowd thins out toward evening. It's a small enough area to cover on foot in under an hour, but worth returning to more than once during a stay, since the light and the crowd both shift noticeably between midday and after dinner.
Where to stay
Kačić Square After the Market Closes
The Old Town itself is compact, built around Kačić Square with narrow streets leading off toward the harbour and the Franciscan Monastery, and it rewards an evening spent wandering more than a rushed daytime visit between beach sessions. Sunny Makarska by Valamar's position outside the immediate centre, among olive trees roughly 1.5 km out, means the Old Town visit becomes a deliberate outing rather than a constant backdrop, which some travellers actually prefer over being in the thick of it every hour of the day.
The pavilion layout at Sunny Makarska by Valamar spreads across several buildings connected by walkways among olive trees, roughly 1.5 km from the centre and right beside a white pebble beach, with the Old Town's main square a manageable walk or short drive away for guests who want both settings covered. The property's own restaurant and kids' activities mean the Old Town visit stays optional rather than essential, useful for families balancing sightseeing against pool and beach time across a longer stay in Makarska, without one side of that trade-off crowding out the other every single day.
Makarska's accommodation is laid out mostly along the beach and the Riva rather than inside the older residential streets around Kačić Square itself, since the Old Town was never built up as a hotel district the way the harbour front and the pine-backed shore were. A genuinely Old Town-adjacent stay in Makarska currently comes down to Sunny Makarska by Valamar's position and its manageable distance from the historic centre, rather than a wide field of directly central options right on the square, at least for now while the town's newer hotel development continues along the beach instead.
Visiting the Old Town from Sunny Makarska by Valamar works best as a planned evening trip, timed for when the market stalls have closed and the square's restaurants start filling instead, rather than a spontaneous midday detour from the beach. The walk or short drive in also passes some of Makarska's older residential streets, giving a sense of the town beyond the resort strip that a purely beachfront stay wouldn't offer on its own, especially for guests who otherwise never leave the pavilion grounds between beach sessions during a typical week-long stay.
Old Town access in Makarska is less about finding a hotel directly inside historic walls, since the town was never fortified the way some Dalmatian centres were, and more about choosing a base close enough to make the walk worthwhile without it feeling like a chore. Sunny Makarska by Valamar's olive-tree setting and beach position, paired with that manageable distance to Kačić Square, currently makes it the most practical pick for travellers who want both the Old Town and the shore covered within the same trip, without splitting the stay across two separate hotel bookings.
A traveler's takeI stayed at Sunny Makarska by Valamar and drove into Kačić Square most evenings after the tennis courts and beach wound down, timing it for when the market stalls had packed up and the restaurants were just opening. The short trip in became the natural bridge between a resort afternoon and an Old Town dinner.
Local tips
- 1Book Sunny Makarska by Valamar if an Old Town evening walk matters alongside a genuine pavilion-resort beach stay.
- 2Time your Old Town visit for evening, Kačić Square's market crowd thins out and the restaurant scene picks up after dark.
- 3Drive or take a short taxi from the pavilion resorts, the Old Town sits close but not quite within an easy stroll.
- 4Explore the streets just off Kačić Square, Makarska's older residential lanes sit a block or two back from the main square itself.
- 5Combine an Old Town evening with a Riva walk afterward, the Franciscan Monastery links the two areas along the harbour front.
- 6Skip midday visits if you can, the Old Town's narrow streets get considerably more comfortable once the peak afternoon heat passes.