Mljet National Park Bike Tour - St. Mary's Church

This was probably one of the most enjoyable bike tours I've ever been on.

Getting to the island requires a ferry ride, of course. Due to the expense, and the schedule of the ferries, especially in slow season, I recommend staying at least one night on the island. There are cheap private accommodations to be found. There are one or two bike rental shops around the island so getting a bike should be easy. Most ferries take you into the village of Polace - so plan on starting there.

Only the first hill out of Polace is steep, everything else is even or mildly lolling hills. Everything is paved and there are virtually zero cars on the island.

Stop whenever you want and jump in the water at any of the inland bays. They feel like lakes, but are actually connected to the Adriatic by small channels. They tend to have higher salinity than the sea so it's possible to just lay back and float unassisted. Malo Jezero was so saline even I could float in it.

One thing I recommend is to swim out to the "Island on an Island" and see St. Mary's Cathedral (which has a cafe which serves beer - Go St. Mary's!!). I really suggest biking or hiking to the spot and then swimming across the narrow channel for the experience, but if that's not your thing, there are ferries to St. Mary's from various spots around Mljet.

One interesting spot is an ancient mill site built on a narrow channel where the tides powered the mill rather than a river. As the water flowed into and out of the bays with the tides, it spun the millworks. After working up an appetite, make a loop out of it and head back to Polace. There is a restaurant there where the owner makes everything from ingredients from his properties on the island only.

We had wild boar he hunted on the island, with gnocchi and vegetables that he grew in his garden on site. The boar was cooked under the bell (look it up) for 6 hours before it's served. You have to go.

Leaving the island you can catch a ferry back out of Polace or try to find a private boat (charter) leaving from Pomena. We couldn't find a bike rental in Pomena, so you'd have to ride back to Polace, return the bikes, and then either hike or hitch to Pomena to find a boat. This is what we did because we wanted to island hop to Korcula instead of returning to the mainland or to the peninsula directly north.

I believe the only hotel on the island is the Odisej in Pomena - so if private accommodations or camping aren't your thing, book ahead.