Split travel guide

Split, Croatia

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Split

Introduction

Split is Croatia's second city, set on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea and acting as the administrative seat of Split-Dalmatia County. As the largest city on the Croatian coast, it functions as an economic, cultural and transport hub for the region, and it ranks among the country's leading tourist destinations.

The city grew up around the historic core of Diocletian's Palace and spreads across a central peninsula toward its suburbs and hinterland, so you'll find a continuous urban tradition of more than seventeen centuries sitting alongside the modern life of a busy coastal centre.

Before you go

Split enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate with plenty of sunshine through the year, so pack for warm, bright days rather than heavy rain gear. Winters here are generally mild by European standards, though a snowy day still turns up in most years, usually in January or early February — if one coincides with your visit, expect serious traffic disruption. Note that walking through the historic centre in a bikini or shirtless is banned, and municipal wardens can issue on-the-spot fines, so keep something to cover up within reach when you leave the beach.

Before you arrive, it helps to know a little about how locals see their city. Split is nicknamed "The sportiest city in the world" for its famous athletes, and football club Hajduk dominates local feeling — large portions of the city are painted with the club's colours and logo by Torcida, the oldest supporters group in Europe. Alongside the bell tower of St. Duje, the city's symbols are the Dalmatian dog and the donkey, the latter held in high regard for its past role in field work and transport across the Dalmatian mountains. For practical questions once you're in town, there are tourist information centres on the Riva and at Peristil.

Getting there

Split Airport (SPU) sits about 25 km west of the city, near Trogir, and handles mostly budget and charter flights on a strongly seasonal schedule. There are domestic connections from Dubrovnik, Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka and Osijek, plus a long list of European cities including London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Rome, Vienna and Zürich. Inside the terminal, check-in is on the ground floor beside Arrivals, departures on the first floor, and a larger café and seating area on the second; international flights leave from the open-plan gates beyond passport control, and there's free WiFi.

From the airport, the shuttle bus runs at least hourly to the inter-city bus station in about 30 minutes, while Bus 37 connects the airport with Trogir and Split's local bus station at Sukoišan, with stops just outside the airport on the highway. If you're heading north towards Šibenik, Zadar or Rijeka, it can be quicker to transfer via Trogir, where highway buses call hourly, rather than doubling back through Split; in July and August a direct airport bus also runs to Šibenik. Coming from further afield, Flixbus has direct services from Vienna, Munich and Mostar, with other international routes usually changing in Zagreb, and a direct bus to Sarajevo runs several times daily. Trains reach Split from Zagreb once daily (a second train mid-summer) in about six hours, with connections from Vienna, Budapest and the rest of Europe; the railway station, bus station and ferry port all sit next to each other. Ferries cross the Adriatic to Ancona and Pescara, a coastal ferry links Dubrovnik and Rijeka, and frequent boats and hydrofoils serve Brač, Hvar, Šolta, Vis, Korčula and Lastovo.

Getting around

Central Split is compact, and the old town and its main sights are close enough together that you can cover them on foot without needing transport. For outlying sights, the airport and nearby towns, you have local buses, a suburban train, boats and ride-hailing apps. There is no tram or metro; public transport within the city is bus-based. Local and town buses use the Kolodvor Sukoišan station, which is separate from the main inter-city bus station by the harbour — to transfer between the two, take Bus 9 or 10, or simply walk.

Local public transport is run by Promet, and the fleet is mixed, with many new buses alongside some very old ones. You can look up routes and schedules using the Easyway journey planner. Fares depend on how many zones you travel through, and you can buy tickets from the driver, at a kiosk, or through the Promet ticket app on your smartphone — the app is in English, and tickets bought through it are discounted. Two-way tickets must be bought in blocks of five or ten from a kiosk, and a one-month ticket is also available. Useful routes include Bus 37 to the airport and Trogir, and Bus 60 toward Omiš and Ravnicki Most. Long-distance buses from the inter-city station also pass through Omiš on their way to Makarska. A suburban train runs along the main line as far west as Kaštel Stari, but it does not reach the airport. Ride-hailing is available through apps such as Bolt and Uber.

Where to stay

Split has plenty of private accommodation alongside a handful of hostels, and some of the best-value beds can be found by heading to the bus station or ferry terminal and haggling with the people offering rooms there — even fairly late at night, you'll still find plenty of them. Hostels cluster in and around the old town: several sit inside the city walls, including a small, cosy place in an 800-year-old stone house, while others lie between the old town and the bus and train stations. Expect a mix of lively spots popular with solo travellers and quieter places with shared kitchens; a few units are scattered across the Old Town without a communal area, and some rooms can be dingy and noisy. One hostel overlooking the Green Market has been renovated in a more hotel-like style, with air conditioning and flatscreen televisions in every room.

For something mid-range, small central guesthouses and B&B-style places sit just west of the palace and in the centre, with friendly, helpful hosts. At the top end, you can stay within the old palace itself — friendly small hotels where some rooms are small and bringing a car is a bad idea, but service is excellent — or in modern suites overlooking the main square, known locally as the Pjaca. Elsewhere in town there are well-run central hotels, though some suffer street noise or keep part of their rooms in an annex a short walk away, and one large hotel near the ferry piers bills itself as five-star but is more like three or four. A modern hotel with a spa and beach club lies a couple of kilometres east of the ferry port, and self-catering apartments look out over the Riva promenade toward Split Bay. If you'd rather base yourself outside the city, hostels and hotels along the coast toward Dubrovnik put you right on the beach.

Food & drink

Italian influences run right through the cooking of the Dalmatian coast, and the legacy shows best in risotto with tender white scampi or black calamari. Try Dalmatinski pršut, the local ham comparable to Parma or speck, alongside cheese from the island of Pag, and take advantage of the excellent Croatian wines and beers. Do not miss Dalmatian pašticada s njokama, and in winter look for Soparnik, a traditional and usually vegan dish of chard, onions and parsley baked between two layers of dough. Croatia's take on Mediterranean cuisine leans entirely on local produce, much of it organic. Like any major Balkan city, Split is also a stronghold of Balkans-style eating: ćevapi (or ćevapčići) are small grilled rolls of minced beef, pork or lamb, served with chopped onions, kajmak or sometimes ajvar.

Eateries range from the romantic to the vibrant, and it is not hard to enjoy superb food and wine in a classical setting with friends or family. In the Old Town you can find pizza by the slice, vegan food, sandwiches, and a Balkan-style spot whose flagship is grilled minced meat with typical bread and sauces; nearby are a bakery, a lively restaurant with large Croatian dishes, and popular fast food. Mid-range options include a traditional family-run konoba, a steak and pizza bar, a konoba known for risottos, pašticada and excellent fish, and a small side-street restaurant run by a young married couple. For a splurge, there is good seafood and salad in a rather smoky ambience. Fast food joints are plentiful between the Old Town and the bus station.

Dalmatia is known for its wines, but in Split you should also try the local soda drinks Pipi and Orela, made by Dalmacijavino. Outdoor cafés line the Riva waterfront, and there are craft cocktails and craft beers at a bar near Poljana Stare Gimnazije, plus a cosy cocktail bar with Latin music tucked just off Narodni Trg. Many clubs are on Bačvice beach.

What to see and do

The historic centre is built around the remains of Diocletian's Palace, a Roman imperial complex whose main streets, the cardo and decumanus, survive intact and are lined with later Gothic and Renaissance buildings. You can simply wander the palace, or pay to explore the excavated basement halls, now opened as a museum and used as a filming location for Game of Thrones; a guide is strongly recommended, as the halls are otherwise mostly empty and poorly explained. Within the walls, find Peristil square, the cathedral of St. Duje (built as Diocletian's mausoleum and considered the oldest cathedral building in the world), the Jupiter temple that became a baptistry, and two Egyptian sphinxes brought from Egypt by the emperor. Climb St. Duje's bell tower for a panoramic view over the city, the islands and Marjan hill — the ascent is not for those with vertigo. Look for the tiny Getski vrtal park, where traditional Dalmatian tiramolas hang with drying clothes in summer.

Beyond the palace, the Riva is the main promenade, given a more modern look in recent years that doesn't suit everyone. West of town, Marjan hill is a wooded escape for walks, jogging and cycling, with beaches such as Kasuni and Bene, quiet spots for snorkelling west of Bene, and climbing on the south cliffs; buses run there. Varoš, one of the oldest quarters, once home to peasants and fishermen, is worth a wander for its narrow streets and small houses. Museums include Galerija Meštrović, the Archaeological Museum with finds from the Roman colonies of Salona and Narona, and the unusual Froggyland, with dioramas of taxidermied frogs. For active days, swim at the city beach south of the bus and train stations, join a game of picigin on Bačvice's shallow sandy beach, go white-water rafting on the Cetina, or charter a yacht — most sailing cruises in Croatia start from Split. Touch the big toe of the Grgur Ninski statue and make a wish, and catch a football match at Poljud stadium, avoiding the cheapest seats in the north stand.

Three days in Split

Day one: Start inside Diocletian's Palace, the Roman core around which Split grew, and wander its streets and the Peristil, the central square where the palace's ancient character is most obvious. Step out onto the Riva, the waterfront promenade along the Adriatic Sea, and get your bearings over a Dalmatian meal. If you arrive at Split Airport (SPU), the city is straightforward to reach, and you can spend the evening simply adjusting to the Mediterranean pace.

Day two: Use Split as a base for the surrounding Dalmatia County. Trogir, a short trip from the city, rewards a half day of walking its old streets, and you can return to Split for the evening. Winters here are mild compared with northern Europe, though January and February can feel cool and damp, so plan indoor stops alongside outdoor ones.

Day three: Give the city a final morning, perhaps revisiting the palace quarter or the area around St Duje, the city's patron saint, before you leave. Note that Split is well connected by air and by land to Zagreb, Dubrovnik and other Croatian cities, as well as to European destinations such as London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt and Rome, so onward plans are easy to arrange. Before you go, check whether Hajduk, the city's football club, are playing at home, since a match with Torcida support is part of local life.

About this place