Three Days in,
Split.
Split, Croatia
Roman ruins, beaches, islands, seafood
Itinerary
3 chaptersDiocletian's Palace and the Riva
Old Town, Split
The shape of the day
Everything sits within ten minutes' walk of everything else. Coffee first on a palace side lane, then the Peristyle and the vaulted cellars while the square is still half empty, then the bell tower while your legs are fresh. Lunch is a counter near the green market. The hot middle of the afternoon is left deliberately blank, and the Riva takes over from about five.
Before you set off
Wear shoes with grip. The limestone lanes have been polished by seventeen centuries of feet and they are lethal in smooth soles. The cathedral sells tickets in tiers, tower only or a combined one that adds the treasury, crypt and baptistery, so decide at the window rather than in the queue, and keep shoulders covered inside. Book Bokeria a day ahead in August. Villa Spiza takes no bookings at all, so turn up when it opens or accept a wait. Carry a refillable bottle, there are public fountains around the Old Town.
Getting between the stops
All of it on foot, none of it more than about 700 m. From D16 you are already inside the walls. The Peristyle, the cathedral steps and the cellar entrance open off the same courtyard, so the middle of the morning involves no walking to speak of. Villa Spiza is five minutes north towards the Pazar market. The Riva is straight back down through the cellars to the water, and Bokeria is one block inland from it. Forget taxis, the Old Town is closed to cars.
Local notes
Roughly 3,000 people live inside the palace walls, so those lanes are somebody's front garden. Keep the volume down late at night. Coffee here is a sitting-down activity that runs to an hour, not a paper cup, and nobody will move you along. At dinner, the useful question is what came in that morning rather than what is printed on the menu.
- 0108:30 · 45m
D16 Coffee
Split's specialty coffee bar, tucked on a lane just inside the palace walls. Get there before nine and the counter is yours. Espresso and filter are both taken seriously, and the pastries go early. Seating is a handful of stools, so treat it as a proper twenty-minute coffee rather than a sit-down breakfast.About this place↗ Open in MapsA small specialty coffee shop on a side lane inside Diocletian's Palace, serving espresso and filter from lighter roasts.
HistoryIt opened as specialty coffee reached Croatia in the 2010s, in a city that already ran on cafe culture but had drunk the same dark espresso for decades.Why it's famousIt is the place Split's coffee obsessives send you to, and one of the first in town to serve a properly extracted filter coffee.Did you knowThe name is simply the address. D16 stands for Dominisova 16, the street door it sits behind. - 0209:30 · 90m
Diocletian's Palace
Start at the Peristyle, then go down into the vaulted cellars beneath it. Because the cellars were filled in for centuries, they preserve the floor plan of the emperor's apartments that stood directly above. Ninety minutes is enough at a wander. Come before eleven, after which the Peristyle belongs to tour groups and the sun.About this place↗ Open in MapsA late Roman imperial residence built at the water's edge, now the lived-in core of Split's Old Town, with homes, bars and shops inside its walls.
HistoryEmperor Diocletian had it built around AD 300 as his retirement palace and died here. When nearby Salona fell in the seventh century, refugees moved inside the walls and never left, rebuilding the halls into houses.Why it's famousIt is one of the best preserved Roman buildings anywhere, on the UNESCO list since 1979, and unusual because it is still a working neighbourhood rather than a ruin behind a fence.Did you knowThe substructures survived so completely because they spent centuries packed with rubbish thrown down from the houses above. Clearing them out from the 1950s revealed the plan of the lost imperial floor. - 0311:15 · 75m
Cathedral of St. Domnius
The bell tower is ticketed separately from the cathedral, treasury and crypt, so work out which combination you want first. The climb is steep, the steps are open metal near the top and the platform is tight, so it is a poor idea with a large bag or a fear of heights. The view over the terracotta roofs and the harbour is worth the wobble.About this place↗ Open in MapsSplit's cathedral, an octagonal Roman building on the Peristyle with a tall Romanesque bell tower beside it.
HistoryIt was built as Diocletian's mausoleum and converted for Christian worship in the seventh century. The bell tower went up over several centuries from the 1100s and was largely rebuilt in the early twentieth century.Why it's famousIt is often called the oldest building still in use as a cathedral anywhere in the world, and the tower gives the best view in the city.Did you knowIt is dedicated to Sveti Duje, a bishop martyred during Diocletian's persecution of Christians. The emperor who ordered those killings was buried in this very room. - 0413:00 · 75m
Villa Spiza
A tiny konoba near the Pazar green market with no reservations, no printed menu and about a dozen seats at the counter. Read the chalkboard, which changes with the morning's market. Arrive at opening or expect to stand about. Watching the cooking happen an arm's length away is half the point.About this place↗ Open in MapsA very small counter-style konoba near Split's green market, cooking whatever came off the boats and stalls that morning.
HistoryKonobas began as the cellar rooms where Dalmatian families kept wine and cured meat, and became simple eating houses. This one keeps the format almost intact, a kitchen and a bar and nothing else.Why it's famousThe daily blackboard and the queue outside made it a fixture on every Split food list, which has not made it any bigger.Did you knowŠpiza is the Split dialect word for food or provisions, borrowed from Venetian, a reminder of the centuries when this coast answered to Venice. - 0516:30 · 90m
Riva waterfront
The city's seafront promenade, running along the southern wall of the palace under the palms. Best from about six, when the light goes gold and everyone in Split appears at once. Cafe tables cost a premium for the view. An ice cream and a slow walk to the far end costs nothing.About this place↗ Open in MapsSplit's palm-lined waterfront promenade, the city's main public space, between the palace wall and the ferry harbour.
HistoryThe area was reclaimed and laid out in the nineteenth century under Napoleonic and then Austrian rule. Its most recent redesign, in 2007, brought in the white awnings and the pale stone paving.Why it's famousIt is where the whole city walks in the evening, and where the ferries to Hvar, Brač and Vis pull in and out all summer.Did you knowThe palace's southern facade once opened straight onto the sea, so boats could tie up at the emperor's wall. Everything you stand on today is later ground. - 0619:30 · 90m
Bokeria Kitchen & Wine Bar
Modern Mediterranean cooking a block back from the Riva, in a tall old shop space. Book a day or two ahead in August, especially for the early evening. The black cuttlefish risotto is the order, and a glass of Pošip from the Korčula vineyards goes with it better than anything white from further afield.About this place↗ Open in MapsA busy kitchen and wine bar just off the Riva, doing modern Mediterranean plates and a long list of Croatian wines by the glass.
HistoryIt occupies a former shop on Domaldova with the high ceilings and tall windows of its retail past, converted in the 2010s as Split's dining scene moved beyond grilled fish and konobas.Why it's famousIt is the reliable answer when you want something contemporary rather than traditional, and the wine list is one of the better ways into Croatian bottles.Did you knowThe name nods to La Boqueria, Barcelona's market hall, which is also where the open kitchen and small-plate format came from.
Marjan hill and Kašjuni beach
Marjan, Split
How the day runs
Marjan is the wooded peninsula that closes off the western end of the city, and the entire day happens on it. Up the Varoš stairs early while the pines still hold some cool, along the ridge as far as you fancy, then down to Meštrović's villa on the south shore. After that it is swimming, a long lunch by the water and very little else until dinner back in Varoš.
What to take
Swimming things, a towel and something for your feet. Kašjuni is pebble and the shelf drops away quickly, so water shoes save a lot of wincing. Take more water than feels sensible, because the ridge path has stretches with no shade and there is nowhere to buy anything once you are up there. Sun cream and a hat for the mid-morning climb, since the exposed sections face south. Your gallery ticket also covers the Kaštelet chapel down the road, so hang on to it. A little cash is handy for loungers on the beach.
Getting between the stops
Stairs, then footpaths, then one road. Walk west out of the Old Town through Varoš and up the stone steps to Vidilica, about fifteen minutes of steady climbing. The ridge path carries on from the terrace. For the gallery, drop back down and follow the road that contours the southern shore, roughly twenty minutes downhill. Kašjuni is another fifteen to twenty minutes west along the same road, with a short path down to the cove. In summer a local bus runs the seafront road, and taxis wait near the beach in the late afternoon.
Local notes
Marjan is a protected forest park and the city's back garden, so on a weekday morning you will pass more people from Split than visitors. The small chapels along the ridge were hermitages, and one or two still see a service once a year. The far western end of the coastal path is a long-standing naturist stretch, Kašjuni itself is not. And fetivi, the name of tonight's konoba, is Split dialect for someone born and bred here, which tells you who eats there.
- 0109:00 · 45m
Teraca Vidilica
The cafe terrace at the top of the Varoš stairs, and the first proper view of the day. Fifteen minutes of steps to get here, so come before ten while the climb is still pleasant. Order a coffee, take the table on the outer edge and look straight down onto the Old Town roofs with the islands behind.About this place↗ Open in MapsA cafe terrace at the first viewpoint on Marjan, reached by the long stone staircase up from the Varoš quarter.
HistoryThe stairs and the belvedere were laid out as Split's townspeople turned Marjan into a public park in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Why it's famousIt is the classic view of Split, the whole Old Town, the harbour and the islands in one frame, and the reward at the top of the climb.Did you knowThe old Jewish cemetery sits on the slope just beside the terrace. It was founded in 1573 and is one of the oldest surviving in Europe. - 0210:00 · 90m
Marjan Hill
A wide, shaded path runs along the ridge from Vidilica, past the little hermit chapels, towards the Telegrin summit. Ninety minutes gets you a long way out and back. Stone underfoot, some steps, nothing technical. There are no shops on the hill, so bring the water you need before you start.About this place↗ Open in MapsThe pine-covered hill and forest park that fills the peninsula west of the Old Town, rising to 178 m at the Telegrin summit.
HistoryMarjan was largely bare rock and scrub until townspeople began planting the Aleppo pines in the late nineteenth century. The Marjan Society, founded in 1903, drove the planting and built the paths.Why it's famousIt is the city's lungs and its back garden, with medieval hermitages cut into the cliffs and views over the bays on both sides.Did you knowTelegrin takes its name from the optical telegraph station that stood on the summit under Austrian rule, relaying signals along the coast long before cables. - 0312:15 · 75m
Ivan Mestrovic Gallery
The sculptor's own seafront villa, now hung with his bronzes, marbles and plaster models, with a garden of large works above the sea. Allow an hour inside and fifteen minutes for the garden. The same ticket covers the Kaštelet chapel a few minutes down the road, so go there next rather than another day.About this place↗ Open in MapsA gallery of Ivan Meštrović's sculpture in the villa he built for himself on Marjan's southern shore, with a terraced garden looking out to sea.
HistoryMeštrović designed and built the house and studio in the 1930s as a family home. He left Croatia during the Second World War, settled in the United States, and in 1952 gave the villa and hundreds of works to the state.Why it's famousMeštrović is Croatia's best known sculptor, and this is the largest collection of his work anywhere, shown in the rooms he designed for it.Did you knowIn 1947 he became the first living artist to be given a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. - 0414:00 · 90m
Joe's Beach Lounge Bar
The beach bar and kitchen at Kašjuni, with tables on the shingle and loungers behind. Grilled fish, a spritz and your feet nearly in the water. Busiest between two and four, so either eat early or wait it out. Loungers are hired separately and go quickly on hot August afternoons.About this place↗ Open in MapsA relaxed lounge bar and kitchen on the pebbles at Kašjuni cove, under the southern cliffs of Marjan.
HistoryKašjuni was a quiet local swimming cove for decades before the beach bar arrived and gave it a kitchen, loungers and music.Why it's famousIt is the easiest place near Split to spend a whole afternoon eating, drinking and swimming without moving the car or the towel.Did you knowBecause Marjan is a protected forest park, building along this shore is tightly limited, which is why the cove has one low-rise bar rather than a strip of them. - 0515:30 · 120m
Kasjuni Beach
The best swimming near the city. Smooth pebbles, clear water and pine shade at the back of the cove. The bottom shelves away fast, so it suits swimmers more than paddlers, and water shoes make the entry painless. Come after four and the cliff shadow starts to cool the western end.About this place↗ Open in MapsA pebble cove on the southern side of the Marjan peninsula, about twenty minutes' walk west of the Meštrović gallery.
HistoryIt has been Split's local swimming spot for generations, reached on foot or by the shore road rather than by any development of its own.Why it's famousClear water, a deep entry and pine shade make it the beach people from Split actually use, and it is close enough to walk to from the Old Town.Did you knowThe white cliffs rising straight behind the beach are the same Brač-type limestone that built Diocletian's Palace and half of Dalmatia. - 0619:30 · 90m
Konoba Fetivi
A family konoba in the old Varoš lanes, small and unfussy. Brudet, the Dalmatian fish stew, is what to order, ideally with the polenta it comes with rather than bread. Grilled squid if the stew feels heavy. Book, or come at seven before the room fills, because there are not many tables.About this place↗ Open in MapsA small family-run konoba in the Varoš quarter, cooking Dalmatian fish dishes with no particular ceremony.
HistoryVaroš grew up outside the palace walls as the fishermen's and labourers' quarter, and its low stone houses still hold the sort of kitchens that fed those families.Why it's famousIt is the local answer to the question of where to eat fish in Split without paying Riva prices, and the brudet is the reason people come back.Did you knowFetivi is Split dialect for a true native of the city, born and raised here. Naming a restaurant that is a fairly direct statement about who it cooks for.
Trogir by boat for the day
Trogir, Croatia
The shape of the day
Trogir is an island town wedged between the mainland and Čiovo, roughly 27 km along the coast from Split. Going by boat makes the journey part of the day rather than a transfer. The old town is compact enough to walk end to end in ten minutes, so the sights take a morning and the afternoon belongs to shade, ice cream and the waterfront.
Practical bits
Sort your return before you settle in. The passenger boat is seasonal and the last sailing goes earlier in the evening than you would expect, while the intercity bus from the station on the mainland side of the bridge runs late and takes about forty minutes, so it is the reliable fallback. The cathedral asks for covered shoulders and knees, and the bell tower shuts when the wind gets up. Kamerlengo has almost no shade inside, which is an argument for the late morning rather than three in the afternoon.
Getting there and back
The morning boat leaves from Split's Riva and hugs the Kaštela shoreline the whole way, about an hour. In Trogir everything is within a few minutes on foot. The cathedral is on the main square, Kamerlengo sits at the western tip of the island past the sports ground, and the konoba and the waterfront are in between. If the boat has finished for the day, walk over the bridge to the bus station on the mainland side for services back into Split.
Local notes
Greeks from Issa, now Vis, founded the town in the third century BC, and the whole old town has been on the UNESCO list since 1997. The masons who cut all this stone worked the quarries on Brač, which also supplied Diocletian. If pašticada is on the board at lunch, order it. Beef marinated for a day or two in vinegar and wine, slow-cooked and served with gnocchi, it is the Dalmatian Sunday dish and nobody makes it in a hurry.
- 0108:30 · 60m
Bura Line boat to Trogir
A seasonal passenger boat from Split's Riva that follows the Kaštela shoreline round to Trogir in about an hour. Sit on the port side going out for the coast views. Check the day's return times when you board, because the last sailing is earlier than you think. The intercity bus is faster and runs later.About this place↗ Open in MapsA summer passenger boat service linking Split's Riva with the Trogir waterfront across Kaštela bay.
HistoryBoats carried people and goods between the two towns long before the coastal road existed, and the seasonal passenger runs are the modern version of a very old route.Why it's famousIt is the scenic way to reach Trogir, past the string of Kaštela villages and their old fortified houses on the shore.Did you knowThe bura is the fierce dry wind that drops off the mountains onto this coast in winter. When it blows hard, small boats stay in port. - 0210:00 · 90m
Cathedral of St. Lawrence
Give the west portal ten unhurried minutes before you go in, ideally in the morning when the light rakes across the carving. Inside, the Renaissance chapel of St John of Trogir is the other thing to see. The bell tower climb is steep and closes in strong wind. Covered shoulders and knees for the church.About this place↗ Open in MapsTrogir's cathedral on the main square, a Romanesque church with a Venetian Gothic bell tower and an extraordinary carved main doorway.
HistoryBuilding started in the thirteenth century on the site of an earlier church destroyed by Saracen raiders. Work on the tower and chapels carried on into the sixteenth century, which is why the styles stack up as you look higher.Why it's famousThe west portal, carved by the master Radovan in 1240, is the finest piece of Romanesque sculpture in this part of Europe.Did you knowRadovan signed his own work in the stone and described himself as the best in this art, which is close to unheard of for a medieval sculptor here. - 0311:45 · 45m
Kamerlengo Fortress
Forty-five minutes is plenty. Pay at the gate, climb to the ramparts and walk the full circuit for views across the channel to Čiovo and out towards the open sea. The courtyard is bare and the walls throw almost no shade, so this works far better before midday than in the afternoon heat.About this place↗ Open in MapsA square Venetian fortress with a tall round tower at the western tip of the Trogir island, right on the water.
HistoryVenice built it in the middle of the fifteenth century to control the channel and the town it had recently taken, alongside a second tower that no longer stands.Why it's famousThe rampart walk gives the widest views in Trogir, and the open courtyard is now used for summer concerts and open-air film screenings.Did you knowThe name comes from the camerlengo, the Venetian official who ran the town's finances and lived in the fort. - 0413:00 · 90m
Konoba Trs
A stone-and-timber konoba down a narrow lane, with tables under a vine canopy in the courtyard. Ask for the courtyard rather than inside. Pašticada with gnocchi if you want the local classic, grilled fish if the day has been hot. Lunch here runs long, which is the point of the afternoon.About this place↗ Open in MapsA traditional konoba in the lanes of Trogir's old town, serving Dalmatian home cooking in a courtyard shaded by vines.
HistoryThe building is one of the old stone houses that fill the island, and the vine-covered courtyard is the standard Dalmatian arrangement for eating outdoors through a long summer.Why it's famousIt is where people go for the slow-cooked dishes rather than the waterfront tourist menus a hundred metres away.Did you knowTrs is the Croatian word for a vine stock, so the restaurant is named after the thing growing over your table. - 0515:00 · 75m
Trogir Riva
The waterfront strip facing the Čiovo bridge, lined with palms, moored yachts and a run of Venetian facades behind. Walk the length of it, then find a bench at the western end where the cafe terraces thin out. Ice cream from a side street costs about half what it does on the promenade itself.About this place↗ Open in MapsTrogir's seafront promenade along the southern edge of the island, facing the narrow channel and the Čiovo bridge.
HistoryThe quay grew up along the old harbour wall, where boats loaded stone, wine and fish, and was rebuilt as a promenade as the town turned towards visitors.Why it's famousThe wall of stone facades on one side and the yachts on the other make it the picture everyone takes away from Trogir.Did you knowRiva is the standard Dalmatian word for a waterfront, borrowed from Venetian, which is why nearly every town on this coast has one. - 0619:00 · 90m
Restaurant Concordia
A long-established seafood restaurant on the old town waterfront, right where the evening light lands. Ask for a table outside and book if you want one at seven. Whole fish is sold by weight, so check the price per kilo before you agree to the one they bring over. Leave time for the boat or bus back.About this place↗ Open in MapsA seafood restaurant in an old stone building on the Trogir waterfront, with tables out on the promenade.
HistoryIt is one of the longer-standing kitchens on the riva, in a house that was part of the working harbour front before the promenade filled with terraces.Why it's famousThe position is the draw, fresh fish and a sunset over the channel with the yachts a few metres away.Did you knowConcordia is Latin for harmony or agreement, a name that fits a town whose stone carries Roman, Venetian and Austrian marks side by side.
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