Split is Croatia's second city and the Dalmatian coast's most visited destination — a place where the 4th-century Roman Emperor Diocletian built his retirement palace, and where 1,700 years later, people are still living inside the palace walls. The Diocletian's Palace is extraordinary, and every visitor rightfully marvels at it. But the experience of Split that most visitors have — the palace tour, the Riva promenade, the tourist restaurants — captures perhaps 20% of what makes this city genuinely remarkable.
Split is a real city of 170,000 people with a football team (Hajduk Split) that generates a level of civic passion that is extraordinary even by Balkan standards, with a food market and fish market that rank among the best in the Adriatic, with residential neighbourhoods on the surrounding hills that preserve a character of pre-tourist coastal Dalmatia, and with islands reachable by short ferry rides that offer what the Split tourist zone has largely stopped being — quiet, authentic, cheap.
Split is less cheap than it was — Dalmatian tourism has driven prices up significantly since 2010. Budget €50–80 per day for a comfortable experience. The currency is the euro. Beer in a tourist bar costs €4–5; the same beer in a neighbourhood konoba costs €2.50–3. The difference between tourist-pricing and local-pricing is wider in Split than almost anywhere else in Croatia, making neighbourhood knowledge especially valuable.
1. Marjan Hill — The City's Lung
The Marjan Hill, the pine-forested peninsula rising above Split's western residential district, is the most important leisure landscape in the city — 35 hectares of protected forest with walking trails, cliff-side swimming spots, two small medieval churches, and panoramic views of Split, the surrounding islands, and the Mosor mountain range that define the Dalmatian landscape. Every Splićanin goes to Marjan regularly; tourists barely go at all.
The hill is accessed from the western end of the Riva promenade — walk through the Varoš neighbourhood (old fishermen's quarter with stone houses and narrow lanes), past the church of Sveti Mikula, and up the steps to the Marjan forest paths. The main path along the southern cliff edge is the most scenic — it passes two 14th-century cave chapels (Sveti Jere and Betlehem), a viewpoint platform with seating, and ends at the summit Vidilica viewpoint café.
The path to Vidilica café takes 30–40 minutes at a moderate walking pace. The café serves excellent coffee (€1.50) and Dalmatian food (prstaci mussels, grilled fish, čevapi) at neighbourhood prices. The view from the café terrace encompasses Split harbour, the islands of Šolta and Brač, and on clear days the more distant Hvar. This is where Split residents propose marriage, celebrate birthdays, and generally spend the best hours of their day.
The cliff swimming spots on Marjan's southern face are the local alternative to the crowded tourist beaches near Bačvice — accessible by scrambling down steep rocky paths to rocky ledges above clear Adriatic water. The local favourite is the area around the Jezinac beach, accessible from the cliff path — a pebble beach below the cliff with excellent swimming, a kiosk selling beer and ice cream in summer, and a predominantly local clientele. Free; bring water shoes.
2. Green Market (Pazar) — Split's Dalmatian Food
The Green Market (Zeleni Pazar or simply Pazar) east of the Golden Gate of Diocletian's Palace is the best reason to be in Split on a Saturday morning — an outdoor market where farmers and fishermen from the surrounding islands and mainland bring their produce directly to sell, creating a scene of extraordinary variety and freshness that no restaurant can replicate. Split's chefs shop here; so should you.
The market sells the products that define Dalmatian cuisine — islands olive oil (lighter and more herbaceous than Italian varieties), sun-dried figs, capers from Dalmatian islands, dried lavender and herbs from Hvar, fresh and smoked fish from local waters, and the summer vegetables that characterise Mediterranean cooking at its best: tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, eggplant. In autumn, the wild mushroom and walnut season transforms the market.
The market runs from 7am to noon daily, best on Saturday when additional vendors from the islands bring the week's production. Located immediately east of the Golden Gate, on the side of the palace facing away from the Riva. Entry is free. Prices are lower than in any tourist restaurant or supermarket. The olive oil vendors will let you taste before buying — the difference between island olive oil varieties is remarkable and worth understanding.
Adjacent to the green market is the fish market (Ribarnica) — a covered hall where the morning's catch from the Adriatic is sold directly by the fishermen who caught it. The fish market is at its best from 7–9am before the best specimens are bought by restaurants. Fresh sea bass (brancin), sea bream (orada), and John Dory (kovač) are priced significantly below restaurant serving prices — a whole brancin for two people costs €15–20 raw. The market will point you to nearby kolona restaurants where you can have your purchased fish cooked for a small preparation fee.
3. Varoš — The Old Fishermen's Quarter
Varoš, the medieval fishermen's neighbourhood on the slopes below Marjan Hill west of the Diocletian's Palace, is the oldest continuously inhabited residential neighbourhood in Split — a warren of stone houses, narrow lanes, external staircases, and small squares that has maintained its character partly through neglect, partly through the fierce local attachment of its residents who have lived here for generations and refer to themselves as "Varoški" with the same pride that Parisians might say "Marais."
The neighbourhood predates the current tourist city by centuries — these streets were full of Split fishermen's families when the palace was still recognizable as a palace rather than a neighbourhood. The stone houses are built in the Dalmatian tradition of stacked family dwellings, with ground floors used for boats and fishing equipment and upper floors for living. Several houses have stone relief plaques bearing the dates 1400–1600.
Enter Varoš from the western end of the Riva promenade — turn into the maze of lanes west of the Vestibule and follow the sound of the church bells from Sveti Mikula church. The neighbourhood is entirely free to walk and has no official tourism infrastructure. The konobas in Varoš are among the best in Split — small family-run places serving Dalmatian food in stone-walled rooms with no pretensions and prices significantly below the tourist zone. Konoba Varoš at Ban Mladenova 7 is the most celebrated, serving excellent grilled fish, black risotto (crni rižot), and Dalmatian wine.
Walk the neighbourhood in the early evening when residents sit outside their doors, children play in the lanes, and the smell of evening meals being prepared drifts from every window. This is one of those places where the daily life of a neighbourhood is as compelling as any monument, and where slowing down and paying attention reveals a quality of place that no guidebook entirely captures.
4. Šolta Island — Undiscovered Neighbour
While most Split day-trippers head to Brač or Hvar, the island of Šolta — a 30-minute ferry ride from Split — receives a fraction of the visitors and maintains the character that Hvar lost 20 years ago: small fishing villages, excellent olive oil and honey production, quiet coves, and an atmosphere of genuine Dalmatian island life that has not been commodified for tourism. The entire island has fewer tourist beds than a single Hvar hotel.
The main village of Stomorska on the northeast coast has a working fishing harbour, a good konoba (Konoba Branimir, where the owner also runs the fishing boat and the menu reflects the morning's catch), and a public beach of remarkable clarity. The village of Maslinica on the northwest tip has a Venetian-era castle converted into a boutique hotel and arguably the best snorkeling cove on any island close to Split.
Ferries to Šolta depart from Split's Stari Grad port at the end of the Riva, approximately 3 times daily in summer, 2 in winter. Journey time to Rogač (main Šolta port) is 50 minutes; to Stomorska by connecting local bus or taxi is 30 more minutes. Round-trip ferry costs approximately €8. The island has no package tourism and accommodation (guesthouses and apartments) should be booked directly — prices are 30–50% lower than comparable Hvar accommodation.
The Šolta olive oil is produced by a small cooperative and is considered among the finest in the Adriatic — lighter and greener than most Italian oils, with a distinctive bitterness that works particularly well with fresh fish and salads. The cooperative sells directly from the village of Grohote, the island's main settlement in the interior, at €12–15 per litre for extra virgin cold-pressed oil. Honey from Šolta lavender fields costs €6–8 per jar. Both are genuinely excellent products that rarely leave the island.
5. Meštrovićeva Galerija — Croatia's Greatest Sculptor
The Meštrović Gallery, in the villa that Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović built and lived in during the 1930s, holds the most comprehensive collection of his work in the world — over 190 sculptures in stone, marble, wood, and bronze, displayed in the villa's intimate rooms and the surrounding garden. Meštrović is the most important sculptor in Croatian history and one of the most significant in 20th-century European art, and his Split villa is one of the great artist's house museums anywhere in Europe.
Meštrović's work ranges from monumental public sculpture (his equestrian statues in Chicago's Grant Park, his monuments across Yugoslavia) to intimate religious works to the extraordinary series of wood reliefs depicting the life of Christ. The range of his formal concerns — classical training applied to modernist sensibilities — gives the gallery collection a breadth that is remarkable for a single artist's survey.
The gallery is at Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 46, in the western residential suburb of Meje — a 20-minute walk from the Riva along the coastal path past Bačvice beach, or take bus 12 from the Riva to the Galerija Meštrović stop. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10am to 6pm. Admission €10. A combined ticket with the Kaštelet chapel (adjacent, containing Meštrović's extraordinary wood-relief life of Christ cycle) costs €15 and is excellent value.
The villa building itself, designed by Meštrović, is a significant work of interwar architecture — a palatial Mediterranean villa in stone with classical elements reinterpreted in a modernist vocabulary. The garden contains bronze sculpture set among cypress trees with the Adriatic as backdrop — one of the most beautiful cultural spaces in Croatia. Allow 2 hours for both the gallery and the Kaštelet chapel.
6. Hajduk Split Fan Culture
Hajduk Split is not just a football club — it is the central cultural institution around which Split's civic identity organizes itself, a source of passionate devotion that makes English football fandom seem restrained. Founded in 1911 in Prague by Split students studying there, Hajduk has won the Croatian championship 21 times and the Yugoslav championship 9 times, and its fans — the Torcida, founded in 1950 as one of the first organized supporter groups in Europe — have a culture of organized, theatrical support that has been studied by sociologists.
A Hajduk match at the Poljud stadium in the Split suburb of Neslanovac is one of the most intense sporting experiences in Southeast Europe — the Torcida's choreographies, the collective singing, the pyrotechnics, and the sheer ferocity of engagement with the match create an atmosphere that transcends sport. Tickets are inexpensive (€8–15 for most matches) and available at the Hajduk shop on the Riva or online.
The Hajduk shop (officially "Superstore") on the Riva is worth visiting regardless of sporting interest — the merchandise ranges from standard football shirts to locally designed fashion collaborations, and the shop staff can explain the club's history with the kind of pride that converts even the most non-sporting visitor. The shirt in the distinctive blue and white halves of Hajduk is one of the most recognizable sporting garments in the Balkans.
The Torcida museum, open in the basement of the Hajduk fanshop, documents the history of the supporter group with artifacts, photographs, and the story of political tensions between the Torcida and the Yugoslav communist authorities who viewed organized sports fanaticism with suspicion. Entry is free with purchase at the shop, or €3 separately. The museum's documentation of 1950s-70s Split street culture is unexpectedly compelling as social history.
7. Stari Grad (Hvar) — Day Trip Alternative
The town of Hvar on Hvar island is the most expensive destination in the Adriatic — a party playground of superyacht anchors, celebrity sightings, and cocktail prices that would shock visitors to Ibiza. But Stari Grad, on the same island's north coast, is a completely different place — the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in Croatia (founded as Pharos by Greeks in 384 BC), with a Venetian-era old town of remarkable beauty and an atmosphere of quiet dignity that the tourist circus on the south coast cannot touch.
The Stari Grad Plain, surrounding the town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — an ancient Greek agricultural landscape with original parcel boundaries still visible after 2,400 years, a fact that gives the countryside around the town an extraordinary historical density. Walk out of the town into the plain at any point and you are walking on land that has been continuously farmed since the 4th century BC.
The ferry from Split to Stari Grad (not Hvar town) takes 2 hours and costs €10 round trip. The ferry operates multiple times daily in summer, 2–3 times in winter. Walk from the ferry terminal into the old town (10 minutes) or explore the plain by bicycle (rental available at the terminal, €8/day). Stari Grad accommodation is significantly cheaper than Hvar town; budget €40–80 per night for a good apartment or guesthouse.
The Faros konoba in the old town (Stari Grad main square) serves the best Dalmatian food on the island at prices that reflect the local rather than tourist economy — a full fish lunch with house wine costs €18–25 per person. The local Hvar wine (Plavac Mali from the Stari Grad Plain vineyards) is among the best red wine produced on any Croatian island, and the konoba's house selection represents an excellent introduction.
8. Klis Fortress — Game of Thrones Reality
The Klis Fortress, a medieval stronghold perched on a limestone ridge 4km northeast of Split above the road to the Dalmatian hinterland, held out against Ottoman assault for 25 years before falling in 1537 — a siege that is one of the remarkable military stories of the 16th century. The fortress subsequently appeared as the slave city of Meereen in Game of Thrones season 4, which brought it a brief moment of international attention that has since faded, leaving it to its natural clientele of local school groups and serious historical visitors.
The fortress site is extraordinary regardless of the television connection — a narrow ridge between two valleys, with complete medieval and later Ottoman fortifications in largely intact condition, and views over Split, the islands, and the approaching Dinaric Alps that explain immediately why this position was strategically critical for a thousand years of contested Adriatic history. The Museum of Klis Fortress inside the walls gives excellent context.
Take bus 22 from Split's Green Market area to the Klis Megdan stop — journey 30 minutes, cost €1.50. The fortress is open daily 9am to 7pm in summer, 9am to 5pm in winter. Admission €8. Allow 90 minutes for the full circuit of the walls and the museum. The fortress café serves basic food and excellent coffee with the most dramatic terrace view in the Split region.
The village of Klis below the fortress has several excellent Dalmatian restaurants serving spit-roasted lamb (janje na ražnju) — a speciality of the Dalmatian hinterland that is rarely found in the coastal tourist restaurants. The lamb is typically sold by the kilogram (€20–25/kg) and is served with local bread, young cheese (svježi sir), and the fierce local brandy (lozovača). Book in advance for Sunday lunches, when extended Croatian family lunches occupy the restaurant for hours.
9. Solin — Roman Salona
Four kilometres east of Split, where the Jadro river meets the coastal plain, the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Salona spread across a large archaeological site that was once a city of 60,000 people — the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and, arguably, the most important Roman site in the former Yugoslavia. Diocletian himself was born here before building his retirement palace at Split. Almost no tourists visit.
The Salona archaeological park contains the remains of a forum, theatres, baths, early Christian basilicas, an amphitheatre, and extensive city walls — all visible in various states of preservation across a pleasant archaeological park with shaded paths and information panels. The amphitheatre, which held 18,000 spectators, is particularly impressive in scale. The early Christian cemeteries and basilicas are of great historical importance — Salona was an important centre of early Christianity, with a bishop martyred here in 304 AD.
Take bus 1 from Trg Gaje Bulata in Split to the Solin terminus — journey 20 minutes, cost €1.50. The archaeological site is at Tuskulumska ulica, a five-minute walk from the bus stop. Open daily 7am to 7pm in summer, 9am to 5pm in winter. Admission €5. Allow 90 minutes for the full site. The small museum beside the main entrance displays finds from the excavations, including portrait sculptures, mosaic fragments, and early Christian artifacts.
The Tuskulumliterally next to the site is a pleasant garden café in a restored Roman-era building that has been used continuously since the 19th century — it was the meeting place of early Croatian archaeologists and literati and has maintained its scholarly atmosphere. Coffee and cake costs €3–5. The owner is an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist who gives impromptu site talks if you express interest.
10. Bacvice Beach Night Culture
Bačvice beach — the famous sandy bay east of the Riva where picigin (a uniquely Dalmatian ball game played in shallow water) is practised by local men daily — transforms after dark into the most atmospheric beach bar area in Croatia. While the tourist restaurants around the bay are well known, the beach bar culture that operates on the sand itself from midnight onward is entirely local and entirely extraordinary.
The bars built into the Bačvice beach pavilion (a 1920s structure recently renovated) open to the outdoor terrace from around 10pm and operate until 5am in summer — the clientele almost entirely young Splićani who treat the beach as an outdoor living room and dance floor simultaneously. The sound of music from the bars carrying across the dark water, the smell of the Adriatic, and the collective energy of several hundred people entirely at home in their city at midnight is one of the great urban night experiences in the Mediterranean.
The beach is a five-minute walk east from the Riva along the coastal path. The bars in the pavilion complex have no entry charge and serve drinks at prices only slightly above the tourist-zone rate — beer €3–4, cocktails €6–8. The beach itself is free and accessible 24 hours. The picigin game is typically played in the late afternoon by a rotating group of middle-aged men who have been playing since childhood — watching it is entirely free and entirely entertaining.
For the full Bačvice experience, arrive at the beach café for a sunset drink (around 8–9pm depending on season), stay for dinner at one of the better fish restaurants on the bay's south side (€25–35 for a full fish dinner), then move to the beach bars for the late evening. This three-phase Bačvice evening is what Split residents call a perfect summer night — and it is exactly that.
