Home › Travel Guides › Europe Travel Guide › Croatia › Split › Things to see in Split
Image gallery

Diocletian's palace, Split

© Creative Commons / AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker

+100
Split Local time

Weather in Split
Partly Cloudy Day
2
°C
Croatia

Things to see in Split

Tourist information: 

Split Tourist Information Centre
Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 7, Split
Tel: (021) 348 600.
Website: www.visitsplit.com

The main tourist information centre in Split is located on the Riva. There is another central branch at the Peristil (tel: (021) 345 606). Staff in both offices provide tourist information and sell the Splitcard.

Passes: 

The Splitcard offers discounts in various museums, restaurants and hotels, and with some car hire companies and travel agents. It is available from tourist offices and hotels, and is valid for 3 days.

Bačvice

This modest sand beach and concrete bathing area overlooking the shallow waters of Bačvice Bay is busy almost all year round, with locals swimming and playing picigin, a ball game unique to Split, which involves teams of men in swimming wear who appear to be posing rather than playing to the untrained eye. A number of busy waterside cafés and bars offer outdoor seating with a sea view. Popular with bathers by day, the beach also comes into its own at night when the bars and clubs kick off.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Bačvice, Split, Croatia
Dioklecijanova Palača (Diocletian's Palace)

Designed as a retirement home for Emperor Diocletian in AD295, this vast complex is based on a rectangular plan measuring 215m (705ft) by 180m (590ft) and has four outer walls. Each of the four 25m-high (82ft) outer walls bears a gate, three from the land, one from the sea (in Roman times boats could sail into the palace). Diocletian's private quarters overlooked the water, while the northern half accommodated soldiers and servants. The main public space was the Peristil (Peristyle), today still intact, though much of the palace is now a labyrinth of stone buildings and paved alleys added from the 14th century onwards.

Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: Yes
Address: Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda, Split, Croatia
Etnografski Muzej (Ethnographic Museum)

After years of careful restoration, the Old Town branch of Split's Ethnographic Museum finally opened in 2006, bringing with it the chance to explore one of the historic houses at the heart of Diocletian's Palace. The medieval rooms have been painstakingly reconstructed and the galleries showcase a range of artefacts from bygone eras. Temporary art exhibitions also grace the museum.

Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: No
Unesco: No
Address: Iza Vestibula 4, Split, Croatia
Telephone: (021) 344 164.
Website: www.etnografski-muzej-split.hr
Galerija Meštrović (Meštrović Gallery)

Designed in the 1930s by Ivan Meštrović, Croatia's greatest 20th-century sculptor, this villa and its garden display a vast collection of his works in wood, marble, stone and bronze. The entrance ticket is also valid for Kaštelet (at no 39), where a cycle of bas-relief woodcarvings, also by Meštrović, is on show in the chapel.

Opening Times: Tues-Sun 0900-1900 (May-Sep); Tue-Sat 0900-1600, Sun 1000-1500 (Oct-Apr).
Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 46, Split, Croatia
Telephone: (021) 340 800.
Website: www.mdc.hr
Katedrala Sveti Dujam (Cathedral of St Dominius)

On Peristil, the core of the cathedral is a third-century octagonal mausoleum, built for Diocletian. It became a church in the seventh century, when refugees from nearby Salona dedicated it to their former bishop, ironically a victim of Diocletian's anti-Christian campaign. Today the interior bears Romanesque and Venetian gothic details; climb the majestic 60m (197ft) bell tower for a bird's eye view of the palace.

Opening Times: Mon-Sat 0700-1000 and 1700-1900.
Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: No
Unesco: Yes
Address: Peristil, Split, Croatia
Marjan

This 3.5km-long (2 miles) peninsula, rising west of the Old Town, is planted with pines and Mediterranean shrubs, and criss-crossed by a network of footpaths. The best sea views can be enjoyed from the southern slopes, following the path from Vidilica Café (above Varoš) to Bene recreation ground (on the tip of the peninsula). The hill is also home a rather rundown zoo, but it is the sweeping views of Split and the offshore isles, as well as the cooling breezes in summer, that most people come for.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Marjan, Split, Croatia
Narodni trg (People's Square)

Linked to Diocletian's Palace by the Zeljezna Vrata (Iron Gate), this pedestrian-only space has been Split's main square since the 14th century. Locals refer to this elegant space, which is paved with white marble and fringed by open-air cafés, as Pjaca (from the Italian, piazza). The centrepiece is the 15th-century town hall with three Venetian-gothic arches.

Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: Yes
Address: Narodni trg, Split, Croatia
Travel Deals

Recommended Sites:

Protect yourself from malaria
Before you travel, find out if your holiday destination is in a malaria zone.
(An educational initiative organised and funded by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health. UK/MARK/0173/10 September 2010)
Africa, the way it should be seen
We´re cutting the cost of Africa overland trips by up to a whopping 40%. 25% off many trips departing by 30/6/12.
Travel insurance
For residents of over 150 countries. High levels of medical, evacuation, emergency & most adventure activities covered.