5 Days in Split

Enter the palace the way Diocletian's guests did, through the Golden Gate on the north side. It is the northern one of the four main gates of the palace, a fortress built around 300 AD as the emperor's retirement home. The Romans planned the whole complex as a military camp and a villa in one: about half was the emperor's own, the rest housed the garrison.

Just outside the gate stands a giant bronze statue of Bishop Gregory of Nin, the 10th-century churchman traditionally credited with bringing the Croatian language into church services. Ivan Meštrović made it, and it first stood on the Peristyle in 1929, until Italian occupiers moved it out of the city in 1941. It came back in 1954, here. Rub the big toe, which is polished gold by millions of hands, and make a wish.

Follow the straight Roman street south and you step into the Peristyle, the central courtyard of the palace. It formed the northern approach to the imperial apartments, framed by granite columns and an arched colonnade that looks almost unchanged after 1,700 years. A granite sphinx, said to have come from Egypt, still sits on the square. It is one of three that survive in the palace.

This is the living room of the city: people meet on the steps, a singing group (klapa) sometimes performs in the echo, and cafes put their cushions on the stone. It is a little theatrical in summer, but off-season it is the best place in Split to sit with a coffee and let it sink in that the building was here before the Croatians, the Venetians or the Austrians.

The cathedral is Diocletian's mausoleum, and that is what makes it special. It was built around 305 AD, consecrated as a church at the turn of the 7th century, and is regarded as the oldest cathedral in the world still in use in its original structure. Domnius was a bishop of Salona who was beheaded in 304 during Diocletian's persecutions. The emperor's tomb became the saint's church, which is about as good a revenge as history offers. Diocletian's own sarcophagus was destroyed long ago.

Look for the walnut doors carved by Andrija Buvina in 1214, with 28 scenes from the life of Christ, the 13th-century wooden choir stalls and the hexagonal stone pulpit. The treasury holds the 6th-century Split Gospel. Then climb the bell tower, 57 meters tall, medieval in origin and heavily rebuilt around 1908. The stairs are steep and in places open, so skip it if heights bother you. From the top you get the whole peninsula, the islands of Brač and Šolta and the dark wall of Marjan.

Across the Peristyle is the other half of the Roman skyline, the Temple of Jupiter. It was built inside the palace between 295 and 305 and left partly unfinished. In the 6th century it became a church, probably a baptistery, which is why it is sometimes called the Baptistery of St. John.

The pleasure is the mix: a Roman temple that served as a Christian baptistery, in a space you can walk through in minutes. Near it you will find a second sphinx, this one headless. It takes 20 minutes, but if you have limited time, the cathedral and the Cellars matter more.

Walk down to the seafront side and you enter the Cellars, the vaulted basement rooms under the emperor's own apartments. The Romans built them to level the sloping ground and to mirror the shape of the apartments above, so the plan of the lost upper floor is still readable. For many centuries they were almost full of rubbish. Today they are among the best preserved Roman substructures anywhere, and the palace was a filming location for Game of Thrones.

It is mostly an atmosphere visit: big empty halls and brick vaulting, and shelter from a rainy winter day. Winter hours (1 November 2026 to 28 March 2027) are 9am to 5pm daily, and they close on 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January and 28 March. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing.

Lunch in the palace means walking through the lanes to Petra Kružića street, where Villa Spiza is a small restaurant with a short menu built around grilled fish and octopus salad. It takes no reservations, so on a winter weekday go the moment it opens or after 2pm and you may skip the queue altogether.

The point is that it is a spiza, the old Dalmatian word for a small shop where you eat what is available, not a tourist restaurant on the Peristyle. Sources agree it is closed on Sundays and that it opens around 1pm on Tuesday to Saturday, but they disagree on Mondays and closing time, and it can close earlier in winter, so check before you go. If it is full, Konoba Fetivi and Konoba Varoš on day two are the backup plan.

End the day on the west side of the palace, outside the Iron Gate. Narodni trg (People's Square, locally Pjaca) is the main square of the town that grew up outside the palace walls. A minute away, Voćni trg (Fruit Square) has a statue of Marko Marulić, the Renaissance poet from Split, and a few cafe terraces.

This is where you will see Split on a quiet winter evening: people out for the evening stroll, couples at the cafe tables, the lit palace walls. Order a glass of Plavac Mali, the dark red wine of the Dalmatian coast, and sit down. It costs nothing.

Start at the Peškarija, the fish market, which is a short walk west of the palace. It is a small, busy market where the stalls sell the local catch: orada (sea bream), brancin (sea bass), squid, scampi and small fish that go straight into a frying pan. Locals shop here, so expect to be served quickly.

You will not cook it, so use it as an education. Ask the names of the fish you will see on tonight's menu and watch how it is cleaned. In winter the market is quieter than in summer. Opening hours vary by source and Sunday may be closed, so go on a weekday morning.

Pazar, the green market, spreads out beside the east wall of the palace. It is where Split shops for its food, and still the best place to see what grows here in winter: greens like blitva (Swiss chard), citrus, dried figs, bottled olive oil, herbs, and jars of honey and rakija.

The cheese stalls are the reason to come hungry. Try Pag cheese (paški sir), the hard sheep's milk cheese from the island of Pag, salty and sharp from the island's herbs and wind, and ask for a slice of local pršut (dry-cured ham) to go with it. Prices are written on cardboard and are not a negotiation.

From the market it is two minutes to the sea. The Riva is the waterfront promenade along the south wall of the palace, a line of palm trees and cafes that has been the town's living room since the French period in the early 1800s. It got a new, more modern look in 2007, which some locals still grumble about. Behind it, the Bronze Gate, the palace's sea gate, leads straight into the Cellars.

Walk it once end to end, and then do what Splićani do: sit at a cafe and watch. It is slightly more expensive than the streets behind, but a coffee here comes with the sea view and as long as you want to sit. Off-season this is a very pleasant place to spend a sunny winter hour.

After the markets, step into the Grand Papalić Palace, a late medieval town house that now holds the city museum. It is a good place to understand what happened after Rome: the Venetians (1420 to 1797), the French, the Austrians and the long, complicated story of a town that kept changing flags.

It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm (last admission 30 minutes before closing), and closed Mondays and public holidays. It is a calm, small museum, an hour is plenty, and on a cold day it is a good warm-up. The museum keeps the ticket price on its website, so check there before you go.

Varoš, the old fishermen's and peasants' quarter west of the palace, is a hillside grid of narrow lanes, small stone houses and washing lines. In one of them, on Tomića Stine, Konoba Fetivi serves a daily handwritten menu of Dalmatian home cooking: fish in gregada (a stew of white fish and potatoes), wild boar with gnocchi and whatever came off the boats. It has been listed in the Michelin guide in recent years, as a Michelin Plate rather than a star.

It is small and popular, so reserve ahead if you can. One listing gives Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 11pm, and closed Sunday and Monday, so check the day.

After lunch, wander up through Varoš properly. It is one of the oldest parts of Split, built outside the palace walls by the people who worked the fields and boats, and it still feels like a village: narrow steps, small stone houses, laundry on lines. Climb as high as the lanes go and look back at the roofs of the palace and the harbor.

Then drop back to the Riva in the early evening, when the light turns pink and the first lamps come on. Sit on the stone bench under the palm trees and watch the ferries come in. It is a good time to go over tomorrow's plan on Marjan.

The Meštrović Gallery sits on the south slope of Marjan, at Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 46, and shows the work of the sculptor Ivan Meštrović, the same man who made the Gregory of Nin statue you rubbed on day one. It is the best single stop for understanding why that big bronze looks the way it does.

The same museum runs the Kaštelet nearby (Crikvine-Kaštilac). The gallery's own site lists both as open Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm (last entry 30 minutes before closing) and closed on Mondays and public holidays, with no separate winter schedule. Tickets are sold per site, so ask at the desk whether a combined one exists.

From the gallery, follow the stone steps up through the pines to Vidilica, the viewpoint above the city, and on to Telegrin, the summit of Marjan. At 178 meters it is not high, but the view is the full set: the palace roofs, the harbor, the Kozjak and Mosor mountains behind and the islands in front. In winter the stairs are quiet.

Marjan has been the city's green escape for centuries, and the city statute already banned cutting its trees in the 14th century. It is covered in dense Mediterranean pine forest, with jogging trails, tennis courts and the city zoo. Along the south side, the small church of Our Lady of Bethlehem (Gospe od Betlema) is worth a stop.

Walk west along the south coast of Marjan to Kašjuni, the biggest beach on the hill. It is a deep bay of small pebbles, with a cafe and changing cabins in season, and in summer it is packed, and in November it is almost empty, which is the point.

Swimming in November is for the brave: the Adriatic is cool, and regulars go in anyway. Even if you do not swim, this is the best place in Split to sit on warm stones in a winter sun with the sea in front and the pine forest behind. The path to the chapel of Gospe od Betlema is on the way if you walk the coast.

Bene sits on the northern side of the same hill, over the ridge from Kašjuni, and has a different character: partly sand and partly rock, and quieter.

In the off-season you may share it with dog walkers and a few swimmers. Bene is the better stop for a short rest, and Kašjuni the better one for the sea. Ride back to the center from here by city bus or taxi.

Bačvice is the opposite of Marjan: a sandy, shallow city beach east of the palace, five minutes from the ferry port, full of cafes and ice cream. Here, in 1908, students back from Prague invented picigin, a game where five or so players stand in knee-deep water and slap a small ball with their palms to keep it in the air for as long as possible, diving and sliding. There is no scoring and no real rules, only style.

The best news for a November trip: the players are there all year, whatever the weather, and on New Year's Day it is a tradition to play even though the sea is rarely above 15 degrees. Watch from the promenade as the light goes. In summer you can join in, in winter it is a spectator sport.

Finish with the dish of the region, peka: meat, octopus or fish slow-roasted under a domed iron lid covered with hot embers. It needs hours, so you must order it in advance, usually 24 hours before. Konoba Varoš, on Ban Mladenova street in the old quarter, is a long-time local favorite, and the same menu has pašticada, the Dalmatian beef stew.

Call the day before and say how many people. The meat comes out of the oven tender and smoky with potatoes, and you eat family style, with house red wine. It is a big meal, so do it after the long Marjan day, not before. Confirm the hours and the peka rules when you book.

Before Diocletian's palace there was Salona, the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia and the emperor's birthplace. At its height it had some 60,000 people, or more by newer estimates, an aqueduct and an amphitheater for 15,000 to 18,000 spectators. Salona was largely destroyed by the Avars and Slavs in the 7th century, traditionally around 614, and its survivors fled to the palace, which is how Split started.

Today it is the largest archaeological park in Croatia, on the edge of the town of Solin, and in November it is almost empty. Walk the amphitheater, the city walls and the Manastirine, the basilica and cemetery where Saint Domnius was buried after he was executed in 304. A local bus from Split gets you to Solin in 10 to 20 minutes.

Trogir sits on a tiny island between the mainland and the island of Čiovo, connected to both by bridges. Greek colonists from Vis founded it in the 3rd century BC, Venice held it from 1420 to 1797, and the whole historic center has been on the UNESCO list since 1997. It is one of the best preserved medieval towns on the Adriatic, a maze of stone lanes that you cross in ten minutes and could spend three hours in.

The centerpiece is the Cathedral of St. Lawrence, built from the 13th century, with a west portal by Radovan, the most significant Romanesque-Gothic work in Croatia. The portal is worth ten minutes on its own. The Cipiko palaces and the lanes around the main square are all within a minute.

At the western end of the old town is the Kamerlengo Fortress, a 15th-century stronghold built while Trogir was Venetian. It guards the harbor and looks over the water to Čiovo.

In winter its opening hours may be limited, so check locally before you climb. Even from the outside, the walk along the seafront is the best way to see the whole old town in a few minutes.

Trogir's waterfront is lined with restaurants, and this is where the day's meal is best. Order fish from the daily catch, grilled with olive oil and blitva, or a plate of buzara, mussels or shrimp cooked in white wine, garlic, breadcrumbs and olive oil. A quarter liter of local white goes with it.

Prices are higher on the main quay than one street back, so walk inland a block for a cheaper menu of the day. Most places stay open in the off-season but close earlier, and some close for the winter altogether.

Back in Split, finish the day at Sustipan, the small wooded peninsula at the foot of Marjan, with a path around the rocks, an old cemetery and open views toward the islands. It is the quietest sunset spot in the city.

In early November the sun sets before 4:45pm, so get there on the early side. Then walk back along the shore to the Riva. It is a gentle way to end a day of buses.

Krka has several entrances, and for Split the logical one is Lozovac. It lies about 88 km from the center, around 70 minutes by car, on the main road, and has free parking all year. From April to October a shuttle bus takes you down to the falls. In winter there is no bus, so you walk the 875 meter trail, which is easy, downhill and short.

Entry from 1 November to 31 March is the winter rate: 7 EUR for adults and 4 EUR for ages 7 to 18, free under 7. Winter hours for the main falls are 9am to 4pm, and the park is closed on 25 and 26 December and has shortened hours on 24 and 31 December. Burnum is closed for conservation work and the Oziđana cave is closed except for pre-arranged groups.

Skradinski buk is the best known of the seven waterfalls on the Krka river, crowned by terraced cascades. Footpaths and boardwalks loop between the cascades and the pools below, and you can walk the whole circuit at your own pace. Without the summer crowds it is a calm, loud, green place.

What you cannot do is swim. Swimming at Skradinski buk has been banned since January 2021 to protect the fragile travertine, and the park rules allow swimming only in clearly marked areas. Many older blogs still say it is allowed, and the ban carries fines. If you want to swim in Krka, ask at the entrance where a marked area is open.

Skradin, a small town on the river and an alternate gateway to the park, is 11 minutes by car from Lozovac. It is a quiet stone harbor with a handful of konobas. Order the local black risotto (crni rižot), made with squid ink and cuttlefish, or river fish and local cheese, and a glass of white wine.

Many restaurants close for the winter or open only for lunch, so call ahead or plan a fallback in Šibenik. After lunch, you will have a bit of daylight left for the last stop of the day.

On the road back to Split lies Šibenik, and its Cathedral of St. James is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000. It was built between 1431 and 1536 entirely in stone, with no binding material, using large precisely cut slabs that interlock. Juraj Dalmatinac led the work from 1441 to 1473, and a frieze of carved heads runs around the apses.

Šibenik to Split is about 70 minutes by road, so you can be in Split for dinner. If it is closed or you are tired, drive on: this stop is a bonus, not the main event.