Start from 56 curated places around Split, HR, then choose the recommendations that fit your guests.
Restaurants & cafés
Villa Spiza
A tiny Dalmatian kitchen on a back alley just inside the palace walls, running a handwritten daily menu of four or five dishes built entirely around what arrived at the market that morning — fish, vegetables, and one reliable pasta. No reservations, cash only, and the tables fill within minutes of opening. The food is consistently excellent and the prices are the most honest inside the palace walls.
Konoba Otprilike Ovako
A small Varoš neighbourhood konoba with a strict fish-only policy sourced from fishermen the same day — no freezers, no shortcuts. The menu lists whatever the morning's haul allowed, which means shark steak and swordfish appear alongside the more expected sea bass and sea bream. Small enough that getting a table requires planning, but that is the whole point — this is a local's restaurant that happens to also be very good.
Trails & outdoors
Marjan Loop
The full circumnavigation of the Marjan peninsula, starting from the western edge of the old town and following the ridgeline path before looping back via the southern coastal track past Kašjuni cove. The route covers the old Jewish cemetery, several hermit cave-churches cut into the cliff face on the south side, and the summit viewpoint with the full 360-degree panorama of Split, the channel, and the islands. About 8 km and 190 m of climb — moderate effort, enormous payoff.
Marjanska Vrata to Bene Beach Trail
The flat, shaded coastal track that runs along the northern base of Marjan Hill from the park gate near the old town all the way to Bene bay — a pine-canopied path used by morning joggers, families with small children, and anyone who wants the Marjan experience without the ridgeline climb. Bene has a rocky beach, a beach bar, and enough room to spread out even in summer. About 3.5 km one way, entirely flat.
Things to do
Ivan Meštrović Gallery
The art gallery built by Croatia's greatest sculptor on the Meje peninsula west of the old town, designed by Meštrović himself as a combined home, studio, and exhibition space. The collection of over 200 works in bronze, marble, and wood fills the light-filled interior and spills into terraced gardens with large bronzes placed among cypress trees and sea views. One of the strongest single-artist museum experiences in southeastern Europe, and consistently less crowded than its quality merits.
Croatian National Theatre Split
A 19th-century opera and drama theatre on the western edge of the old town with an ornately decorated Baroque interior that seats around 1,000 people — the oldest and most significant performance venue in Dalmatia. The programme runs opera, ballet, and drama productions across roughly 300 performances a year, and ticket prices are a fraction of comparable European houses. The building itself, designed in the 1890s, is worth seeing even without a production.
Landmarks & sights
Diocletian's Palace
A sprawling 3rd-century Roman imperial complex that became the living core of Split — roughly half the old town still occupies its ancient walls. The underground cellars, accessible from the Riva, preserve the original floor plan of the emperor's quarters above and are far more atmospheric than the guidebooks suggest. Worth a slow wander without a fixed route, dipping into the courtyard cafes and the alleys that dead-end in Roman stonework.
Cathedral of Saint Domnius
Diocletian built this octagonal mausoleum for himself; early Christians converted it into a church dedicated to the bishop he martyred — one of history's more ironic repurposings. The interior blends original Roman stonework with medieval carvings and later Baroque additions in a way that no restoration has smoothed over. Climbing the campanile earns a rooftop view over the Peristyle and palace grid that no other vantage point in the old town can match.