Split, Croatia Travel Guide Part 2: The Best Sights in Split

Updated October 2026.

It’s time to reveal my favorite 3+1 sights in Split. I hope you enjoyed the first part of the article, Once upon a time in Split part 1, a short overview of the local culture and history of a city split between past glory and echoes of post-socialism.

Overall, the Croatian trip was a pleasant surprise: there was plenty to see and do. I must say almost two weeks was a bit too much, although I found many good ways to spend time in and outside Split.

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1. Krka + wine and olive oil tasting

People say that nature is the best artist. Krka National Park, located roughly 90 km from Split, is a picturesque place everyone with even the slightest interest in nature should visit if staying close by. I booked a package from Viator (transportation included) and upgraded it with a wine and olive oil tasting to get the full experience. Nature, a bit of local tapas-style snacks, olive oil and wine: quite a nice combination to try.

Krka was crammed with people, which you can’t really blame anyone for, as it’s one of the most visited destinations in Croatia. Everything on the tour was taken care of well in advance, so no one had to think or figure things out by themselves. Do you hear the irony?

A WhatsApp group was created, with images and Google Maps links for all the meeting points, together with the schedule and reminders. A well-communicated trip, I must say. I do prefer taking things into my own hands when I travel, because that’s kind of what traveling is: a go-to experience for learning and challenging yourself by doing something you haven’t done before. But it was also nice to just be, without needing to coordinate anything, as everything was taken care of. I hadn’t done many group trips like that in a few decades, so it was a bit of a new world to me. I enjoyed having my brain in offline mode, curiously observing and exploring nature, but I must say it was quite amusing to get such detailed guidelines for a place with not much risk of getting lost.

After Krka we headed by boat to Skradin, a tiny yet beautiful village with a population of almost 4,000, right by the national park. That’s roughly the population of Sysmä in Finland, and the little alleys seemed quite empty at the time, just like in Sysmä most of the time. Some people had gathered for coffee, but there was no big bunch of tourists, just our group scattered all over.

There was some free time to take a walk or go for a swim, and I was actually about to swim until I saw quite a few swans on the shore.

After Skradin we headed to the tastings. We started with white, followed by rosé and ended with red. I’m not much of a red wine enthusiast, as I get a headache super fast from the tannins, but I did try it (without any headache this time). The white and rosé were great, so I had to bring a bottle home. During the tasting I chatted with a few American solo travelers, one based in New York and one in Chicago, and we had dinner together that evening. We found a cozy, homey restaurant in the old town, and the owner gave us a complimentary shot of rakija because we had to wait a little for our table. What service! It was fun to hear about their experiences of solo female travel and share mine.

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2. Mosor mountain

You know the feeling? You’re in a city, any city, and despite all its ridiculously beautiful details, you just want to go outdoors for a little while, breathe fresh air and focus on just being there without the hassle or fuss of everything else.

I had that urge.

With a round-trip bus ticket costing a bit over 1€ (around 40 minutes each way), I was able to leave the bustling city life and immerse myself in nature. Taking the bus was super easy: it left Split bus station on time, and all announcements were first in Croatian and then in English, both written and spoken, so keeping track of the bus stops was effortless.

The serpentine road, along which the bus drove as fast as lightning, was in quite good condition, apart from a few potholes here and there.

After reaching the destination, I took a short 45-minute walk in absolute privacy and silence. It felt a bit unreal after being in a city bursting with tourists literally everywhere, and now I was in the “middle of nowhere”. As a Finn, I’m used to the sound of silence, especially in nature, but experiencing it in such an unusual destination was new to me.

There is no page about the Mosor mountains in the Finnish Wikipedia

I didn’t prepare much beforehand, as I wasn’t going for a big hike or anything like it. I just wanted to know the basics: how to reach the location by local bus and whether there was anything specific about the trails. I could find almost nothing in Finnish on Google, but luckily there were lots of English-language pages to navigate. I learned that the trail I took is sometimes called the “Lady Trail” because it’s so easy. I wonder what the men’s trail is, then. Maybe reaching the very top blindfolded or something extreme like that.

According to the instructions, reaching the peak takes around 4–5 hours, because the trails are hard going with all the loose gravel and stones. So walkability is quite harsh, I’d say. There are tiny stones everywhere, and you must be careful with every step.

I also learned that the mountain rescue service gets calls every now and then from tourists who got lost there in their flip-flops, so read this message from the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service reminding people to head into the mountains with a charged phone, to avoid flip-flops and not to take selfies on a cliff. In Finnish we say “uusavuton”, which doesn’t translate exactly but means a person incapable of taking care of themselves, basically expecting a lot of pampering in order to cope.

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3. Salona

In my previous article, Once upon a time in Split part 1, I introduced how historically rich Split really is and explained a bit about the culture and heritage of Croatians.

Diocletian, the Roman emperor, is believed to have been born in or near the ancient city of Salona. It was such a fulfilling moment to walk in his footsteps, and those of the whole Roman era, and to think about how people lived here: what kind of habits and professions they had, what family life was like, how they survived the wars, what traditions and myths they had and so on. My first-ever visit to an archaeological site was over the top. I read that Salona was once considered as important as Pompeii near Naples, which puts things in perspective as you enter the place.

A good and informative video explaining the place further

I’ve always had an urge to understand what lies beneath the soil, and I think there are civilizations we might not hear about in our lifetime. That’s the beauty of it: once, people knew nothing about the Giza pyramids, but we do. Future generations will experience spectacular, never-before-seen discoveries, as we did with Giza, but those are something we won’t ever experience. It’s not a “me-game”. Despite the technological revolution, and the evolution from the telephone to the mobile phone that has changed the everyday life of almost everyone on the planet, history will partly remain a mystery.

I’d like to know if there is a correlation between technology adoption and the number of finds at sites. That would be interesting, as it could back up (or disprove) my theory: has technology been a groundbreaker in finding new, valuable artifacts? Has it made that kind of impact? Technology isn’t new to archaeologists; 3D models, IoT and lidar scanning, for instance, are used to study artifacts without damaging them. Here is a good list of how archaeologists use technology. As the article states, modern archaeology relies on technology.

History is a lifelong passion of mine. I remember playing archaeologist at our summer cottage by starting my own “digs”. I got bored pretty soon, which is one of the reasons I’m not involved in archaeology. I’ve always been more of an explorer than a digger: I’d rather see ten sites than spend ten years on one. Something I have also thought about is anthropology, which is “the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species.”

Never say never, but I do fulfill my passion by visiting museums and traveling to destinations with significant history, like Berlin and Amsterdam from the perspective of the Second World War.

Back to Salona. First of all, the area itself is large, and it’s the best-preserved archaeological site in Croatia. Knowing that beforehand is essential, as it takes time to walk through the site. I read somewhere that people tend to spend 1–2 hours there, which is quite an understatement if you’re willing to walk, think and explore some details along the way. I’d say 2 hours is the minimum to get to know the place. As everywhere in Croatia, in my experience, there were good signs explaining what each sight stands for.

The place is cited as a top tourist attraction, but despite that, I didn’t see many tourists there either. A group arrived when I was about to leave, and I saw some locals hanging out and having a picnic, and a jogger too, but nothing touristy. It’s marketed as a top sight not to skip, so I was surprised to be the only tourist there for some time.

So I experienced two tourist-free destinations, lucky me. The next sight on my list had lots of people, but not many tourists either. Any wild guesses?

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+1. Football game

I must bring this up here, although I already wrote about it in my last article. The short and sweet explanation of why seeing a local game is crucial: community spirit, we-spirit, and feeling like a local while traveling. A genuine experience of local pride and happiness is the essence of understanding what a demonym stands for. Like, for real. You can always find cute, sugar-coated one-liners in every place you visit, but feeling it is another thing. I usually tell people who don’t like watching sports on TV to do it for the community and watch on site, because that’s one of the best ways to see and feel the local culture, to be part of it and to understand it. It’s not about reading a brochure about a great local experience, it’s about feeling it, and quite frankly, I felt the spirit. Sport is one of the greatest forms of equality: everyone is on the same page, sharing the passion, no matter who you are or what you do for a living. That’s the beauty of sport. It connects people in a way I don’t think much else does.

Sport is one of the greatest forms of equality: everyone is on the same page, sharing the passion, no matter who you are or what you do for a living.

My 3+1 experiences are what I truly consider five-star, “not to skip” activities when traveling in Split. I also had activities that were good or really good but didn’t quite make the 3+1 list for one reason or another. Not every sight and activity is excellent, and that’s part of the journey when traveling.

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The rest of the sights worth introducing

Sight	My rating	From Split
Marjan Hill	★★★★	Walk from the city
Trogir	★★★★	About 1 hour by boat, or by bus
The island of Brač	★★★	About 50 minutes by boat
Šolta and the Blue Lagoon	★★½	Island-hopping boat tour

Marjan Hill (Split)

Marjan Hill is the hill right next to the city. It’s quite a long way to the top up the staircases, which isn’t the most convenient for people with disabilities. I walk a lot every week, but even for me it was quite a challenge to get up. As one of the most recognized landmarks of Split, it offers a pine-covered place for people to gather, do sports or walk, and most of all to enjoy beautiful views of the city.

✅ Pros

• Located in Split, easy to reach without transportation
• A terrace somewhere midway
• Great views

❌ Cons

• The number of stairs

Trogir

Trogir is a small town whose medieval center is located on a small island separated from the mainland. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it’s known for its Venetian architecture. With its churches and buildings from the 13th century, the city gate (17th century), the city walls (15th century) and the Duke’s Palace (13th century), Trogir is a historic destination worth visiting.

✅ Pros

• Roughly a one-hour boat trip from Split, with a bus option too
• Charming historical place with beautiful alleys and interesting architecture

❌ Cons

• Felt like Split in many ways in terms of sights

The island of Brač

I decided to go on an island trip, but the timing wasn’t the best, as I had only a few hours to walk around before sunset. Unfortunate, since Brač is considered one of the most famous Croatian islands, but despite having just a few hours there, it was a nice experience.

The promenade was really beautiful, lined with palm trees and people. It’s a tourist destination with souvenir shops close by. After walking around the promenade and alleys, I went for a glass of wine at the nearest bar. I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen and listened to music while waiting for the boat to arrive.

✅ Pros

• Just a 50-minute boat trip from Split
• Beautiful place

❌ Cons

• Didn’t feel that different from Split
• My own fault for not reserving enough time to get to know the place better

Island hopping: Šolta and the Blue Lagoon

I took an affordable all-inclusive package from Viator and went island hopping. It included a light breakfast (a croissant), a light lunch (I chose fish), unlimited white wine, lemonade and water, and transportation by boat. The boat was full of couples and families, and I was the only solo traveller on board, which at least meant nobody fought me for the unlimited white wine.

It happened to be the only cloudy day, with just a little sunshine. I checked the cancellation policy, and refunds required cancelling more than 24 hours in advance. For a long time it was 50-50 whether the sun would come out or not.

First we headed to Šolta. Key takeaways: a beautiful little island with one of the most beautiful doors I have ever seen, and a Beatles kayak with no sign explaining why. I thought about going for a swim, but there were only rocky beaches, so I skipped it.

I like fish a lot, but not when it’s served straight from the sea without any preparation. Basically, I expect someone to remove the fishbones before putting it on a plate. The setting was like something from a Kaurismäki movie: a fish and a plastic cup of white wine.

At the Blue Lagoon I went for a swim. The water was cold (around 21 degrees), and despite being a Finn, I can’t tolerate any form of cold except in a drink or an ice cream. Some people went snorkeling, but I decided to just swim. The “beach” was very beautiful (the sandy part of it), but the closer you got to the actual sea, the worse it got.

I had difficulty getting into the sea, as the water stayed very shallow for tens of meters and was full of rocks of different sizes. It was literally an “I take one step and the cold wind almost knocks me into the sea” experience. I had my swimming shoes with me, which I think are the best travel-related purchase I have ever made. I can’t imagine how hard it must have been to walk on those rocks barefoot. Many people went into the sea hand in hand. I went in with my swimming shoes, which turned out to be just as supportive.

Coming back from the sea, I did the unthinkable: a crab-like walking maneuver, as I wasn’t comfortable walking upright because of the wind and waves. I felt that if I didn’t hold on to something, like a rock, I would collapse into the cold sea. It was like a horizontal crab rave to get back to the sand. Yep: hand, other hand, foot, other foot.

✅ Pros

• Easy way to see different islands
• Very beautiful scenery and archipelago

❌ Cons

• A chocolate-filled soft croissant straight from a pack of 10, no freshness required
• People stayed in their own circles, not much small talk
• Lunch, lunch and one more time lunch
• No shower on the island
• Rocks in the sea

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Closing remarks

Sometimes I can’t understand Finns no matter how much I try

To end, I must share something funny that happened to me. It was a bit of a Bridget Jones moment, I must admit: 30 minutes before the flight I was close to the gate, just a few minutes away, when I heard an announcement calling my first and last name and telling me to go to the gate immediately. I had never heard my name announced before, so I started running towards the gate, feeling a bit like I was in slow motion. The reason for the announcement was that (surprise, all the passengers were Finnish) everyone else was already on the plane, so there was no reason to wait on the ground. I had a bit of a “walk of shame” down the aisle, with people staring: “Oh, there she is.”

Sometimes I can’t understand Finns no matter how much I try. Like voluntarily queuing for hours to ultimately get a bucket worth 2€. And then the plane incident: why would someone want to board so early, and do what, watch people walk by?

This is something I must figure out while recovering from my flu.