Overlooking the Adriatic Sea and backed by the Dinaric Mountains, Split was founded when Diocletian, a ruler of the Roman Empire for two decades, built his retirement home here in AD 295. Most of Split's monuments are located in Grad, the old town, where you can see Diocletian's Palace. Grad is pedestrian only so you will have fun wandering in the old city.
East of the town walls, you will find the colorful markets. The official word for open-air markets in Croatian is Trznica, but in Split these cult places of local food shopping are called Pazar and they are open daily & more importantly for us, on Sundays from 8-11 am. You can stroll around the tables laden with fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, meats, seafood and cheeses (don't miss the opportunity to try Livanjski sir or paski sir, local cheeses). Here you will also find fresh honey products ranging from Kadulja honey from Biokovo to Lavender honey from Hvar.
There is a hop-on hop-off bus which is a great way to see Split, or you can arrange a walking tour. On our last visit to Split, we did both. The HOHO bus takes you around Split and up to the mountain top for some special views. The walking tour was great... you can do it on your own, but it was so nice to have a guide explain what we were seeing. After the tour, we headed to an outdoor cafe for some Croatian wine, refreshment, and people watching.
A bit of Croatian trivia: The original “Croata” tie - a neck tie was first worn by Croatian horsemen who fought on the European fronts from the 17th century to the French revolution; at which time the French adopted this fashion and gave it the name “cravate” (meaning “Croat”).
Click here for a youtube video of Split, courtesy of Rick Steves!
Click here for a website with lots of great information on Split!
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