Best things to do in Split, including free and rainy-day options

Split's old town is small enough to walk in an afternoon, so the real choice is how many paid sights and boat days you add. Everything below sits within 20 minutes' walk of the Riva unless noted.

Start inside the palace. Diocletian's Palace is not a museum you enter once; it is the old town, with shops, homes and cafés in the Roman walls. Walk the Peristyle, the colonnaded square in the middle, then the narrow lanes toward the Iron Gate and the Brass Gate. Go early or late: between roughly 10:00 and 16:00 in summer the cruise groups fill the Peristyle.

The Riva is the seafront promenade just outside the south wall, lined with cafés. It is the cheapest way to spend an hour and the best place to watch the city wake up. Behind it, the fish market (ribarnica) opens in the morning and is worth a look even if you are not cooking.

For views and a swim, climb Marjan hill west of the old town. Paths lead to lookout points over the harbour and down to beaches such as Ježinac and Bene. Allow two to three hours if you walk up and swim. Closer to the centre, Bačvice is the sandy city beach, busy from late afternoon.

Pay for the cathedral bell tower if you want the classic rooftop view over the palace and harbour; the climb is steep and the stairs are open. The palace cellars below the Peristyle are a cool, dry hour of Roman brickwork and a good rain plan. Klis fortress, on the hill above town, is a half-day trip by local bus and gives the widest view of Split and the mountains behind it.

For a day out, Trogir is the easiest: a short bus ride along the coast to a small walled town. Hvar and Brač need a catamaran from the port beside the Riva; in summer boats are frequent, in winter much less so. Check timetables the day before and buy returns early in peak season.

Split can be done cheaply: the palace, Riva, Marjan and Bačvice are free, and a day of walking costs little beyond coffee and a bakery lunch. Budget travellers can keep a full day under about €20–30 (2026 estimate) if they skip paid sights.

Paid entries are individually modest but add up. Set aside roughly €30–50 per person for a day with the bell tower, cellars and one museum, plus ferry or bus fares for day trips. Island catamarans and Klis fortress are the bigger line items; check current fares before you commit.

Timing is everything in Split. The old town is calm before 09:00 and pleasant again after 18:00; midday in July and August is hot and crowded. Plan indoor sights, lunch or a swim for the middle of the day.

Split is a ferry hub, so many travellers pass through on the way to the islands. If you are doing that, leave your bags at your accommodation or a luggage store near the port rather than dragging them through the palace lanes.

Summer brings crowds and higher prices; May, June, September and October are easier and still warm enough to swim. Winter is quiet, some island boats run less often, and rain is more likely, which is when the cellars and museums earn their tickets.

Rain in Split is usually short and heavy rather than all-day, but winter can bring steady wet spells. The palace cellars, the cathedral and the city museums are all indoors and within a few minutes of each other. The Meštrović Gallery, a short walk west along the coast, is a solid half-day rain plan.

If you would rather stay dry and eat, the old town's konobas and cafés fill up fast in bad weather; book or go early. The fish market and covered parts of the market are also worth a quick look between showers. For wet-weather transport, city buses run frequently and the ferry port is right by the Riva, so you rarely need a long walk in the open.