Four Days Spent Exploring Split, Croatia

It’s another night-time train journey this time from Zagreb to Split which is unfortunate as it would have been nice to see some of the Croatian countryside.

Our train is a smallish light-rail type thing compared to some of our other journeys and at times it feels as if we are on a roller coaster shooting along in the pitch dark. We climb steep inclines before whizzing down the other side, twisting this way and that. Closer to our destination we often spy, disconcertingly, far far below us the twinkling lights of approaching towns.

We are met by our hotel receptionist Josipa at the entrance to the pedestrian area of Split town – our taxi can travel no further. Its 1030 on a dark chilly night and Josipa has well and truly gone out of her way to help us. Collapsing into our bigger than king size bed in our beautiful hotel nestled deep inside the 1700-year-old Diocletian’s palace, I am grateful that we now have four full days to enjoy what appears to be an amazing city.

The weather prediction is light showers for the next few days – the first inclement weather we have encountered for a while, so the agenda is to relax, eat, walk the streets and visit some of the museums.

Back in the 4th century – a Roman emperor – Diocletian built his retirement home here – more of a lovely large palace really. Today the city of Split intertwines around this palace, before spilling out past its protective walls. It’s a beautiful hodgepodge of streets, buildings, shops, museums and restaurants all made from white marble and limestone. Full of ancient Roman ruins and a huge seafront pedestrian promenade it’s easy to see what all the fuss regarding Split is about.

When planning this adventure, a deliberate choice was made to do it in the tourist off-season and our stay in Split brings home to us the wisdom of this decision. Of the four museums we visit over our four-day stay – the Ethnographic Museum, the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments, the Split City Museum and the Game of Thrones Museum – we are truthfully, the sole visitors in each of them.

And when visiting Diocletian’s Mausoleum, St Dominius Cathedral or St James’s Baptistery we are either alone or alongside a small handful.

Riva is the name of Splits harbourside promenade and its full of cafes and bars. On the afternoons that it doesn’t rain – we easily manage to find a seafront table in which to sit, sip and people watch.

The only time we do encounter a crowd is at the now ubiquitous Christmas market. It’s only just opened and the local kids are keen to use the skating rink whilst the adults look on sipping their mulled wine. For solidarity’s sake, we join them.

All too soon our visit to Split comes to an end. It’s another evening departure this time crossing the Adriatic Sea by ferry, destination Ancona then Rome, Italy. It’s a rather sleepless night spent in a coffin-like cabin laying in a coffin-like bunk. It’s probably an experience I don’t wish to repeat but it gets us to Italy easily and quickly.

I type this sitting in our hotel room in Rome

Fun Facts – The marble footpaths in Split are quite slippery. Split accepts both the Euro and Kuna. A lot of the cafes and restaurants are closed during the off-season.