My partner Bri and I spent two months in Split as part of our six month trip in Europe. Although we spent most of that time working, studying or at the beach, we had a lot of fun in and around Split. Split boasts a historic castle old town, a great park for walks and cycling, a long coastline of pebble beaches, and small but growing communities of interest (tech, startup, expat, sport and coffee). Outside of Split the best way to enjoy Croatia is on a boat, either the common ferries to islands or Dubrovnik, or small boats for day trips to famous spots, or whole week cruises.

How much time and travel?

Our reasons for being in Split for two months may be quite different from yours. We decided on Split for a number of reasons; firstly because we needed to spend a considerable amount of time outside the EU 'Schengen' zone (maximum three months inside), we wanted to be somewhere to enjoy the summer, and because of a family recommendation. We had also chosen Split because it seemed to have a good balance between beaches while being in a populated area which we could attend meetups. In that respect, we found Split to be great for Digitial Nomads like us at the time (if you're required to be outside of Schengen).

Those doing shorter trips to Croatia and looking for advice and the best things to do in Split, this article is more designed for discussing one or two week options.

A key consideration for travelling Croatia is the time of year, you really only want to go between late Spring and early Autumn. At the end of our time in Split around mid-September it was already starting to cool, and fewer good beach days. Another point to note is that Croatia is not as cheap as you might think - tourism is a major industry and it's only on for the summer. While there were some very good restaurants, we found that the places we went without a google or friend recommendation to be quite average.

In and around Split

Split boasts an interesting and historic old town, which has had Roman and Venetian influence. It's nice to walk around and has a vibrant promenade but tends to be very busy with tourists.

To the west of the old town is a small national park. It takes around 2-3 hours to walk the circumference of the park. Along the coats are many beaches, some which go right up to the forest which makes for a special swimming experience. At the northern side is a restaurant, making it a good spot to hang out for the day.

If you have more time, finding your own favourite beach is part of the experience. My personal favourite was one located here near the Sheraton hotel. I found that the pebbles were a good size as to not be obnoxious, the water very clear, good views, not too busy or too quiet. Near the tennis courts we found a cheap and cheerful sandwich place where you could get a feed for around $3 AUD. There is one or two 'sandy' beaches, but these should be avoided as it's more like mud than sand, and not good for swimming.

It took some time to find the good ones, but there are at least two good coffee places in Split, and two good craft beer bars. The first craft beer place had a local restaurant nearby which can do takeaway such as Cevapcici The second craft beer place serves burgers and pizzas. There are lots of fun bars however! Split is very popular with backpackers and those doing party cruises for a week. There are nightly pub crawls and people out till all hours in the old town.

Day trips around Split

A popular option is to take one of the boat trips from the touts at the docks. They are all basically the same, with some variation in time spent and destinations. The blue lagoon is a beautiful spot worth visiting on a hot day. Try to sit at the back of the boat or in the shade.

My sister, her partner and my step-mum visited for a short period while in split. We visited Krka National Park, which boasts great waterfalls, although this will require an all day tour trip. We did car hire for four people and found this to be the best option for us.

Airbnb offer some experiences, and we did a sailing lesson and a canyon rafting trip. Both of which were great ways to have some fun on the weekends, but you can probably skip if you're more time pressured.

Hvar is a short trip from Split and can be completed in a day, but we would recommend doing the opposite; daytrip in Split and stay in Hvar. The island appears to have a lot of attractions and great beaches. We visited a nearby beach club called Carpe Diem and although expensive, was quite a treat to enjoy in that way.

Sailing around Split

Croatia has hundreds of Islands, and at least a dozen notable ones. Many companies offer week long sailing trips that will take you between the islands each day. This is something we did not experience due to internet concerns while working, but if you can put up with several hours a day without internet for work then I think it's doable, especially with some of the premium boating services offering wifi. For those on holiday, make this a key part of your trip!

Outside of Split

We had the most fun in Croatia when making shorter trips outside of Split. We took a ferry to Dubrovnik which takes about 3-4 hours, and stayed at an island away from Dubrovnik. It's the smaller islands which had the most charm, as they tended to have a few dozen hotels and restaurants. Dubrovnik itself was great for a full day trip. It had similar vibes to Split, in that the key attraction is an old town and some beaches, but again skip out on staying directly in town and go to an island instead.

We spent some time on the island of Viz in a town called Komiza. The island has a few attractions, including wreck diving, close access to 'blue cave' and the beautiful beach of Stiniva. We used our time in Komiza to complete some dive courses, eating out and walking around the small town. We arranged a taxi to take us to the road near Stiniva and also pick us up to take back to the ferry on the other side of the island on our last day. The walk down to Stiniva was enjoyable and not too strenuous. Because we got in around 10am, we were there before many of the boats arrived, although it didn't get spoilt with the numbers in the end.

It's possible to take a bus to visit Mostar in Bosnia from Split. Bri mentioned it was an interesting city with a mix of historic, wartorn and street art.

Feel free to get in touch or leave a comment to ask questions or for further recommendations!