Split, Croatia - You can see it in a day

Driving from Jajce, Bosnia to Split took about 3 hours and luckily the border crossing was quick seamless.

This is the third time we have entered Croatia over the past 10 weeks as we have been weaving our way through Eastern Europe.

Split is much smaller than Dubrovnik and the old town of Split can be seen within a day. The decision was to stay for two nights thinking we would have 1-1/2 days to sight see the old town and then an extra day to visit an island.

The main attraction is the Diocletian’s Palace which isn’t a palace as one would imagine, it’s an outdoor palace where one can climb the clock tower, go to the cathedral, visit catacombs, or visit the treasury. At first we kept wandering around (clearly we didn’t read up on things to see and do in Split) only to find we were in it.

Climbing the bell tower, which is an option offered in many of these old historic towns provides a nice view of the cities, so whenever possible we try to do this. Sometimes it means climbing over 200 steps which are somewhat narrow/steep.

The streets in Split, like old medieval towns are narrow cobblestone streets, however in this case they are more slippery than Dubrovnik.

The crowds, although less than Dubrovnik, were still plentiful so trying to get pictures in close quarters was a bit of a challenge.

The last day in Split we opted to visit an island and decided on Solta which was only an hour ferry ride from Split and didn’t seem quite as touristy as the other islands close to Split. It started off as a nice day with sun and clouds, but, the skies were getting darker and darker and the winds, which started as a nice breeze, were getting stronger and stronger.

When we finally did set sail we were chased by the storm and had hopes we would go in a different direction but alas that was not to be. So the storm finally caught up to us.

Upon arrival in Solta, the the storm strengthened and the winds had increased tenfold, while the rains were relentless. As we were leaving the boats you could see the apprehension of people debating whether to even step off the boat, while others tried their best to cover themselves as best they could. We decided to at least try. It was so bad even the locals were taking videos of this monsoon. Well we made it to shelter only to realize this storm is not going to stop, so we did the proper thing and headed back on the boat to stay dry since the main village was a good 20 minute walk.

Once on the boat we watched as people were struggling to walk in this fun and although we were amused we also realized as the boat was attempting to return Split that the captain couldn’t push off from the dock. We waited an hour or so and finally someone from the boat advised us if we wanted to go back on the fast boat we could do so for an additional $3 as this boat wasn’t going anywhere for the next few hours or even that night.

We decided to pay the extra for the fast boat back to Split and that, my friends, is how we saw Solta, an island off of Split.

Finally back on firm ground later in that day found a place for dinner and called it a day.

We enjoyed Split and found that one can do this in one full day or if you plan on visiting islands you can add another day.