The astonishing living heart — apartments, bars and shops packed inside and around the Roman emperor's seafront palace, with the cathedral, the Peristyle and the marble Riva. The most atmospheric and central base, walkable to everything and buzzing day and night; magical, but noisy in summer, so pick your room carefully.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
€190–350
typical per night in Croatia
You pay for the postcode
One of the pricier addresses in Split.
Where it sits
The circle is Old Town and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- The Green Market (Pazar)2 min walk151 m
- The Varoš quarter5 min walk379 m
- A night out at Bačvice11 min walk875 m
- Bačvice beach & picigin11 min walk880 m
- Bačvice (beach)11 min walk910 m
- Marjan Hill17 min walk1.4 km
- Ivan Meštrović Gallery27 min walk2.2 km
- Kasjuni beach7 min taxi2.5 km
- Klis Fortress26 min taxi8.6 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 1.Diocletian's Palace — Not a palace you visit but a whole living quarter you wander — the emperor Diocletian's vast 4th-century retirement complex, its Roman walls, gates, temples and colonnades now woven through with homes, cafés and shops. A UNESCO wonder and utterly unique; just lose yourself in the marble labyrinth.
- 2.Cathedral of St Domnius — The world's oldest cathedral still in use, ingeniously converted from the emperor's octagonal mausoleum — a tiny, ornate interior, and a slender Romanesque bell tower you climb for the best view over the palace rooftops and out to the islands. Small but remarkable; brave the steep tower for the panorama.
- 3.The Riva — Split's grand palm-lined seafront promenade, running along the sunlit south wall of the palace — the city's living room, where everyone strolls, sips coffee and watches the ferries come and go. Come for the evening passeggiata and a drink as the sun sets over the harbour; the beating heart of Split life.
- 5.The Peristyle — The monumental colonnaded courtyard at the centre of the palace, where the emperor once appeared to his subjects — flanked by a sphinx brought from Egypt and the cathedral steps, and now a café-strewn stage where you sip a drink among 1,700-year-old columns. The atmospheric heart of the palace; magical when lit at night.
- 7.The Palace Substructures — The vast, atmospheric Roman cellars beneath the palace — a cavernous network of stone halls that once supported the emperor's apartments, now hosting craft stalls and (as fans will know) the throne room and dragon-dungeon of Daenerys in Game of Thrones. Cool, evocative and easy; a quick descent into the ancient underbelly.
- 9.Dalmatian food — The Adriatic on a plate — grilled fresh fish and octopus, black cuttlefish risotto, and the slow-cooked meat-and-veg 'peka' baked under a bell of coals, with a crisp local white. Eat it in a stone-walled konoba in the palace back-lanes; hearty, sea-fresh and delicious, and cheaper than the coast's resort towns.
- 11.The old-town squares — Beyond the palace walls, the old town spills into lovely stone squares — the Pjaca (Narodni trg) with its clock tower and cafés, the atmospheric Fruit Square with its Meštrović statue, and a maze of marble lanes full of bars and shops. Wander them with a coffee or a glass of wine; the social stage of the city.
When are you staying?
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to Old Town; flights via Google Flights.