One of the reasons I decided to stay in Split for 7 weeks was because I knew it gave me easy access to many beautiful places around Croatia. Both islands and mainland! From Split you can get to Hvar, Broč or Vis islands very easily. As well as getting to beautiful little towns like Primošten, Trigor or Sibenik AND places like Krka waterfalls and Plitvice lakes.
In this post I’m going to break down my thoughts on each of these, starting with little towns:
Primošten
This place was absolutely beautiful, and probably one of my favourite little towns I visited. Although technically it’s not really a town, it’s more like this little island which takes about 30 minutes to walk around. There are lots of cute little shops where you can buy homemade Croatian jewellery and souvenirs. There are also lots of little beaches as you walk around so make sure to take your swimsuit to cool yourself down.
Journey time: 1hr from Split on a bus
Trigor
Trigor is slightly bigger than Primošten and has a boat dock so you may find that some boat excursions from Split stop here for an hour. The first time we went here was during an excursion to Blue Lagoon. I found this place like Split, with it’s small lanes and homemade Croatian souvenirs shops. It does have a cathedral where you can walk up the tower and get a beautiful view. Definitely somewhere I’d recommend visiting if you fancy escaping Split for a few hours.
Journey time: 30 minutes from Split on a bus
Sibenik
Sibenik is the furthest away out of all the towns. It felt very different to the others though, it felt a lot busier but also less touristy. It has this a beautiful 15th-century stone Cathedral that is decorated with 71 sculpted faces. Worth the visit alone to see these faces. You can also walks up all the steps here and get a beautiful sea view.
Journey time: 1hr 10mins from Split on a bus
Now let’s talk about the Krka and Plitvice:
Krka
Krka National Park is pretty incredible. The best part is the waterfalls which you’re allowed to swim, something you’re not able to do at Plitvice. You can easily spend an entire day here, lounging around in the clear water and taking regular snack breaks. Also when you get off the bus, it’s a 25 minute walk to the waterfall so spending only half a day here for the journey time I think would be a little wasted. I did love Krka, but it was very crowded so if you’re visiting during peak season expect lots of people.
Journey time: 1hr 7min from Split on a bus. Entry fee: 150 kunas. There are many excursions from Split which you can book into that include the cost of entry
Plitvice
Plitvice Lakes is the most famous of the two National Parks, and holds a UNESCO World Heritage designation. Plitvice has some of the most beautiful waterfalls I have ever seen, you’re not allowed to swim in these ones though unfortunately. Plitvice is huge so you need to dedicate at least a full day to it. They have lots of sign posted trails showing length and difficulty, ranging from a 3 hour hike to 8 hours. If you don’t want to hike all of the trail, there are buses that can get you between certain points, which are all very clearly sign posted. I only spent 5 hours here and really wish I’d been able to spend more time here.
Journey time: 2hr 37min from Split in a car. Entry fee; 55 kuna in winter, 110 kuna in Apr-June and Sep-Oct and 180 kuna in July and August. We hired a car for this trip, but there are many excursions from Split which you can book.
Now let’s talk about the islands:
Hvar
If you speak to any local Split person about Hvar they’ll say that it’s the party island. And it was indeed! This place has everything; beautiful beaches, lots of restaurants and bars, and even a fort which you can spend a few hours walking up to. I highly recommend this as you’ll get one of the best views of Hvar port. We decided to stay in Hvar for 2 nights which gave us a few days to properly explore. If you too are visiting for a few days and want to explore, you can jump on a taxi ferry to some of the smaller islands around Hvar. Adam and I did this and spent our afternoon at Carpe Diem, which is this beautiful beach bar 15 minutes on a taxi ferry. We got sun-beds and spent the day snorkelling and sunbathing.
Journey time: 55 minutes from Split on a boat
Broč
If you’re visiting Broč island you’ll get the boat to Bol. I went here with low expectations, as it isn’t one of the islands you hear people talking about much. But it blew my mind away. You can rent a little 5 horsepower boat on the island for 500 kuna (around £60), this includes petrol and you have the boat for 8 hours. Such a bargain!! We spent 6 hours sailing along the south coast, stopping on a few empty beaches for a swim. At one point me, Adam and his mum had a beach to ourselves. There aren’t as many ferries that go here, compared to Hvar, so you’ll find yourself getting a 7:30am Katamaran from Split.
Journey time: 1 hour 10 minutes from Split on a boat
Overall I’m so happy we decided on Split as our base, it felt great to have a base where we can comfortable work from. Figure out where the local supermarket is, and then have these amazing adventures on the weekends.
KC x
P.S If you found this interesting, take a read of my post where I explore abandoned areas of Berlin.
P.S.S Make sure to follow along with my travels on Instagram