SplitTravel Guide

A Roman emperor's retirement palace from 305 AD that's still a living neighbourhood — restaurants, shops, and homes fill the same walls, cellars, and courtyards, making it one of the world's best-preserved Roman structures precisely because it was never abandoned.

The palm-lined waterfront just outside the palace walls, Split's main social space for a coffee or evening stroll with harbour and island views.

A forested peninsula-park above the old town, with viewpoints, hiking and biking trails, and small medieval chapels tucked into the hillside.

Originally Diocletian's own mausoleum, later converted into a cathedral — among the oldest cathedral buildings in the world still in use, with a bell tower worth the climb for palace-rooftop views.

A produce and local goods market just outside the palace's Silver Gate — good for fruit, lavender, and a feel for everyday Split life away from the tourist core.

A UNESCO-listed medieval island town 30 minutes from Split, small enough to see in a few hours, with a well-preserved old core often visited alongside Split itself.

Split's main city beach, a sandy cove a short walk from the palace and popular for picigin, a local water sport played in its shallow water.

A hilltop fortress 15 minutes outside the city with a long Ottoman-era military history — also recognisable to Game of Thrones fans as the exterior of Meereen.

A full-day boat tour combining the luminous Blue Cave on Biševo island with time on Hvar, Croatia's glamorous lavender-scented island — book the early departure for the best cave light.

The palace's central courtyard, ringed by Roman columns — quieter after the day-trippers leave, when local a cappella klapa singers sometimes perform.