An Honest Review of Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia was never on my radar as a must visit place, it was more of an area I stumbled across. I was initially a little apprehensive, but I also was intrigued. After all, no place can be too bad if it has good wine and freshly grilled calamari. Even after reading a bunch of articles about it, I still felt like I knew nothing about Split, Croatia. Like Mostar, Bosnia, I had no expectations about the area.

It seemed to be popular and looked beautiful, so we made our mind up and booked our trip. Not even a major f-up from Delta and Orbitz could stop us from visiting Split, Croatia.

Getting to Split, Croatia

When the car service dropped us off, we were taken into the gates of the Diocletian palace, through a tunnel, where there is an underground market selling trinkets. Already I was liking what I saw, who doesn’t like a good dungeon? I was sporting a heavy coat, it was late October after all, everyone else was walking the boardwalk in shorts. The temperature was about 80 degrees (F) and sunny…so much for averages.

After the typical research we picked the Mijama Suites. If nothing else, it was perfectly located, and strangely empty. The room was nice enough, even though I didn’t get the balcony I saw in the pictures. I didn’t care too much about that; it was time to eat. After we changed, we were on our way.

The Good about Split, Croatia

The People

Our first stop was at the restaurant Kod Sfinge Vaneuropske Zviri, where we met some of the nicest locals we have encountered while traveling, that was a theme that seemed to repeat itself. It didn’t matter if it was on a small tour, a restaurant or bar, everyone was genuinely kind. Maybe we just got lucky, but they treat you like they have known you for years.

I am sure they have their share of arseholes…everyplace does, but we did a good job at avoiding them.

The History

Split was the home to the pagan Roman Emperor Diocletian; this means Split, Croatia is oozing with all things Roman. The Diocletian Palace is beautiful, and I was lucky to have my hotel right in the center.

Most of the city (at least the part that most people visit) is inside the palace walls. The city is one of those places you should take a SMALL tour in, due to the fact that there is a lot to learn about the area. You just don’t want to be stuck with a couple hundred 80-year-old’s with fanny packs and big sun glasses, since your purpose is to learn something. There were so many walls, alleys, hidden temples, and statues from the Romans; the knowledge you gain gives one a whole new perspective.

There are other historic monuments in the city, such as the Cathedral Bell Tower and the statue of Gregory of Nin (See the big toe..). Both great, but I come for the old stuff.

There are Plenty of Day Trips

We went on four day/partial day trips in the 9 or so days we were in Split, Croatia. I am not usually big on day trips, but I made an exception here. It is a quick drive to Mostar, Bosnia which is worth it if you are in Split for an extended visit.

We also went to Trogier, and spent a good part of a night at a winery (great experience) and took a full day Game of Thrones tour. I know it sounds touristy, but we learned a lot of real history from that tour as well. Plus, you get to see a great Castle that was featured in the show (Meereen).

Other tours include Hvar,  Plitvice Lakes National Park, Dubrovnik, hell you can even go to Italy if you are so inclined. You can probably go to Split for ten days and spend all of them outside the city.

Some Restaurants Treat You Like Family (In the right place)

There were a couple of restaurants we kept coming back to in Split, this was due to the great food and great people. I speak about that more in my post about the best restaurants in Split. When traveling, I tend to go to a lot of different places, but here that was a bit more difficult.

Luckily, that didn’t matter, as some of the restaurants in Split were so welcoming and the food was so good that I kept repeating the experience. We were given free drinks, invited to the staff closing party in one place, and invited to hang out with the owner after they closed in another. This all was bitter sweet for reasons I will lay out below..

The Bad About Split Croatia

It’s Small

I will preface this by stating, we spent a lot of our time in the city walls, but we did walk up and down the coast several miles.

I must have lapped the inner part of the city 50 times on our trip. At first, the city felt like a maze, but soon I knew every nook and cranny to the point I was almost too used to it. This led to…”what do we do now”? Even after we spent days at other locations outside of Split, I felt like we saw the entire place. When we travel, we travel hard. It is amazing how much you can see when you hardly sleep. In this city, you might as well take your time, it is so tiny.

The smallness can be felt in the restaurant scene also. Tripadvisor lists about 400 restaurants in the whole city. To keep this in perspective, there are 462 listed in Lancaster, Pen. and over 90K in Tokyo.

I realize I am comparing apples and meteoroids, but I am trying to make a point. Since Tripadvisor is so loose with its definition of restaurants, you can probably eliminate two thirds of those and find yourself looking for something to eat.

It is on The Verge of Being a Tourist Trap

We went in October, the off season, and it was still a mad house. It isn’t fun dodging a 500-person tour, with their blank stares cameras and headphones when going through narrow streets. Cruise Ship zombies were everywhere, and it got overbearing at times.

Worse than that, the area was being eroded by tourist traps. Yes, we found some good places, but many were made for the masses, with overpriced underwhelming food.

The owner of our favorite restaurant said there maybe three non-tourist traps left in the city. Before the boom there were over a hundred good places (or so we were told). Grandmas kitchen just can’t compete with Big Don’s Freshly Defrosted Calamari & Hamburgers (I may have made that one up, don’t google it.)

This could be seen in the places that were touted as authentic, yet only had 3-day old fried calamari on the menu. The phony traveler can brag they had a “real European experience,” when in reality they were eating the equivalent of frozen fish sticks from Long John Silvers. It doesn’t matter to the owner if they liked it, once someone eats, they are back on the cruise to play dollar slots and Bingo never to be seen again. The authenticity of the country, like so many others, is getting watered down by tourists.

Lastly, I don’t like paying $13 for a drink, when I know in Europe they are usually half that price. This is what happens when you pick the wrong drink stand. Tourist traps bring about over inflated prices, this was felt on more than one occasion.

The Season Closed Down Early

This might not be a problem for you depending on when you are going, but for us it was a little disappointing. We went toward the end of the season in October. Our favorite restaurant closed down three days into our trip, which changed the vibe. Our second favor place closed after four days, others followed behind it, so our options were limited. By the last day we almost had to grab a fishing net and pole

Even most of the tour zombies (but not all) had died down toward the end. Hell, a place was open, that advertised porchetta sandwiches, told us they stopped making them for the season…have some two-day old pizza. They probably will be serving that slice next year. As we walked the streets the last day, with the rain falling down and the cold kicking in, I was ready to go. I loved Croatia, but I felt like I did all there was to be done.

Mixed Reviews on The Food Overall

Of all the Mediterranean areas, we visited I would say that Split was toward the bottom of the list when it comes to food. Now, to be fair, that is because Spain, Greece and Portgual were exceptional. The olive oil was some of the best I have had. There was the classic grilled calamari (when it could be found) in numerous places. Octopus was lacking due to a poor season on this trip. One additional disappointment there wasn’t much of a fish market, at least not on the scale of Greece and Barcelona.

That said, there were more than a few great pasta and pizza dishes to be had. In addition, there were fantastic traditional dishes such as Crni rizot (squid ink risotto) and Pašticada, a rich, stewed dish that I actually liked. I normally don’t eat stewed meats, but the sauce helped.

Still something was lacking… First, as mentioned, there weren’t a lot of authentic places to choose from, that were open. There were three places we loved and a couple we liked, but it wasn’t a river of good food as is typical of other places / countries. As mentioned, (ranted about) the tourist traps where plentiful, especially near the water. Plus, everything closed down early, both in the season and at night. …and yet the food was still heads and tails better than where I live now.

Would I go Back to Split, Croatia?

Go back? Not any time soon, do I regret going? Absolutely not. Contrary to the tone of this article, I did enjoy the city. We met great people, both foreign and local. The history alone is worth experiencing, as well as risking one’s life to climb the bell tower. Not to mention it is really just a great city to walk around.

Personally it isn’t calling me back like other areas. I have no fantasies about pulling up my roots and settling down in Croatia, just a satisfaction that I went and I am planning for my next destination…

My advice to you is to do what most do, plan on combining it with another location like Dubrovnik. If you move like us you can see it in three days. If you find yourself going longer, plan on a lot of day trips…when else can you go to Bosnia, for example? Go to Split yes, just leave before you get sick of the city.