In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Day 1 is Diocletian’s Palace: the cellars (€10, Split City Museum), the cathedral and the Riva. Day 2 is a trip out of the city: Klis Fortress and Salona on bus 22, Trogir on bus 37, Krka at €7 or Hvar on the Stari Grad ferry. Day 3 is the city’s edge: the Meštrović Gallery (open Tuesday to Sunday, Meštrović Museums), Marjan and Bačvice. Keep the gallery for a day that is not a Monday. Or book a tour: Split: Diocletian’s Palace & Old Town Small Group Tourad (from €15, 4.9 stars from 1,034 reviews) covers day 1 with a guide, so you reach the cellars and the Peristyle in the right order without a map.
⚠️ Mondays close the Meštrović Gallery and the City Museum’s Papalić Palace, and the Archaeological Museum is closed on Sundays. The palace cellars are shut on 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January and 28 March. The Jadrolinija catamaran to Hvar made its last 2026 sailings on 11 October, so an island day uses the car ferry.
The three days
| Day | Area | Sights | Closed or limited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Diocletian’s Palace and the Riva | Cellars, cathedral and bell tower, baptistery, Riva | Cellars open 9:00 to 17:00 from 1 November 2026 to 28 March 2027; closed 18 November; cathedral and bell tower open to 17:30 |
| 2 | Out of the city | Klis and Salona, Trogir, Krka or Hvar | Salona closes at 18:00 from 1 October to 31 May; no Krka park boat or bus before 1 April |
| 3 | Marjan, Meštrović and Bačvice | Meštrović Gallery, Marjan, Bačvice | Gallery closed Monday |
The Tourist Board’s own one-day plan starts at the scale model of the old town on the Riva and walks west to the squares, then the north wall and the Golden Gate, then inside the palace (Visit Split). This page follows the same logic across three days.
Day 1: the palace
Start with the Substructures, the cellars of Diocletian’s Palace, which open at 9:00 and cost €10 (€8 for students, pensioners and Tourist Card holders, €18 for a family with children under 15). Last admission is 30 minutes before closing at 17:00 (Split City Museum). The halls levelled the southern part of the palace and carried the emperor’s apartments above them; the western part opened to the public in 1959 and the eastern halls in 1996, and the palace has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979 (Split City Museum). The Split-Dalmatia County tourist board lists them as the Dragon Cellars in Game of Thrones, and the Game of Thrones guide has the other locations.
Walking through the palace streets and the central passage is free. The Peristyle, the central square, has a granite sphinx that the Tourist Board dates to about 3,500 years ago (Visit Split). The cathedral of St Domnius, in the emperor’s mausoleum, sells separate tickets: €5 for the cathedral, €5 for the treasury, €7 for the bell tower, €3 for the crypt and €3 for the baptistery, the former Temple of Jupiter. A ticket for everything is €15. The cathedral and bell tower are open until 17:30, and the Tourist Board gives the tower as 57 metres with steps to the top (Visit Split). The cathedral and bell tower page has the combined tickets, and Diocletian’s Palace has the history.
An Egyptian sphinx on the Peristyle. Photo: Following Hadrian, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Lunch and dinner are covered in where to eat in Split, and Split craft beer and wine has the evening. End on the Riva, the waterfront promenade.
Tours for the three days
A guide saves most on day 1, when the palace has no signposted route, and on day 2, when a coach tour handles a long day out. Each of these has more than 1,000 reviews on GetYourGuide.
Palace and Old Town on foot
From €15 · 4.9 stars from 1,034 reviews · 1.5 to 5.5 hours · free cancellation
Split: Diocletian’s Palace & Old Town Small Group Tourad is a small-group walk with a private option on the listing. It suits the first morning.
Electric tuk-tuk city tour
From €46 · 4.9 stars from 2,014 reviews · 2 hours · wheelchair accessible · free cancellation
Split: City Highlights Electric Tuk-Tuk Tourad rides to the Vidilica terrace and Marjan Hill and stops for a short walking tour of the palace. It suits anyone who wants Marjan’s views without the climb.
Krka by coach
From €35 · 4.8 stars from 13,692 reviews · 9 hours · free cancellation
Split: Krka Waterfalls Trip with Boat Cruise and Swimmingad is a nine-hour trip with a guide, a boat cruise up the Krka river and a stop in Primošten. It handles the transfer on a day when the park’s own boat and bus are not running.
Day 2: choose a trip
| Trip | Getting there | Cost | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klis and Salona | Promet Split line 22 to Klis, 12 km | Klis €12; Salona with the Archaeological Museum €10 | Klis open daily 9:00 to 19:00 (Klis Fortress); Salona daily 9:00 to 18:00 from 1 October to 31 May, so do Salona first (Archaeological Museum) |
| Trogir | Promet Split bus 37 | €2.50 on the app, €5.00 from the driver (Promet Split) | The airport is 6 km from Trogir (Split Airport) |
| Krka | A tour, or the park’s own transport from the entrances | €7 adult in November and December | Skradinski buk open 9:00 to 16:00; no park boat or bus before 1 April (Krka National Park) |
| Hvar | Jadrolinija ferry 635 to Stari Grad, 120 minutes, then a bus | €5.90 each way | 8:30 ferry out; last ferry home 17:30 from 28 September to 31 December (Jadrolinija) |
Day trips from Split compares them with Brač, Vis, Plitvice and Omiš. From 28 September to 31 December the Stari Grad ferry leaves Split at 8:30 every day except 25 and 26 December, and leaves Stari Grad at 17:30 every day (Jadrolinija timetable).
The Croatian National Theatre, west of the palace. Photo: Argo Navis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Day 3: Meštrović, Marjan and Bačvice
The Meštrović Gallery is at Šetalište Ivana Meštrovića 46, open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00 to 17:00, and closed on Mondays and public holidays. An adult ticket is €12 (€8 for students and pensioners, €20 for a family with children under 15), and it also covers Meštrović’s Crikvine and Kaštilac (Meštrović Museums). It is a 15-minute walk from the Riva, or a ride on bus 7, 8, 12 or 21.
Marjan is the forested peninsula west of the old town, and the Tourist Board says you climb it directly from the Riva. Its watchtower at Sedlo is 148 metres above sea level, has a lift and is free to enter (Visit Split). Small old churches stand along the hill, some on the south side carved into the rock (Visit Split).
The church of St Nicholas on Marjan. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Finish at Bačvice, the sandy city beach, designated the municipal beach in 1919. The Tourist Board says picigin, a ball game played in the shallows, is played there even in winter (Visit Split).
On a Monday the gallery is closed, so do Marjan and Bačvice and add the Archaeological Museum, open Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 20:00, from 1 October to 31 May; or the City Museum’s Grand Papalić Palace, which is open Tuesday to Sunday only.
What the three days cost to enter
| Sight | Adult ticket | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Palace cellars | €10 | Split City Museum |
| Cathedral, bell tower and treasury | €12 | Cathedral guide |
| Klis Fortress | €12 | Klis Fortress |
| Archaeological Museum with Salona | €10 | Archaeological Museum |
| Meštrović Gallery with Kaštilac | €12 | Meštrović Museums |
That is €56 for an adult, before bus fares and meals; the free things to do in Split list stretches the days without adding to it.
What to see next
- Day trips from Split: the trips compared, with the winter ferry dates.
- Free things to do in Split: what costs nothing.
- Split airport to the city: the shuttle and bus 37.
- Getting around Split: city buses and fares.
- Best time to visit Split: the seasons.
- Where to eat in Split: konobas and the dishes to order.
- Where to stay in Split: hotels in the city.
Common questions
Is 3 days enough for Split?
Yes. Day 1 covers Diocletian's Palace, its cellars and the cathedral, day 2 fits one trip out of the city, and day 3 covers Marjan, the Meštrović Gallery and Bačvice.
Which day should I leave the museums for?
Not Monday, when the Meštrović Gallery and the Split City Museum's Papalić Palace and Emanuel Vidović Gallery are closed, and not Sunday for the Archaeological Museum. The palace cellars are open every day except 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January, and 28 March.
Can I do Hvar as a day trip in winter?
Yes, on the Jadrolinija ferry to Stari Grad: it leaves Split at 8:30 and the last ferry home leaves Stari Grad at 17:30, from 28 September to 31 December. The Split to Hvar catamarans have ended for the season.
How much are the palace cellars and the cathedral?
The cellars are €10 for adults. At the cathedral, the cathedral is €5, the treasury €5, the bell tower €7, the crypt €3 and the baptistery €3, and a ticket for everything is €15. Walking through the palace streets is free.
How do I get from the airport to Split?
The Platanus shuttle costs €10 one way and leaves about 30 minutes after each arriving flight, running non-stop to the main bus station in about 30 minutes. Promet Split bus 37 also serves the airport, at €2.00 on the app or €4.00 from the driver.
How much does the three-day plan cost in entry tickets?
Cellars €10, cathedral with bell tower and treasury €12, Klis Fortress €12, Archaeological Museum with Salona €10 and the Meštrović Gallery €12: €56 for an adult, before transport.
