In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The cellars of Diocletian’s Palace are the vaulted halls that levelled the southern part of the palace and carried the emperor’s private apartments. A ticket is €10 and they are open every day from 09:00 to 17:00 until 28 March 2027, with last entry at 16:30 (Split City Museum price list and hours). Tickets are also sold on the museum’s online shop. The halls are on the Game of Thrones trail. Or book a tour: Split Game of Thrones & History Walking Tour with Ticketsad (from €39, 4.9 stars from 686 reviews) is a guided walk of about 100 minutes with skip-the-line entry in the listing, so you do not queue at the ticket desk.
⚠️ Closed days: 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January and 28 March. The cellars close at 17:00, and the last entry is 30 minutes before (Split City Museum).
Tickets and hours
Prices are the Split City Museum’s 2026 price list and the hours apply from 1 November 2026 to 28 March 2027.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult | €10 |
| Pupils, students, pensioners, Tourist Card | €8 |
| Family (parents with children under 15) | €18 |
| Under 7 | Free |
The pensioner rate needs a document issued in Croatia. Art-school pupils, unemployed people and people with disabilities (with a companion) are also free, with a document (Split City Museum).
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday to Sunday | 09:00 to 17:00 |
| 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January, 28 March | Closed |
Tickets are sold until 30 minutes before closing. The price list adds 50% for a visit outside opening hours and 100% on public holidays. The online shop sends tickets by email: show them on a phone or print them, and staff scan them at the door. An unused ticket can be cancelled for a refund, and a ticket can be passed to another person (shop terms).
The Split City Museum also runs the Papalić Palace (€10) and the Emanuel Vidović Gallery (€8). Both are open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and closed on Mondays and public holidays.
Getting in
The cellars are reached through the Bronze Gate, the small south gate on the Riva, or down a staircase from the Peristyle. The museum’s address for the cellars is Obala hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 1, which is the Riva. The Peristyle entrance is the one to use if you have just come from the cathedral (Split Tourist Board).
The central passage between the Riva and the Peristyle. Photo: Gaius Cornelius, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Tours and the cellars
A guide helps because the layout only makes sense with the plan of the rooms above in mind. A tour does not always include the cellar ticket, so check the listing: the Game of Thrones walk below names tickets in its title.
Game of Thrones walk with tickets
From €39 · 4.9 stars from 686 reviews · 100 to 105 minutes · skip the line · free cancellation
Split Game of Thrones & History Walking Tour with Ticketsad: a guided walk about 100 minutes long with skip-the-line entry and a private option. The listing is wheelchair accessible and offers pickup, and it must be booked at least eight hours ahead.
Palace and Old Town walk
From €15 · 4.9 stars from 5,865 reviews · 1.5 to 5 hours · free cancellation
Diocletian’s Palace - Split Old Town Guided SMALL GROUP Tourad: a local guide covers the palace and the Riva, with a private option. It covers the palace above ground and is the cheapest guided option on this page.
Palace, Vestibule and local bites
From €46 · 4.9 stars from 42 reviews · 2 to 2.5 hours · free cancellation
Split: Diocletian Palace, Vestibul & Local Bites Guided Tourad: a walk of two to two and a half hours that takes in the Vestibule and adds food stops. It has a private option and can be booked an hour ahead.
Official ticket or tour: the prices side by side
A GetYourGuide “from” price is the cheapest option in the product.
| What you want | Official | On GetYourGuide |
|---|---|---|
| The cellars alone | €10 (Split City Museum) | Not needed: buy from the museum |
| The cellars on a guided Game of Thrones walk | €10, no guide | Walk with tickets from €39 |
| A guided walk of the palace above ground | Free to walk | Palace walks from €15 |
What the cellars are
The halls are a copy of the rooms above them. The layout of the cellars matches the plan of the emperor’s apartments, which have not survived, so the cellars let you work out where the dining room, the kitchen, the women’s quarters and the spa stood (Split Tourist Board). They also held the palace’s stores, and in one hall the parts of an ancient oil and wine press were found and are displayed where they lay (Split Tourist Board).
The City Museum explains why the cellars exist: the ground of sea rock falls steeply from north to south, and the halls levelled the southern part of the site, carried the imperial rooms on a higher floor and kept damp from the sea and groundwater out of them. From the Middle Ages they filled with rubbish and fallen building material from the houses above (Split City Museum).
Above the halls, the imperial chambers stood where the Ethnographic Museum now sits, in the former church of St Andrew on the far side of the square from the Vestibule. The Tourist Board says the western chambers were dominated by a library, and that the emperor’s spa lay next to the chambers on the south-west side, where the interior of Hotel Slavija is today (Split Tourist Board). The chambers themselves have not survived, which is why the cellars matter: they are a faithful replica of the plan.
A vaulted hall with displayed timber. Photo: Dennis G. Jarvis, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
The clearing of the cellars began in the mid-19th century under the architect Vicko Andrić, the first Split and Croatian conservationist, and continued into the 1960s (Split Tourist Board). The western halls opened to the public in 1959 and the eastern halls, after major restoration, in 1996 (Split City Museum). The palace has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979, and the Tourist Board says the cellars are among the reasons.
A vaulted hall in the cellars. Photo: dronepicr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Exhibitions, shops and events
The halls are used as a venue. The Tourist Board lists painting and sculpture exhibitions, theatre plays, the International Flower Fair, and food and wine presentations, so a hall can be closed off or dressed for an event when you visit (Split Tourist Board). The central hall is a souvenir street on the way between the Riva and the Peristyle.
Press equipment in a cellar hall. Photo: dronepicr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
Game of Thrones
The cellars are a stop on the Game of Thrones trail in Split, which covers the other locations, Klis Fortress and the tickets for each.
What to see next
- Diocletian’s Palace guide: the gates, the Peristyle and the Vestibule above the cellars.
- Riva promenade walk: the waterfront outside the Bronze Gate.
- Split cathedral and bell tower: the next ticket on the Peristyle.
- Jupiter temple and baptistery: the other Roman building on the Peristyle.
- Archaeological Museum: the finds from Salona, if you want more Roman Split.
- Free things to do in Split: what costs nothing around the palace.
Common questions
How much are tickets to the Diocletian's Palace cellars?
€10 for adults and €8 for pupils, students, pensioners (with a document issued in Croatia) and Tourist Card holders. A family ticket for parents with children under 15 is €18, and children under 7 go in free (Split City Museum 2026 price list).
What are the opening hours?
From 1 November 2026 to 28 March 2027, every day from 09:00 to 17:00, with last admission 30 minutes before closing. They are closed on 18 November, 25 and 26 December, 1 and 6 January and 28 March.
Who runs the cellars?
The Split City Museum (Muzej grada Splita), which also runs the Papalić Palace, the Emanuel Vidović Gallery and the Old Town Hall.
Is walking through the central passage free?
The Split Tourist Board describes the central hall as the main route between the Riva and the Peristyle, lined with souvenir stalls, and the rest of the halls as the part open for sightseeing. The museum's ticket is for the sightseeing halls.
Can I buy cellar tickets online?
Yes, on the Split City Museum's online shop. The ticket is sent by email, shown on a phone or printed, and scanned at the entrance. An unused ticket can be cancelled with a refund.
What do the cellars cost outside opening hours?
The museum's price list adds 50% to tickets for a visit outside opening hours and 100% on public holidays.
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