The Dalmatian coast has some of the most beautiful scenery. The water is a different shade of blue every time you glace at it. Boats of all different shapes and sizes from small schooners to mega yachts line the harbors. Everywhere you turn there is green, from parks, private gardens, and lime trees overflowing flowerpots along the pathways. While the thermometer might read 95 degrees, there is always a nice breeze so it never feels that way. The labyrinth of streets and covered walkways offers relief when you need a rest, and the gelato vendors are always out in force to help take a bite out of the heat.
When we left Budapest, we caught a night train to Split, Croatia. The night trains run twice a week starting around the middle of June, and goes until roughly the beginning of September. If you can time it correctly, its a good way to combined travel and sleep accommodations to cut down on your overall travel costs. The train leaves out of Kelenfold station at around 7pm, makes multiple stops throughout the night, and arrives in Split at about 9 in the morning. This site can give you more information on booking tickets. You can book seats, or sleeper cars. It's a long ride in a seat, so I would advise a sleeper if you can. You can also share sleepers that are based on gender. I have done this before with no problem (it's honestly like sharing a hostel room, which I've also done with no problems or safety issues). We chose a female 3 coach sleeper because it was cheaper than a 2 sleeper. The 3rd person in our sleeper was an extremely nice, older woman on her way to visit family in Split for holiday. The most interesting part of this ride was that we had to stop for over an hour due to something on the tracks, and some lovely British boys serenaded us with quotes from Harry Potter during our wait.
When our train arrived, we caught an Uber up to the top of Marjan Park (it was to far to walk with a 30lb pack on our backs, and city transportation did not go the route we needed). Marjan Park is the peninsula part of Split, with homes that ring the coastline. We found a very affordable place to stay on Airbnb.com Our little place had a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and this amazing view, all for $70 a night.
1. Check out Matejuska
One of the first thing we did when checking out Split, was head to the Matejuska. This is the smaller part of the port where all the fancy yachts come to port for the night. They were actually filming "Below Deck: Mediterranean" for Bravo Tv while we were there.
I think those are my favorite sunset pictures I've ever taken.
2. Stroll the Riva and grab a bit to eat
Near the Matejuska you will also find the start of the Riva. The Riva is one of the main streets and has many restaurants, shops, and interesting sights to see. If you like to people watch, this is certainly your place.
3. Get lost in the old part of town near Diocletian's Palace
When walking along the Riva, look for the Splitska Banka, right after that you will see what looks like an arch in the stone wall, this is a great way to enter the old town. It looks like the picture below (which is from Google Maps).
This opens up into a cute square with restaurants and gelato. I wish I would have written down every place we ate in old town. One of the restaurants we ate at had some of the best seafood I've ever eaten in my life, held a max of 8 tables and only took cash.
4. Go on a Games of Thrones Tour
There are many tour companies that will give you official tours. Or you can save yourself the money and plan out your own. Which is what we did. Start off by checking out Diocletian's Palace. Many of Daenerys' scenes, when the dragons were being held captive, were filmed here.
The window at the top of this room is where they placed the stairs that Danny walked down to get into the chamber that held the dragons. This is me pretending to be a dragon.
One of the walkways where the "Sparrows" murdered the townsfolk. Reagan totally over my fan girling. Meanwhile, I'm wondering where my dragons are...
This is the top part of the palace.
It was apparently the inspiration for the moon door that Peyter pushed people out of.
Also underneath the Palace, a market is set up with lots of fun trinkets to buy.
Here are a few shots of the outside area
5. Find the hidden beaches
When it comes to beaches, Croatia has some of the best. One of the hidden gems that we found near our apartment, was Kasjuni beach (pronounced like Cash-u-knee). I paid a few dollars for this chair for most of the afternoon. There is also a bar, roped off swimming area, and the boat in the picture gives tours of the coast a few times a day.
6. Wander everywhere
I loved wandering old town. We got lost for several hours looking at ruins, checking out hidden out of the way shops, and going to museums that were not on any guide book but were well worth the trip. Almost all parts of this area of town have built right into the old stone of the palace.
7. Climb to the top of the Bell Tower
One of the last things that we did in Split was climb to the top of the bell tower of Diocletian's Palace. Tickets are fairly inexpensive, and have 3 prices. One price to see the bell tower only, one price for the bell tower and/or the church or crypt, and a third price if you want to see the tower, church, and crypt. We got the ticket for all 3. The walk up the stairs to the bell tower is tiiiiiiiiny. Emphasis on tiny!! This is it:
Its wide enough for 1 person to pass through...oh and let me also add, this is the entrance AND exit for the bell tower. The wait can be a tad long as they can only let a few people through at a time. It opens up a bit when you get past the enclosed stone, however you still have to turn sideways to pass the people who are going the opposite direction from you.
The views from the top!
There was a storm rolling in on our last day, so the clouds came out to play which made for great shots! The walk down to the crypt, which sounds a lot scarier than it was.
8. Take a ferry to Hvar island
From Split, we caught the Ferry to Hvar Island. We bought tickets from the ferry office at the port the day of. If that freaks you out, and you want to buy them in advance, you can do that here. Ferries leave several times a day, and all are open to foot traffic, no vehicles.
The port in Hvar is much smaller than Split, but still offers amazing views
When you step off of the ferry, the first thing you see at the top of the hill is the Spanish Fortress.
9. Check out Saint Stephen
10. Go to the Spanish Fortress
There are two ways to get there. One is a narrow pedestrian switch back trail that snakes back and forth up to the top of the hill, the other is a major road (open to traffic) that is much less steep but does not have sidewalks. We took the main road up to the top due to getting a little lost. The cars weren't too bad, but you should still watch out and take your time, especially around the curves in the road.
Whats left of the stone walls and entrance gates.
View from half way up!
I'll spare you from the millions of pictures that I took of the fortress, just know it's rather extensive. The dungeons are still intact, as well as many other rooms. It's quite amazing when you get to the top.
The views are incredible!
11. Take a walk over to the Franciscan Monastery.
Once we caught our breath, and took the switch back trail back down the hill, we walked over to the Franciscan Monastery.
We wanted to stay longer, but the return ferry ticket had a specific time on it. If you miss that time, you have to purchase a new ticket. I truly wish we had had more time in Hvar. It was a magical little place with friendly people, good food, amazing views, quaint little shops, and one of my most favorite things. The slow paced lifestyle of sleepy little Mediterranean towns, where nothing is done in a hurry and everyone simply enjoys where ever the day may take them.
When we got back to Split, we caught an over night ferry to Ancona, Italy. Are you sensing a theme yet with the overnight methods of travel?
We left just as a major storm was rolling in. More on that ferry ride and our Italian adventure in the next update!
-Until the next adventure!