Split with Kids 🇭🇷
Split is a captivating coastal city that makes for a great trip with kids.
We did a 5-day mid-week trip to Split in Croatia last year, taking advantage of our remote work flexibility and cheap flights from Amsterdam. It was even better than we expected!
Split is best known as a convenient starting point for island hopping (for good reason), and a Game of Thrones filming location, but we discovered a captivating coastal city worth visiting in its own right. With Diocletian's Palace, the crystal-clear waters of the Adriatic, good food, and exciting day trips—it makes for a great trip with kids.
🏨 Where We Stayed
For our trip to Split in early November 2022, we stayed at Villa Mala, located in a quiet residential area just East of the city centre. The stylish apartments offered easy access on foot to nearby beaches, as well as Split's main attractions.
We stayed in the penthouse apartment on the top floor. We booked on Airbnb mid-week (outside high season) so got a great deal (€150 / night)!
It was big: 90m2 with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, fully-equipped kitchen, dining area, two balconies, and a living room with a fireplace. Kids-wise it had: a Pack 'n Play, a highchair, microwave, and black-out curtains. The highlight was the hydromassage hot tub on the balcony, which added an extra touch of relaxation and luxury to our stay.
⛲️ What We Did
🌅 Explored the Coastal Area
Our apartment was a 5-minute walk from the coastal area near Bacvice Beach, and we strolled along the promenade between there and Marina Zenta every day, stopping at little coves and beaches along the way.
The water was remarkably clear, and we found it a perfect spot to unwind and appreciate the changing colours throughout the day. The water was so inviting, that I even went for a swim one day (in November).
🏛️ Diocletian's Palace / Old Town
UNESCO-listed Diocletian's Palace was built for Roman emperor Diocletian in AD 305. Today it forms around half of the entire Old Town of Split! So just by walking around the Old Town, you can explore its many magnificent buildings and squares.
🏞 Day Trip to Krka National Park
We considered doing a day trip to a nearby island, but was a bit chilly, so we chose our tour to Krka National Park instead. We're so glad we did. It was only 1.5 hours away from Split, and it ended up being the highlight of our trip to Split!
As they proudly state on Instagram, Krka National Park has:
- 7 waterfalls 💦
- 8 medieval fortresses 🏰
- 2 sacred sites ⛪️
- 20 archaeological sites 🏛
- 1197 plant species 🌿🌳
- 1058 animal species 🦆🦇
It's the cascading waterfalls that steal the show. Really impressive, and with so much water flowing everywhere, you can't fathom how the surrounding buildings aren't being flooded! It was the highlight of our trip to Split.
Having both worked for Airbnb (Rocio still does), we usually book Airbnb Experiences, but in Split we found a local provider which had better reviews, and was significantly cheaper:
Booker.hr by jDesign
The day ended at a family-owned winery, which produced delicious apricot wine, for tastings. It was so good we brought some to take home. PS - for GoT fans, there are a few sites that featured in the show along the way
🍽 Where We Ate
Tortuga: amazing meat dishes, friendly service, and just look at the sea view. It was so good, we came back here three times!
Cookie Lab: Quality coffee, pastries, and cakes. We mostly got takeaway from here, and headed across the road to the coast to drink and eat.
BOKAMORRA: Sometimes on a trip with kids you just want to eat in. After reading reviews where people said it was the best pizza they'd ever had, we had to try Bokamorra (we ordered on local delivery app Wolt). It was really quality pizza! The place looks great to go in person too:
BOKAMORRA
🚶♂️ How We Got Around
We walked everywhere in Split, and got Ubers from and to the airport.
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