Dinkwads Abroad

Do you remember the whole “This is my Roman empire” thing going around at one point, where it’s the thing you think about at least once a day? Well, my Roman Empire is the Roman Empire. I’m obsessed with that history. I’m not going to lie to you – the first time I saw real, ancient Roman ruins that you could just walk around and be a part of in Lyon, France, I cried a little bit. I was so overwhelmed with emotion that I was able to literally walk in something that was built in BC. And that was for just an amphitheater. Now imagine how I felt when I saw there was a WHOLE PALACE built by a Roman emperor in 305 AD that this city was just built into! Of course I had to go.

And while I had pictured Split old town like many preserved old towns, modestly reserved, modernized for comfort but dedicated to maintaining a feel of stepping through time, Split was anything but that. The city is a fascinating blend of modern energy and antiquity, where in one street you could be staring at a 3500 year old Sphinx from Egypt in an 800 year old square with a giant screen projecting a TV show from the 80s in the summer evenings. And just around the corner, amidst the aged limestone walls and towering columns, you may find an EDM concert on a massive stage. The city is old and aged, but full of youthful energy and life. Does the name Split come from its split personalities of ancient and contemporary? Who’s to say? (Spoiler: No, it doesn’t. But it still fits.)

So if your Roman Empire is, in fact, the Roman Empire, make sure you add Split to your Croatia itinerary!

Where We Stayed

I don’t think I have to explain why we had to stay in city center in Split. When you’re given the option to stay within the walls of an ancient Roman palace, you stay within the walls of an ancient Roman palace. Especially when there are affordable options to do so! So that’s exactly how we ended up at Palace Tower View Apartments.

If you read my post about where we stayed in Dubrovnik, you might remember that the check-in process was not so smooth. Unfortunately, this one was similar. I don’t know if this is a trend in Croatia with guesthouses, or if I just was the unlucky one who had poor communication from our hosts. But again, we ended up at the apartment building, 15 minutes before check-in time, with no instructions and no phone number to call. Luckily, I was able to find a phone number online and get a hold of them, at which point they gathered information for my booking. I then had to wait the 15 minutes until the exact check-in time to get the information I needed to get into the room, which seemed a little ridiculous to me because no one came in or out of the room during that time – it was ready.

Once finally in the room though, it was great! The window looked directly onto the old town with the bell tower front and center, and the space was clean and comfortable. Like many old buildings, it required walking up a few flights of stairs, so be prepared for that. The room itself was also tucked away in a corner, which is great for noise, but it also took a few twists and turns to get there. At the end of the day, that maybe only added a minute or two to our walk home at night, so it wasn’t a big deal to us, but some may want something more central, whether for easy access or safety. Although Croatia is one of the safest countries in the world, so you don’t really have to be concerned with safety thankfully!

Cost: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Despite the clunky check-in process, I’ll still give this 4 stars because of a great central location and a clean, comfortable room. I’m really not hard to please. It’s not a luxury stay by any means, but I’m judging it by price to quality ratio. And for the price in such a great location, it’s great!

Palace Tower Apartments
Ul. Ivana Lukacica 5, 21000, Split, Croatia
Check Availability Here

Where We Ate

As a vibrant city perched on the edge of contemporary and tradition, Split has something for everyone. Whether you want more classic Croatian dishes cooked in a family-owned restaurant (called a konoba), grab and go contemporary street food, or modern fine dining, you can find it in Split!

Here’s where we opted to eat, and whether you should make a plan to eat there!

Fife
Trumbiceva obala 11, 21000, Split, Croatia

Konoba Fife shouldn’t even be a question mark for you. It’s in a district full of other konobas, which are locally owned restaurants, and I’m sure they’re all great, but this one came recommended from multiple people, and I can see why. The restaurant is larger than I expected, with some hysterical, though slightly inappropriate, comics on the wall for decoration. It has a warm, inviting feel with service to match. And the food was absolutely top notch. Everything was delicious, but the sea bass was truly spectacular. It was not just one of the best meals I had in Croatia, but one of the best meals of my life! At $88 total for two glasses of wine, sea bass, octopus, and a side of vegetables, it’s not super cheap, but also not crazy expensive for the quality.

As for the wine, we tried a Posip Kuna and Malvazia Deplic, both Croatian white wines. Although we started the trip drinking Posip, we ended it drinking Malvazia. We found it was just a little smoother with more body than the Posip, which is what we typically like in a white wine. We liked it so much, in fact, that we got a bottle to bring home and have since sought out the varietal in local stores here in KC – and actually managed to find one!

Price: $$
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Make a plan to go here and order the sea bass! It’s one of those dishes that is going to be carved into my memory, forever tempting me to buy a plane ticket to Split just to get a taste of it. I will go here anytime I’m back in Split and only order that dish and be deliriously happy, despite being a foodie who lives to try new food.
Logistics: They accept credit card and I’m sure they accept cash. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table without a reservation, but if you’re going during peak season, plan ahead and book a table because you don’t want to miss this place!

Tradicija Bakery
Bosanska ul. 2, 21000, Split, Croatia

It’s rare to get a pastry that has almost TOO much filling. But Tradicija Bakery doesn’t skimp on the filling or the flavor. And we got these first thing in the morning, so they were piping hot! They had a lot more options than just these filled pastries, and I would imagine they’re all just as flavorful, flaky, and fantastic!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: You should definitely go try SOMETHING, whether it’s a breakfast pastry like we got or a dessert!
Logistics: They accept card or cash. Get there early in the morning (they open at 8 AM) to get them fresh out of the oven!

Taste of Split Festival

I debated whether or not to include this one because it was a festival, so it’s not something that’s open daily. We just stumbled upon this Taste of Split festival and got to have local prosciutto, cheese, flatbread, and other snacks from all the different vendors, and wash it all down with a draft beer from the local brewery, Tap B.

The reason I chose to share this, knowing it might not be available when you go, is because Split seems to host a lot of special events throughout the year. So I encourage you to research and see if anything similar is happening with local vendors, because it’s a great way to get a cheap meal and try something unique!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Finding a local food festival is always the way to go if you can! It’s a great way to try things you might not otherwise get to have at a cheaper price!
Logistics: Everywhere but one stall accepted credit card, but just to be safe, plan to have both! As far as finding festivals, I’d just Google to see if there’s anything going on. But city center of Split is so small, there’s a good chance you’ll just stumble upon it if you follow the crowd or the noise or just walk long enough!

Gelateria Emiliana
Pistura ul. 1, 21000, Split, Croatia
Restaurant Website

This was our favorite gelato the whole trip! It came highly recommended by multiple locals, and I can 100% see why! The gelato was so creamy, and there was a variety of flavors to choose from! We opted for the mango greek yogurt and the amerena crocante and we really enjoyed them both!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Top notch gelato with great flavor options!
Logistics: I tried to find online whether they took credit card and got multiple contradictory answers, but let me clarify it: They DO take card! So no worries if, like us, you were running low on cash at that point in the day.

The Daltonist
Hrvojeva 10, 21000, Split, Croatia
Restaurant Website

After a morning ferry ride and waiting to check into our apartment, we were in desperate need of a beer and some food! The Daltonist wasn’t originally on my list of places to go, but it was just down the street from where we were staying and we were STARVED so we hoofed it over there as soon as we got unpacked!

It seems their menu changes pretty frequently, but we went with a spinach toast with ricotta and peaches and a pulled pork toast. The spinach toast was delicious – perfectly balanced with the sweet peaches and the creamy ricotta. The pulled pork toast didn’t do much for me, though. I admit that I may have high standards coming from the best city for BBQ (Kansas City, obviously), so I won’t hold it against them too much, but I wouldn’t get it again.

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Great stop for a lighter lunch or snack and some local beers! They also do some really interesting cocktails that I would have loved to have tried if we had the chance to go back!
Logistics: They accept card or cash. They appear to take reservations, and may require them when it’s busier. It was 2:30 PM when we went, so not exactly the busiest time of the day, so we were able to get in without a reservation no problem.

Other Places To Eat

While we didn’t get to eat at these restaurants and therefore can’t vouch for them ourselves, they were on our list of options based on other peoples’ suggestions!

Fish Mama Seafood & Steak – Trg Republike 2, 21000, Split, Croatia
Supposed to have great, affordable seafood.

Ba!Ce – Krizeva ul. 1, 21000, Split, Croatia
Barbecue restaurant, which in Croatia means grilled meat, like cevapi style.

St Burek – Domaldova ul. 13, 21000, Split, Croatia
Stop by for burek, the classic Croatian fast food!

Pizzeria Portas– kod 1, Ul. Kraj Zlatnih vrata, 21000, Split, Croatia
Their pizza looks amazing!

Where We Drank

Coffee

D16 Coffee
Dominisova ul. 16, 21000, Split, Croatia

Because of an early morning bus tour one of our days, I only had one morning where I got to get a nice coffee, but I’m glad it ended up at D16 Coffee! It’s an unassuming coffee shop tucked away into an alley in the palace, but you can tell you’re headed the right direction from the strong smell of delicious coffee!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Great coffee at a great price!
Logistics: They accept card or cash and you can get your coffee to stay or to go.

Libations

Leopold Craft Beer Bar
Dosud ul 1, 21000, Split, Croatia

If you’re looking for great craft beer in a cool spot right in the middle of Split, Leopold Craft Beer Bar is your spot! While their beer list isn’t massive, it’s still got plenty, and they’re all quality. So many so that we had to go back the next night! And the service is even better – the guy manning the bar was super friendly, and even remembered us again when we came back the next night!

They have their own pale ale brewed there, which was really well balanced and flavorful! We also had the delicious Garden Brewery IPA! We had multiple Garden Brewery beers while we were in Croatia. While their taproom is in Split, it was a little further outside of city center than we had time to go, but I would love to go visit, because I loved ALL of their beers!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Definitely make a stop by, whether for a beer, cocktail, or food!
Logistics: It’s cash only, so make sure you have some on you! Our total was 10.50 euros for two beers, so pretty reasonably priced! There’s inside and outside seating, but outside seating filled up pretty quick since the weather was nice!

The Daltonist
Hrvojeva 10, 21000, Split, Croatia
Restaurant Website

I know, I know, I mentioned The Daltonist under the Where We Ate category. But given that beer was half the reason we ended up going there, I figured I should include them under here as well! Their beer menu was small, but it was all local. We had the Mirakul IPA from Tap B, which is located in Split, and a hazy IPA from Hvar Brewing, located on Hvar island. So if you’re looking for a small but local tap list, this is a great place to go!

Despite having a solid local beer list, The Daltonist seems to be primarily a cocktail bar. They had some I was really interested in trying, but it was just a little early in the day for hard liquor! We had hoped to go back, but unfortunately never made it, so it’s on my list to try next time!

Price: $
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Verdict: Definitely make a stop by, whether for a beer, cocktail, or food!
Logistics: They accept card or cash. They appear to take reservations, and may require them when it’s busier. It was 2:30 PM when we went, so not exactly the busiest time of the day, so we were able to get in without a reservation no problem.

Other Places To Drink

These are other places we had saved to try, but didn’t make it to!

Craft Pub – Ul. kralja Zvonimira 32, 21000, Split, Croatia
About a 15 minute walk from city center, but it appears to have a good craft beer list!

Screws and Beers – KVukovarska ul. 49, 21000, Split, Croatia
It bothers me that the name isn’t Screws and Brews, but I’ll let it go for what seems to be good options for craft beer! This is another one that’s about a 15 minute walk from city center

Cool Garden – Ul. Domovinskog rata 21, 21000, Split, Croatia
We almost went here one night, despite not having a good idea of what’s on the menu, just because the space looked great! It is aptly named Cool Garden, and is also about 15 minutes walk from old town.

Conclusion

Be sure to check back for part 2 on our time in Split, covering what we did, FAQs, and my final thoughts on the city! Until then, check out my other posts about this trip below!