Where to Stay in Split
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Updated October 2026
Split is the rarest kind of holiday city: a real one. A hundred and sixty thousand people live here, the market still feeds them, and the old town is not a museum but a Roman emperor’s retirement palace that the townspeople moved into fifteen hundred years ago and never left. Bars, flats and a cathedral are built into Diocletian’s walls. That makes staying inside the palace unforgettable and, in July, very loud. Just west, Veli Varoš is the same stone and none of the noise. Bačvice, ten minutes east, has the sandy beach. Meje is the quiet, green, well-off corner under Marjan hill, and Žnjan is where the big family hotels and the open water are. This page walks through all of them plainly, then names hotels by the kind of stay you actually want.
Where to base yourself in Split
Five distinct places to sleep, all within twenty minutes of each other, and they suit quite different travellers.
Inside the palace (Dioklecijanova palača)
There is nowhere else like it. You come home down a Roman lane, past a sphinx Diocletian had shipped from Egypt, and your front door is in a wall built in the year 300. Two honest costs come with it. No vehicle can reach you, so a taxi stops at the edge and you walk the last stretch over polished stone. And this is the nightlife district: the cellars and the Riva bars run late from June to September, and sound bounces off stone walls beautifully. Wonderful for two nights, and for light sleepers a trial for seven.
Veli Varoš — the old fishermen’s quarter
Our pick for most visitors. It begins about four minutes’ walk west of the palace and it is the same honey-coloured stone, the same narrow lanes, and almost none of the noise — a neighbourhood of small houses, cats and steep steps where people actually live. The steps are the catch: Veli Varoš climbs the hill towards Marjan, so ask which floor and whether there is a lift. In return you are five minutes from the Riva and paying a good deal less.
Bačvice — the beach side
Ten minutes’ level walk east of the old town and the reason many people choose Split over Dubrovnik: an actual sandy beach that shelves so gradually you can walk out fifty yards. The local game of picigin — keeping a small ball out of the water, played standing in the shallows — was invented here and is still played here every day of the year, including January. The strip above the beach is lively at night, though less relentlessly so than the palace.
Meje — quiet, green and well-off
The stretch between the western end of the Riva and the pine woods of Marjan hill: villas, embassies’ worth of hedges, a sculpture gallery and almost no bars. Ten to thirty minutes’ walk into town along the water, flat the whole way. It is the calmest central address in Split and the one we would choose for a longer, slower stay — particularly if the plan involves walking up Marjan in the cool of the morning.
Žnjan — the big hotels and the open sea
East past Bačvice, where the city gives way to a long rebuilt waterfront of shingle beaches, room to park and the modern resort hotels with pools. You are a bus ride or a twenty-five minute walk from the old town, which is the trade; what you get is space, a swim that is not a queue, and the family-friendly end of the Split hotel trade.
Croatia is in both the European Union and the Schengen area. US and Canadian citizens need no visa for stays up to 90 days in any 180. The EU’s Entry/Exit System has been fully live since April 2026, so expect a photograph and fingerprints on first arrival and no passport stamp. The separate ETIAS travel authorisation has been postponed repeatedly, is not yet in operation and has no confirmed start date — check the position close to your departure rather than trusting last year’s advice.
Luxury
Split’s top end is small and mostly sits just outside the Roman walls rather than inside them — which is the right side to be on for sleep.
Hotel Park Split
The grande dame of Split, open since the 1920s and still the address with the most presence: a cream-coloured hotel set in its own mature garden above Bačvice, with a terrace restaurant under the palms that locals use for an occasion. It is a genuine five-star with lifts throughout, and the position is close to perfect — eight flat minutes to the palace in one direction, two minutes down to the sandy beach in the other. If you want one hotel in Split that feels like an event, this is it.
Cornaro Hotel
A five-star built into three restored townhouses immediately outside the northern wall of the palace, which means you are ninety seconds from the Golden Gate without sleeping inside the party. There is a spa, a gym and a rooftop terrace looking over the old roofs to the hills. The style is contemporary rather than historic. For travellers who want the palace on the doorstep and a quiet room, this is the sensible luxury answer in Split.
Boutique & heritage
Split does small and characterful better than it does grand. Two of these are inside historic stone; one has the rooftop pool.
Palace Judita Heritage Hotel
A sixteenth-century Renaissance palace on Narodni trg, the square the locals call Pjaca, converted into a handful of rooms with beamed ceilings and original stone. You are in the absolute middle of the old town, which is the appeal and also the warning: this is a pedestrian address with café tables under the windows, and a summer Saturday night is audible. Ask for a courtyard-side room. Beautiful for a short, romantic stay.
Briig Boutique Hotel
A modern design hotel in a converted industrial building east of the centre, and the one place in Split where you can swim on the roof at the end of the day with the city below you. The look is concrete, timber and brass rather than old stone, and the neighbourhood is ordinary Split rather than postcard Split — which is precisely why it is calm at midnight. About fifteen minutes on foot to the Riva, less to the beach.
Heritage Hotel 19
A small stone house in Veli Varoš, in the lanes just west of the old town, done simply and well. This is our usual recommendation for couples who want the atmosphere of living inside old Split without the two o’clock bass line: you are five minutes’ walk from the Riva and the quarter around you goes to bed. It is a hillside neighbourhood of steps, so confirm the floor and whether there is a lift before you book.
Budget & value
Split in August is not cheap, but it is still markedly better value than Dubrovnik, and these are honest rooms rather than compromises.
Hotel Luxe
A modern hotel on the eastern side of the harbour, five minutes’ walk from both the palace and the ferry gangways, and — unusually for central Split — it has its own parking. That combination is worth real money here: if you are arriving by car and leaving by boat, or doing a day on Hvar, nothing is more convenient. The rooms are clean and contemporary rather than charming, the breakfast is good, and the name oversells it slightly.
Hotel Cvita
A family-owned hotel in the quiet green stretch between the Riva and Marjan hill, with larger rooms than the price suggests and sea views from many of them. The walk into the old town is flat, along the water, and takes about fifteen minutes. There is nothing fashionable about it, and that is the point: this is where you stay when you would rather spend the money on a boat to the islands than on a lobby.
Family-friendly
What works with children in Split is a pool, a beach and somewhere to put the car — none of which the old town has. Both of these are east of the centre for that reason.
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Split
The straightforward answer for a family week: a large five-star resort on the water at Žnjan with pools, a spa, its own stretch of shingle beach and enough room for children to be children. The old town is a bus ride or a twenty-five-minute walk along the shore, so a morning in the palace and an afternoon in the sea is an easy rhythm. Ask for a sea-facing room; the difference in both view and noise is worth the supplement.
Le Méridien Lav, Podstrana
Not in Split at all, and for a holiday with grandchildren that is often an advantage: a big five-star resort on its own long beach at Podstrana, about five miles south-east, with a marina, a spa and a great deal of space. There is a shuttle and a frequent bus into the city, so the palace is still a comfortable outing. Be clear-eyed that spontaneous evenings in the old town are not really on the menu from out here.
By the beach
Bačvice is the sandy one and the only properly sandy beach in any Croatian city we know. Everything further east is shingle, and the water is clearer for it.
Hotel Ambasador
A five-star right on the water at the western end of the Riva, where the promenade runs out towards Meje and Marjan hill. The walk into the old town is flat, car-free and takes about ten minutes, which makes this one of the kindest central addresses in Split for anyone who would rather not deal with steps. Sea-facing rooms look straight out at the harbour and the islands beyond it.
Bel Residence Split
A modern place a little way out from the middle with a pool and a rooftop terrace, at a price the central hotels cannot match in season. You are trading walking distance for space and a swim: reckon on a bus or a longer walk to the palace. Good for a stay where the plan is beach in the day and one trip into the old town each evening, and particularly good value in June and September.
Split in your later years
Split is much kinder underfoot than Dubrovnik — the centre is flat — but the detail of where you sleep still decides the week.
The Riva is flat, and almost everything useful is on it
Split’s seafront promenade runs level from the ferry terminal past the palace to the western end, with the market, the bus station, the cafés and the old town all opening off it. If you base yourself anywhere along that line you can do the whole city without a hill. This is the single biggest difference between Split and Dubrovnik.
Think twice about Veli Varoš and the palace
Both are lovely and both are stone steps. Veli Varoš climbs the hill, and inside the palace the lanes are stepped and polished slick by fifteen centuries of feet. If stairs are a consideration, Meje, the Riva and Bačvice give you the same city on the level.
Marjan hill without the climb
Marjan is the pine-covered headland above the city and the best air in Split. The famous route is a long flight of steps from Varoš — but a road runs round the seaward side from Meje, level and shaded, with benches and a café at the start of it. You can have the pine woods and the view without the staircase.
The islands are easier than they look
The catamarans to Hvar, Brač and Vis leave from the middle of town, a short flat walk from most central hotels, and they are quick and comfortable. A day on an island is one of the best things Split offers and asks almost nothing of your legs — ask for a seat on the main deck rather than up the stairs.
Go in May, June, September or October
Dalmatian stone throws the July heat straight back at you, and the old town in August is shoulder-to-shoulder. The shoulder months give you the same city at a temperature you can enjoy, with the sea still warm in September and October, and at noticeably lower prices.
Ask two questions before you book
Is there a lift, and can a car reach the entrance? Booking sites frequently answer neither, and in the old town the answer to both is often no. One short email to the hotel settles it, and it is the difference between a good week and a difficult one.
Split hotels — questions
Should I stay inside Diocletian’s Palace?
It is one of the most remarkable addresses in Europe — a living Roman palace with bars and apartments built into the emperor’s walls — and it is also the noisiest place in Split. The lanes are stone, no car reaches your door, and in summer the bars along the Riva and in the cellars run very late. If you are a light sleeper, or you have a suitcase and a bad knee, Veli Varoš or Bačvice gives you the same city ten minutes away in peace. Stay in the palace for two nights, not seven.
Is Split better than Dubrovnik as a base?
For most trips, yes, and for a simple reason: Split is a working city of about 160,000 people with a university, a market and a football team, so it has a life of its own outside tourism. It is also the transport hub of Dalmatia, with the ferry terminal, bus station and railway station all within a few minutes of the old town and the airport half an hour away, so the islands, Trogir, Krka and Plitvice are all day trips. Dubrovnik is more beautiful and more expensive, and it is harder to reach anything else from it.
Does Split have a sandy beach?
Bačvice is genuinely sandy, which is unusual in Croatia, and it shelves so gently that you can wade out a long way — which is why the local ball game picigin is played standing in the shallows there. It is a ten-minute walk from the old town and it is busy in July. Žnjan, further east, has been rebuilt with longer pebble and shingle stretches and more room. Everywhere else along this coast is pebble, and rubber swimming shoes are the best few euros you will spend.
Do I need a car in Split?
No, and inside the old town it is impossible. Split is compact and flat, the ferries and buses leave from the middle of it, and parking is scarce and expensive. Hire a car for the days you drive to Krka, Trogir or the Cetina valley, and let the hotel park it the rest of the time — ask about parking before you book if you are bringing one, because many old-town properties have none at all.
How far is the airport, and how do I get in?
Split airport is at Kaštela, about 15 miles west of the city near Trogir. The airport bus runs to the main bus station beside the ferry terminal in roughly half an hour, the public bus number 37 is slower and cheaper, and a taxi takes about 30 minutes. If you are heading straight to an island, note that the catamaran berths are a two-minute walk from where the airport bus drops you.
When is Split at its best?
May, June, September and early October. The sea is warm enough to swim from June to October, the old town is pleasant rather than packed, and room rates in those months are well below the July and August peak. Mid-July to late August is hot, crowded and at its most expensive, and the city empties of locals. Winter is quiet, mild by European standards and very cheap, and the palace in January with nobody in it is a real pleasure.
More of the Croatia book
The Croatia Guide ›
The whole country in one place: the coast and the islands, the interior, the food, the money and how to get about without a car.
Where to Stay in Dubrovnik ›
Four hours south by road. Grander, pricier and harder on the knees — our honest guide to Ploče, Lapad, Gruž and the walls.
Where to Stay in Zagreb ›
The capital, inland and quite unlike the coast: Upper Town, Lower Town, the market and the best-value city beds in Croatia.
Best Time to Visit Croatia ›
Month by month, including when the sea is warm enough to swim and when the island ferries thin out.
Ready to book your stay in Split?
Compare every hotel in Split through Trip.com. Booking through our links supports Destinations Guild at no extra cost to you.
⚓ You still earn your own travel rewards when you book through Destinations Guild — Trip Coins on Trip.com. Just sign in to your account before you book.