The long modern beach strip east of the centre, rebuilt with promenades, sports courts and beach clubs. Good for families and anyone who wants space; a bus ride or a forty-minute seafront walk from the old town.
Žnjan is the modern beach strip east of the centre — recently rebuilt with a wide promenade, sports courts, beach clubs, ramps and shaded pavilions. It is the longest beach in Split and the only one with real space in August, and it is the most accessible beach in the city. The new planting has not grown up yet, so there is no natural shade — bring an umbrella or rent a sunbed.
Sunbed prices, shade and the water are covered in the Žnjan beach guide.
Žnjan is where Split families come with children, because it has space, ramps, a promenade and sports courts, and because the beach clubs at the eastern end are busy enough to be fun without being the Bačvice scene. Walk the promenade in the morning, swim at the western end where it is quieter, and eat at one of the cafes on the promenade rather than the beach clubs — the food is the same and the prices are lower.
If you are staying in Žnjan, you are staying here for the beach and the space, not for the old town. It is a bus ride or a forty-minute walk along the seafront to the palace, which is fine in the morning and a long way at midnight. Rent a bike or a scooter if you want to move between the two faster — the seafront path is flat and continuous.
For older children, the water-sports concession on Žnjan runs parasailing, jet skis and banana boats.
The cafes on the promenade are the practical choice for breakfast and lunch — coffee, pastries, sandwiches. For dinner, take the bus into town, because Žnjan's restaurants are beach clubs and pizza places rather than konobas. The one exception is the seafood place at the harbour, which is worth the walk if it is open.
Bus 8 or 17 from the centre, about fifteen minutes, or a forty-minute walk along the seafront past Bačvice and Firule. The promenade is flat and fully accessible, with ramped entries into the water at several points. Bring an umbrella — there is no natural shade until the new trees grow, which will take a few years.
The walk into town passes Bačvice, the city beach and the only proper sand near the palace.
Get out there
Guided trips that include this stop, with live availability.
Boat trips
A full day on a fast twelve-seat boat: the Blue Cave on Biševo, the Monk Seal cave, Stiniva's famous cove, lunch on Vis and a swim off Budikovac's turquoise lagoon, finishing with a stop at Hvar town. Ten and a half hours, small group, no coach transfer.
History
Ninety minutes through the palace with a guide who lives inside it: the Golden Gate, the cellars, the Peristyle, the cathedral and the streets in between. Small group, no flag, and a proper explanation of why a Roman emperor retired to a cabbage patch in Dalmatia.
Boat trips
Five hours to Šolta and back on a ten-person boat: three swim stops in coves you cannot reach by road, an hour in Maslinica for dinner or a drink, and the run home across the channel as the sun goes down behind the island.
Within a short walk.
Beaches
The long, recently rebuilt beach strip east of the centre: wide promenade, sports courts, beach clubs, plenty of space and proper accessible entries into the water. Little shade, but the easiest beach in Split to spend a whole day at with children.
Adventure
The noisy end of the Split waterfront, and the only place near the city with the full concession: parasail, jet ski, banana, tube, pedalo. Nobody will pretend it is authentic. It is, however, exactly what a bored eleven-year-old wants at four in the afternoon.
Adventure
Wrecks, walls and caves within an hour of the city, on water that is warm from June to October and clear most of the year. A try dive needs no experience and no certificate; a certified single dive is the cheapest way to get wet if you already have a card.
Beaches
A small sandy bay just past Bačvice, in front of the tennis club where Goran Ivanišević learned to play. Shallow, calm and mostly families — the quieter alternative when Bačvice is a wall of people.
Nightlife
Where a Split night ends rather than starts. The row of clubs behind the sand fills from about midnight, runs to three or four in summer, and sits a ten-minute walk east of the Riva, so nobody needs a taxi home. Loud, young and pop-driven — arrive before one and it will feel empty.
Adventure
Split's own barefoot ball game, invented at Bačvice in 1908 and played in ankle-deep water with no points and no winner. Free, faintly ridiculous, and the single most Split thing you can do. Locals will let you join if you ask.