Spring is the best-value season in Split. The city wakes up through March, everything is open by mid-April, and the last two weeks of May bring swimmable sea with a fraction of the summer crowds. Bring a layer for the evenings and a swimsuit for the end.
By Marin Perić
March is still a local city — 14 °C, some rain, cafes full of people who live here. By mid-April the terraces are out, the island catamarans are back to a full timetable and the days are long enough for a Marjan walk after work. The last fortnight of May is the sweet spot: 23 °C, sea at 19 °C and warming fast, and you can still get a table at Villa Spiza without queueing for forty minutes.
Marjan and Klis, while the hill is still green and before the heat makes the climb work.
The palace and the cellars without cruise groups — March and April mornings are almost empty.
Krka, when the falls are at their fullest from the winter rain.
The first boat trips of the year from late April, at lower prices and with smaller groups.
Sudamja on 7 May, the city's own feast day, which is entirely for locals.
The sea is cold until mid-May — 14 °C in March is a bracing dip, not a swim. Some island restaurants and beach bars do not open until May. The bura wind can still cancel a boat day in March and early April, so leave a spare day if a trip matters to you.
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.