Split

There is a taxi rank at the cruise port exit. A licensed taxi (yellow with a roof sign and a meter, or app-based via Uber and Bolt, both legal in Croatia) runs about €12–15 from the cruise piers to the Old Town. Traffic on the waterfront when ships are in often makes the walk faster. Insist the meter is on or agree a fixed price before you get in; refuse rides without either. For airport runs, official rates are higher and clearly posted at the rank.

Croatia adopted the euro on 1 January 2023; kuna is no longer accepted. Cards (Visa, Mastercard, contactless) are universal in Split — the palace ticket office, restaurants, supermarkets, taxis. ATMs are everywhere; bank-branded ATMs (Erste, Zagrebačka banka, OTP, PBZ) charge less than the standalone Euronet machines on the Riva. Always decline the 'charge in your home currency' (dynamic currency conversion) prompt — your card's exchange rate is better. Keep €30–50 in small notes for back-street konobe and tipping.

Klis Fortress sits on a mountain pass 13 km inland — a 30-minute drive or local bus 22 from Split, with sweeping views over the city and the Adriatic, and a Game of Thrones cameo as Meereen. Trogir, a UNESCO-listed Venetian Old Town on a small island 30 km west, is reachable in about 40 minutes by car or local bus 37 from Sukoišan station. Either works for a half-day; do not try to combine them with Hvar in the same shore day. For both, watch the return: cruise all-aboard does not wait for traffic on the D8 coastal road.

Split's cruise port runs along Obala kneza Domagoja next to the ferry terminal — three piers, capacity for up to six ships simultaneously, all alongside berthing (no tenders for standard-size ships). The walk to Diocletian's Palace is roughly 800 meters / 10–15 minutes along the flat Riva promenade. Confirm your specific pier on the ship's daily; the closest berths to the Old Town shave a few minutes off the walk.

The Blue Cave on Biševo islet, near Vis, is the marquee day-boat trip out of Split — a sea cave that glows electric blue when sunlight refracts through an underwater opening between roughly 11am and 2pm. Tours run daily April through October (sea conditions can cancel them), depart Split harbor around 8am, and combine the cave with stops on Vis, Hvar, and the Pakleni islands. About 1.5 hours each way; not viable on short port calls. You cannot swim inside the cave itself — strong year-round swell, off-limits.

Bačvice is the city beach: a shallow sandy cove about 10 minutes east of the cruise piers, past the train station. Loungers and umbrellas rent for around €15–25 a pair in season. It is busy, family-oriented, and home to picigin — the local shin-deep-water ball game. For quieter swimming, locals walk 20–25 minutes farther east to Firule and Trstenik, or take a 15-minute taxi west to Kašjuni under Marjan hill.