After going to Bosnia and Herzegovina it was time to loop back into Croatia; the next destination being the very famous Split. Onc...

Split and Zadar

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After going to Bosnia and Herzegovina it was time to loop back into Croatia; the next destination being the very famous Split.

Once again I found a coastal town filled with huge cruise ships and a million people walking around. I stayed in a hostel right inside the old town so at least during the night I was able to see a more chilled out city with less tourists after they went back into their massive cruise ship and sailed to their next destination.

Right after dropping my bags off at the old town hostel I went to the tourist info office and got a map to see what there was to see in Split and the woman at the desk was shocked that I didn’t know that the 2 days I was going to be there were the celebration of their Saint, St. Dominius, and apparently the biggest holiday celebration after New Year’s! Well, maybe that explains the massive amounts of tourists?!?!?!


With map in hand I decided to go check out the city. My first stop was at the bell tower to see one of the “best views of the city”.








Then I walked around the beautiful town, through the many alleys, and followed the great map I was given at the tourist info. The old town of Split is the Diocletian Palace, one of the best preserved Roman architecture of the world! 

I started the walk at the Peristyle, the central square of the palace.



 

With the St. Domnius church right in the middle:

I was at the very top of that bell tower
And then went through the vestibule and into the back of the church where I got lost and had to ask the locals for help on how to get back out! haha (it turned out I just kept missing the stairs that were right around the corner!)






Then I passed through underground shops until I was out of the walls of the Diocletian Palace and into...


... The Riva, the promenade of Split!



Map of split!




I do not know if it was the special weekend or an everyday thing but all throughout the  main walkway outside the city walls there were a ton of shops selling trinkets and food.

so much candy!

Croatian toy store! Bow and arrow anyone?


I then decided to go for a short “hike” up to get a better view of Split. The walk was nice and a little break from the many tourists, since many decide not to go all the way up!
I loved the view of the water, the city, and the beautiful mountains in the back!




The next day I had the whole day to keep on exploring but the old town of split was so small that it felt like I had seen the most important part but decided to go on a re run of the city and explore a little bit outside the touristy part. 






 The golden gate...





And the local market!


I also took advantage of it being the St. Domnius' festivities and decided to attend mass at the church free of charge! haha





They not only had free entrance to the church and mass, they also had some fun rides for the kids... these flying baskets were just too funny not to stare at! The worker cracked that thing up every single time!


At night I went out to witness the traditional Bingo night that happens once a year. There were literally thousands of people on the streets holding bingo tickets in hopes of getting a prize. The night ended with fireworks and a concert! Fun times!
A very busy Riva!

Bingo time!


Four at the time!

Everybody was really into their bingo game!


After Split I wanted to visit Plitvice lakes but the bus journey was too long and inconvenient so I decided to take a bus from split to Zadar and spend the night there and then head to Plitvice in the morning. 
Zadar was a small town and way less touristy that Split and Dubrovnic. 

Zadar didn’t have that much other than some (very important, of course) churches so I spent the first part of my day walking around... under the rain!


It started raining and this man quickly started pulling all the clothes back inside!

The land gate

Church of Donatus on the left.


Zadar's cathedral

In the afternoon I was joined by April, a girl that I met in Mostar and then back in Split, and we walked around town again, went to the sea shore to listen to Zadar’s famous sea organ, and ended up having some ice cream and a mojito before calling it a day.




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About Post Author

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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About me




Hi! It's me... Andrea!

In this blog you can live vicariously through my journey around the world!

Please feel free to share tips or places to go!
Contact me: andreaheartstraveling@gmail.com