How to Get Around Split: Walking, Buses, Taxis and More

The Good News: The Centre Is Beautifully Walkable

Split's historic core is a pedestrian city and always has been. Diocletian's Palace was built long before cars existed, so its lanes are narrow, stone-paved and closed to traffic, which means the entire Old Town, the Riva promenade, Republic Square, the Green Market and the fish market are all yours on foot.

For most visitors, this is where the majority of the trip happens, and you genuinely will not need any transport for it. Bring comfortable shoes though. Those famous polished marble streets are lovely to look at and surprisingly slippery when it rains.

Walking Times From the Riva

The Riva is the natural reference point for everything in Split, so here's roughly how long it takes to walk to the places people ask about most. These are relaxed walking times in normal conditions. Add a little in July and August, when the heat slows everyone down.

• Diocletian's Palace and the cathedral: 2 to 5 minutes
• Green Market and the fish market: about 5 minutes
• Bačvice Beach: 12 to 15 minutes
• Matejuška and the West Coast promenade: about 10 minutes
• Vidilica viewpoint, up the steps: 20 to 25 minutes
• Sustipan park: about 25 minutes
• Kašjuni Beach: 45 minutes or more
• Poljud Stadium: 30 to 35 minutes

Where Walking Stops Making Sense

Beyond the centre, the geography changes. Marjan Hill rises steeply straight out of the Old Town, and the prettiest beaches sit along its southern flank, strung out on a coastal road with very little shade. On paper these look like pleasant strolls. In practice, a 45 minute uphill walk in 33 degrees is how a lot of holidays lose an afternoon.

This is the split that catches people out, and it's why so many visitors go home having seen only the Roman quarter. We wrote a whole guide to the places in Split you can't easily reach on foot if you want the full list of what's out there.

City Buses: Cheap, Useful and Slightly Confusing

Split's city buses are run by Promet and they cover the wider city well, including the suburbs, Žnjan and the route out towards Trogir and the airport. A single city ride costs a little over a euro if you buy your ticket at a Tisak or iNovine kiosk beforehand, and a bit more if you buy it from the driver, so it's worth grabbing tickets in advance and keeping small change handy.

The honest caveat is that the network is built for residents commuting into the centre rather than for visitors hopping between sights. Services to Marjan and the beaches are limited, especially outside the summer timetable, so a bus is excellent for a specific journey you've planned and less useful for improvising your way around the coast.

• Buy tickets at a kiosk before boarding, it's cheaper
• Validate your ticket when you get on
• Check the return timetable before you set off
• Summer and winter schedules differ, so confirm times on the day

Taxis, Uber and Bolt

Both Uber and Bolt operate in Split alongside the traditional taxi companies, and between them they cover the city reliably. Having both apps installed is genuinely useful, because prices surge at different moments during the busy summer evenings and you can simply take whichever is cheaper.

Short hops around the city are inexpensive. The one journey that costs real money is the airport run, which typically lands somewhere in the region of 30 to 45 euros depending on the season, the hour and how busy things are. Taxi ranks sit at either end of the Riva and near the bus station, and for the Old Town you'll usually be dropped at the edge of the pedestrian zone rather than at your door.

Do You Need a Rental Car in Split?

For the city itself, no, and we say that as people who love a road trip. The centre is closed to traffic, parking near the Old Town is limited and expensive, and in July and August the search for a space can take longer than the drive. A car parked all week is a cost with no benefit.

Where a car does earn its keep is beyond the city. If you're planning to explore Krka, Trogir, the Zagora hinterland or the Dalmatian coast road, renting for those specific days makes perfect sense. Plenty of visitors pick the car up on the morning they leave Split and drop it at the airport, which neatly avoids paying to store it in the city.

Getting to the Beaches

Bačvice is the easy one. It sits a quarter of an hour east of the Riva on a flat, well-signed walk, and it's the beach you can reach on a whim with a towel under your arm. It's also the shallowest, which is why it tops our list of things to do in Split with kids.

Everything on the Marjan side takes more planning. Kašjuni, Bene and the small pebble coves along the southern slope are genuinely lovely, and genuinely far. Buses out that way are infrequent, so most people end up taking a taxi one way, or seeing several coves in one trip with wheels of their own. Our guide to the best beaches in Split explains what each one is actually like when you arrive.

Getting Up Marjan Hill

There are two very different Marjan experiences and it helps to know which one you're signing up for. The first is the climb from Varoš up the stone steps to the Vidilica terrace, which takes 20 to 25 minutes at a steady pace and rewards you with the postcard view over the Old Town rooftops. Early morning or an hour before sunset is the sensible time to do it.

The second is everything past Vidilica: Telegrin peak, the hermitage churches, the western lookouts and the far beaches. That's a proper half day of walking on a hot afternoon. If your legs or your schedule aren't up for it, this is exactly the part of the city that's worth riding through, and the best viewpoints in Split are almost all up here.

Bikes, E-Scooters and the Coastal Promenade

The seafront path running west from Matejuška past the ACI Marina towards Sustipan is flat, shaded in places and lovely on two wheels, and rental bikes and e-scooters are easy to find in the centre during the season.

Two things to keep in mind. Riding inside the pedestrian Old Town isn't allowed, and the moment you turn inland towards Marjan, the gradient becomes serious very quickly. An e-bike handles that gracefully. A basic city bike in August, less so.

Ferries to Hvar, Brač and Šolta

One of Split's great advantages is that the ferry port sits right beside the Old Town, a few minutes' walk from the Riva. You can be on a boat to an island without ever needing transport to reach the boat, which is rarer than it sounds.

Car ferries and passenger catamarans run to Supetar on Brač, Stari Grad and Hvar Town, Šolta and Vis, with journeys ranging from under an hour to a couple of hours depending on the route and the vessel. Sailings are far more frequent in summer, and popular crossings sell out on peak weekends, so book ahead if your day is planned around a specific departure.

Arriving From Split Airport

Split Airport is about 25 kilometres west of the city, near Kaštela and Trogir, so it's a proper journey rather than a hop. The cheapest option is the local Promet bus 37, which runs between Trogir and Split via the airport and takes roughly an hour to reach the suburban bus station, from where you'll want a short taxi or a further bus into the centre.

A taxi or a ride-hailing car is the simplest choice if you're arriving late, travelling with children or carrying a lot of luggage, and pre-booked private transfers are widely available too. Shuttle services to the main bus station have come and gone over the years, so check what's currently running when you book your flights rather than relying on an older blog post.

Arriving by Cruise Ship

Cruise passengers have it easiest of all. Ships dock in Split's main harbour, and the Old Town is a flat walk of ten minutes or so from the piers, which is why the city is such a popular port call. Larger vessels sometimes berth further along the quay, in which case a shuttle usually covers the extra stretch.

The catch is time rather than distance. With a handful of hours ashore, the walkable centre is comfortably within reach but the viewpoints and beaches aren't, unless you have transport waiting. Our one day in Split itinerary and our guide to the best Split shore excursions both plan around exactly that constraint.

The Easy Way to Cover the Spread-Out Half of Split

If there's one thing worth taking from all of this, it's that Split divides neatly in two. The historic centre is yours on foot and needs nothing else. The coast, the hill and the viewpoints need wheels, and that's the half most visitors quietly skip.

It's the reason we started running tuk tuk tours in the first place. An open-sided retro tuk tuk threads through the narrow streets a coach could never manage, climbs Marjan without anyone breaking a sweat, and links the scattered viewpoints and beaches into one easy ride with a local guide doing the navigating. The 80 minute Classic Tour covers the highlights, while the See Everything Tour goes further along the coast. If you'd rather build your own route around your list, just get in touch.

• No uphill walking in the summer heat
• Reach the viewpoints and beaches in one trip
• Pick-up in the Old Town, close to where you're staying
• A licensed local guide at the wheel

Final Thoughts

Getting around Split isn't complicated once you understand the shape of the city. Walk the centre, plan properly for the coast, use a bus or taxi for the longer hops, skip the rental car unless you're heading out of town, and don't underestimate the hill. Do that and you'll see far more of Split than the average visitor, with far less time spent tired and overheated.

For inspiration on what to actually point yourself towards, our lists of the best things to do in Split and the free things to do in Split are a good place to start.