Split

Split

Split is another Croatian town that isn’t as touristy as Dubrovnik, yet it is a worth a visit for its lovely old town and the adventure opportunities its surrounding area offers, the latter being the main reason I passed by this town as I planed a rock climbing adventure in the surrounding mountains! So this blog post will be divided into two main sections: the first will take you on a tour around Split’s old town with its major attractions which you can do On Your Own and the second will be about the tough and challenging rock climbing adventure, so lets start:) 

I arrived at Split via a bus, which has frequent services from around the country (click to request info). I arrived from Dubrovnik and the trip was comfy and took around 4:30 hrs, but remember the border trick I mentioned in Dubrovnik’s post, you’ll have to go through the entire process again on your way back! The bus station in Split is just outside the old town walls; I arrived late at night, so went directly to my accommodation for a much-needed sleep before the tough day ahead.

I woke up early to beat the summer heat, had a nice breakfast at one of the restaurants by the port, which is the area known locally as “Riva” and it’s the perfect spot to start your day.

After finishing my breakfast, I started my walking tour inside the old town

till I reached St. Dominich church. Throughout the way, you’ll get the feeling of an authentic Croatian town surrounding you as you keep meeting friendly locals. Arriving at the St. Dominich church, you’ll have to admire its impressive structure and you can climb up its bell tower to have an amazing view of the town; unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to allow me to climb up:(

The next stop in this self-walking tour was the center and the highlight of the old town, which is Diocletia Palace. This palace has an open courtyard where you can sit and enjoy watching different groups of tourists come and go, and at certain times there will be a nice and small changing of the guards’ ceremony.

By the time I explored this palace, it was almost noon and the heat was scorching, so it is time to rest and enjoy the authentic atmosphere inside the courtyard. The last stop in this tour was the town’s Pzar, which is housed under the palace. It is a nice place to shop for souvenirs and escape the summer heat:) 

After finishing this self-walking tour, it was time for the main adventure of this visit. I organized this rock climbing adventure with a local adventure company (click to request info) and everything was well-planned; albeit, our guide was not the nicest guy and didn’t show much interest in helping us navigate the rock walls…Man we are not professional climbers! Anyways, we booked our adventure at 4pm and it was a 2 hour one. Everything was on time and we were guaranteed 2 climbs each (party of 2) at least.   

The first climb was a massive vertical wall which looked extremely daunting at the beginning! This didn’t deter me and I got roped up and did a safety check for a couple of steps up (always recommended to make sure that you are well supported) and all was good.

I started my way up slowly as I was getting used to the rock surface

and I made it to the halfway up.

It is an amazing feeling being able to almost walk on a vertical wall:) I took a quick rest while enjoying this feeling and off I continued. With every step up, it was getting harder and harder and to pull yourself and challenging to find a place to stick your feet into! Despite of its toughness, the adrenaline that was pumping in my veins kept me going till I reached the top!! 

The next climb wasn’t as vertical as the first one, but it was more rugged and technically challenging.

It was hard to find the best path up as in some places the rock face is bulging to the outside and you have to be careful while navigating it.

During this climb, I got stuck halfway to the top and couldn’t find my way up and, by this time, all my muscles were aching as the long hot day was starting to take its toll on me, so I decided to stop and head down.

After this climb, we did another small one to an old structure carved into the rocks. Overall, the feeling of walking on a vertical wall and the adrenaline rush that you experience while rock climbing is something that can only be felt, not described! This adventure is tough mentally and physically, so when you reach the top, it feels that you conquered the world…so enjoy:)

This marked the end of my visit to split and it was time to take the train back to Zagreb (click to request info).