How do I get to Split?

Split Airport (SPU) sits 24 km west of the city center at Resnik, on a narrow strip of coast between the hills and the Adriatic. The single terminal is small enough that many arrivals walk across the tarmac to the gate. In summer, heat radiates off the asphalt before you reach the door. During July and August, the terminal fills with the smell of sunscreen and the sound of roller bags on tile as 40,000+ passengers move through weekly. Zadar Airport (ZAD), 158 km northwest, is a fallback when Ryanair or Wizz Air undercut SPU by €40 or more, but the 2-hour bus ride to Split eats into those savings. Dubrovnik (DBV), 230 km southeast, is too far unless you plan to work your way up the coast. For first-timers, SPU is the only airport worth booking.

No nonstop flights connect North America to Split. The fastest routings from the US East Coast run through Frankfurt (Lufthansa), Munich (Croatia Airlines codeshare), or Istanbul (Turkish Airlines) at 12-14 hours total, $700-1,300 round-trip. The West Coast adds another 3-4 hours. From London, easyJet and Jet2 fly direct in 2 hours 30 minutes for £80-200. BA offers seasonal Heathrow service at £150-300. From mainland Europe, Eurowings connects Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, Transavia runs from Paris-Orly and Amsterdam, and Vueling covers Barcelona at €80-180 round-trip in summer. Croatia Airlines operates a Zagreb-Split shuttle 3-4 times daily, 45 minutes each way, for passengers on intercontinental connections through the capital. That Zagreb routing adds 2-3 hours of layover but opens up Star Alliance award availability. Mind you, summer schedules expand with seasonal charters from Scandinavia and Germany that don't appear in booking systems until March or April.

Jadrolinija runs overnight ferries from Ancona, Italy. The crossing takes roughly 10 hours, with departure around 20:00 and arrival at Split by 06:00. Deck passage costs €45-55 one-way. A cabin runs €90-140. The ferry terminal sits on the Riva waterfront, so you step off the gangway into the city with salt air and the clatter of morning espresso cups at harborside cafes. That said, the Ancona service runs daily only from June through September and drops to 3-4 sailings weekly the rest of the year. FlixBus and Croatian national carriers depart Zagreb for Split every 30-45 minutes. The ride takes about 5 hours on the A1 motorway for €15-25 one-way. Split's bus station at Obala Kneza Domagoja is a 10-minute walk east along the harbor from the walls of Diocletian's Palace, built in 293.

Flights to SPU are cheapest in April-May and October, when easyJet round-trips from London drop to £60-80 and the terminal is quiet enough to hear cicadas in the scrub pines outside. The December-January holiday window and July-August peak see fares rise 40-60%. From SPU to central Split, Bus 37 runs every 20-30 minutes to the waterfront for about €2.70. Croatia adopted the euro in January 2023, so eurozone visitors avoid currency exchange entirely. Taxis from the airport quote €35-45. Uber tends to run €5-8 less. The drive takes 25 minutes outside rush hour but stretches to 40 if you land between 17:00 and 19:00, when traffic through the town of Solin backs up along the main coastal road. You'll likely spot the ruins of Salona from the passenger window, columns and sarcophagi from the 1st-3rd century visible right off the highway.