What's a good 3-day itinerary for Split?

Day 1 stays inside Diocletian's Palace and the lanes that grew around it after the 4th century. The Cathedral of Saint Domnius opens at 8 AM. Get there then. The bell tower climb costs about 7 EUR and the views from 57 metres up cover the harbour, Marjan, and the islands beyond. By 9 AM, cross the Peristyle to the Temple of Jupiter, which still holds its original barrel vault from the palace's 293 AD construction. The basement halls sit directly below and feel cooler than street level. The stone holds the chill even at noon. Worth noting, cruise ships start unloading passengers by 10 AM, and the palace corridors go from quiet to packed within half an hour. Eat before that wave hits. Lunch at Konoba Matejuška on the tiny fishing harbour of the same name. Grilled squid runs about 14 EUR. The smell of charcoal and salt drifts across from the moored dinghies. Walk the Riva promenade after 4 PM when the shade from the buildings reaches the café chairs. A macchiato costs about 2 EUR.

Day 2 moves west to Marjan, the forested hill that rises 178 metres above the harbour. The trailhead starts at the top of Šperun street in Varoš, a neighbourhood of narrow stone lanes where laundry lines stretch between second-floor windows. Reach the Vidilica café terrace by 9 AM for coffee with a harbour view. The path to the summit takes about 40 minutes through Aleppo pine shade, and the temperature drops a few degrees under the canopy. Descend the north slope to Bene Beach by 11 AM. The cove has smooth pebbles and pine trees at the waterline, but bring water shoes if you're cautious on uneven ground. Lunch back in Varoš at Konoba Hvaranin, where the pašticada, beef braised for 3 hours in prošek wine and dried plums, runs about 16 EUR. If the afternoon heat wears you down, Bačvice Beach is a 15-minute walk east of the palace. The sandy bottom stays warm past 6 PM, and you'll likely see locals slapping a ball across the shallows in picigin, the palm-ball game Split has played since the 1920s.

Day 3 heads 27 km west to Trogir on Promet bus 37 from the local bus station. Buses run every 20 minutes and cost about 3 EUR for the 30-minute ride. Trogir's island core sits between the mainland and Čiovo, connected by a short stone bridge. The Cathedral of St. Lawrence took roughly 150 years to build after its 1213 founding. The Radovan Portal on the west face is the finest Romanesque carved doorway on the eastern Adriatic. You might spend 45 minutes inside. Kamerlengo Castle from 1420 guards the island's western tip. Its walls give a clean sightline across the channel to Čiovo. On the return, stop at Salona, 5 km northeast of Split. This Roman city once held about 60,000 people. The amphitheatre seated 18,000. The stone seats are still warm in the late afternoon, and the field around the ruins smells of dry grass. You'll likely have the Manastirine necropolis to yourself. Back in Split by 7 PM for dinner at Dvor east of Bačvice, where tuna steak runs about 22 EUR at tables above the rocks.

Split currently sits at 32°C by noon in mid-August with 35% humidity, dry enough that shade makes a real difference. The mornings-first approach on Days 1 and 2 matters. Carry at least a litre of water per person. The palace quarter measures about 500 metres across, so Day 1 stays within a 10-minute walk of any point. Split Airport sits 25 km west. The airport bus to the waterfront runs every 30 minutes for about 5 EUR, while a taxi costs around 35 EUR. Croatia adopted the euro in January 2023, so there is no exchange scramble on arrival. That said, smaller konobas in Varoš and Trogir's side streets still prefer cash. ATMs inside the palace tend to charge higher withdrawal fees. Use the ones on Marmontova street. Solo-traveler safety scores 8.2 out of 10 (see the TTDI Solo-Safety Index), and the Riva stays busy past midnight on summer nights.