Day trips from Split

I guess it's time to finish up writing about Split before all the details of it start slipping from my mind. Don’t get me wrong, this trip was one of the most memorable trips I had ever taken in my entire life but you know the human memory is faulty and I’d hate to forget even the tiniest details of this trip. So let’s get on with it.

In the previous articles we spoke about the different activities that you can do in Split and all the good beaches you can swim in; you might wonder what’s next. Well I'm here to tell you that the next part is the best part. I think this experience that we had, was the second most unique thing that we did. The first unique thing was watching the World Cup semi-finals in Split and being part of that celebration; but this experience is right after that.

I mentioned before that there are a lot of activities that you can take part in, outside of Split or in the nearby islands. As you can already guess, Split is some sort of a hub and a gateway to all these other destinations and this is why Split has been an important city even throughout history.

Anyhow, I'm not planning on turning this into another history lesson but a rather intriguing post, whereby we discover the numerous possibilities that Split has to offer. Well technically not Split itself but you get me. There are various day and half a day trips which you can take from Split and discover the nearby islands and/or waterfalls. Seriously, is there anything that Croatia doesn’t have?

Okay let’s go through the various options one by one. Oh and before we go any further, we booked a half a day trip by TOTO Travel in Split. Their office is located in the Split’s Promenade. We genuinely had the best time and you all already know that I'm not sponsored in any way so that’s my genuine opinion. The tour guides were friendly and when we get to the story, I’ll tell you guys how it truly went.

Here are the options we had:

1) 5 Islands Tour - A full day tour

Price: 100 Euros to 120 Euros, depending on the agency you book it with. A side note on the price: I think the trips are worth the money, considering the amount of beauty that you see. You can truly immerse yourself in nature.

This was initially our first choice. The tour includes such unique and magnificent spots that it truly blew our mind. I mean seriously, you’d be surprised that these places even exist on earth. Yes I know, there goes me becoming profound again.

The 5 island tour as I mentioned above is a full day tour and they leave Split at around 7:30 AM and then they head back to the city at around 7 PM and they spend about an hour or two in each destination. The islands they take you can vary from agency to agency. I will list the possible islands and you should check them out one by one to figure out which one seems the most fascinating to you.

The 5 island tour includes a tour of the Blue Cave. This was definitely on my list for a long time but due to schedule problems, we couldn’t make it there. So I suggest that you guys go instead of me.

The Blue Cave is this magnificent small enclosed cave that was discovered several hundred years ago and that it's near Vis island. Only really tiny boats can pass through the small hole in the cave. Once inside, you’ll see that the sunlight will reflect on the cave and the water, causing a blue glow; hence the name “Blue Cave”. It honestly sounds magical and although you can’t swim or anything there, you’ll have time to take some amazing insta worthy pictures; and if that isn’t your thing (which would be good) just enjoy the mesmerizing view and contemplate about the secrets of the universe.

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As for the islands, they might be different ones, thus we will take a look at them a little further down.

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2) Blue Lagoon - Half a day tour

The half a day tours cost about 60 Euros. They depart at around 2:30 pm and come back by 7 pm. there is also the option of going at 9 am and coming back at 2 pm.

Remember when I told you guys we wanted to go on the 5 island tour but couldn’t due to schedule complications? Well, then reluctantly we settled for this half a day tour, thinking that a half day tour is better than no tour at all. This tour of ours took us to three destinations: The blue lagoon so we could swim and snorkel in, the islands of trogir and solta!

Trogir

This reluctance and longing for the other trip disappeared the moment we set foot on that boat. Our first destination was the town of Trogir, a really small coastal town about 20 minutes from Split. In fact when we were coming to Split by the bus, we stopped at Trogir first. This time we headed there by a speed boat. The speed boat was not bumpy at all and proved to be a good ride. They told us that we have about an hour to discover Trogir and then meet again at the boat. Trogir was a really small town and so an hour was enough to discover it.

Town of Trogir

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Apparently Trogir was famous for its coffees and so the first thing we did was buy an iced coffee. That was the best decision we made. We also grabbed some fast food on the way and indulged on that too. The best thing about vacations is that you do not give on flying *** about your diet (not that I have one anyway). Trogir was picturesque; the structures were similar of that of Split’s old town. It was like going around in a cute little maze.

But what’s there in Trogir apart from iced coffee and insta-worthy corners?

I would say that Trogir has exactly the same things as Split; maybe just on a smaller scale. They’ve got a cathedral, a castle, a promenade and lots of those cute little cafes. So you can do the same things you did Split here. We took a walk along the Riva and got lost in the beauty, we visited the church and the old town. Given we only had one hour, we did everything quickly; making quick stops here and there.

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The Blue Lagoon

The next destination was th Blue Lagoon. This place is exactly how it sounds like, a lagoon that is deeply blue. Well you might think, isn’t the whole Adriatic sea blue? Well, yes but this water had lagoon like patches that were deeply blue. The blue lagoon tend to be shallower and so you could easily see till the bottom of the water. This makes it perfect for snorkeling. The tour provides some snorkeling googles and equipment. We took our chances and started to use the snorkeling equipment. It was my first time snorkeling properly and to put in layman terms: I sucked!

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(I wish I could upload videos here, we took so many great videos of the lagoon)

The water somehow kept ending up in my nose and mouth and damn it was salty as hell. My misery was of course entertaining to my friends which were snorkeling with much less difficulties. We stayed in that destination for about an hour and a half; it was certainly not enough to even discover the surroundings. Soon we had to board our little boat again and sail away. I get goose bumps every time I think of that day even. The cold water against my skin, my failed attempt to look at the marine life and being careful to not step on one of those spiky things that they warned us about! Fun times indeed! Later on I read online that they’re called sea urchins and that they’re an indication that water inside the lagoon is clean and not polluted. Thankfully we did not have any encounters with our dear urchins. Although I did injure myself quite a few times by losing my balance and falling in the sea.

Don’t forget to take your water shoes here, the entire swimming area is quite rocky and you will certainly feel some unease if you go without water shoes. Learn from our mistakes and don’t repeat them. The water shoes were sold in every stall in Split for less than 10 Euros.

This entire blue lagoon experience was unforgettable. Even while on the boat we had fun, it was blissful and serene. Our tour guides made it even better to be honest. They were kind and easy-going. They constantly tried to make sure we were having fun. If I'm being honest our tour mates weren’t the coolest. They were so quiet and non-communicative; or to put it simply, they were boring. That didn’t stop us from making some noise. We kept singing and playing songs, of course the sound of water made it impossible to hear the music but well.

Solta

Our last destination was Solta. Solta and Brac are two tiny islands near each other. They are famous for their untouched scenery, their quiet and serenity. The moment I set foot on Solta, I felt lighter. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating but I swear that’s how I felt. It was as if the entire island was filled with bubbles of good energy and every time you passed through these bubbles, you automatically felt better and better.

Right now, as I'm sitting on my red leather couch and writing this article, I'm longing for Solta. I feel like I left my heart there (or what was left of it anyway) in Solta. Anyhow I’ll stop now and get back to telling you less sentimental stuff but more factual details about Solta.

Solta is not actually as famous as Hvar or even Brac, so it makes it a more tranquil and desired destination. The island is only 9 miles from Split and you can get there by a boat in like 20 minutes. Solta is breath taking and scenic.

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Despite being a tiny island, it has so much to offer. They have a lot of traditions and customs. Some of their famous traditions include: wine making tradition which takes place from end of august to the beginning of September. There is also the tradition od olive oil making, as Solta is filled with olive trees. This happens sometime in October and November, so if you were there around that time, be sure to visit the entire olive oil making tradition.

There are so many other things that you can observe or do in Solta, for the sake of simplicity I'm not going to include them all; however if you are interested to find out more, I suggest checking out this article that I found online while researching for my own article.

Our tour guides were supposed to take us back to Split at 7 pm but they told us that if everyone agrees we can extend our little trip a little bit and stay on Solta until around 8:30 and then catch the sunset! We were thrilled. I could have stayed there for a lifetime, let alone another extra hour.

We didn’t do anything specific in Solta, just sat by the beach and enjoyed the view. It was rapturous. The water was so clean and calm that blew my mind. I sat there pouring my heart out to my friends and we skipped stones together; it was truly special to me.

There were a bunch of bars and restaurants there, they seemed like family businesses. Locals were playing cards or chit chatting with one another while the tourists were sunbathing around. We left Solta on time to catch the sunset, they stopped the boat in the middle of nowhere and we gazed at the orange sky as it swallowed the sun, slowly and gracefully.

We finished the trip at around 8:45 PM; we tipped our tour guides for the amazing service they provided us and headed home with our hearts fuller than ever.

In the next part of the post, I will go through some of the other island destinations that are popular.

Hvar

Presumably the most popular destination from Split, it is well known for its wild parties but also unique landscape. Hvar is as Mediterranean as it gets and it’s absolutely a preferred destination of those who want be feel secluded for a little while. I don’t know if it's true but apparently a lot of people do.



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If you do travel there, take your time to roam around the lavender fields and get lost within the olive trees. Hvar as per other Mediterranean islands produces it’s own wine; so you can be out there chillin and sippin on your wine.

I'm not going to give you guys too many details on these islands but just enough to see which one catches your eye. If you’re interested to read and learn more about Hvar then check out this website and this other article, it ain’t bad either.

Brac

It is actually pronounced “Bratch” but I did not know that until about 2 minutes ago. Brac is a lot less crowded than Hvar and for that matter I think you can count on it being a lot more authentic in terms of the island life. Whenever I travel I want to live as the locals live, this becomes harder when the city is a lot more touristy. You wouldn’t run into that problem in Brac and definitely not Solta. Brac is a dry island if you compare it to Hvar but it is still lined with tons of thousands of olive trees.



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If you want more information on Brac, then check out this website.

Vis

Remember when I talked about the Blue Cave? Well it is located near Vis island. Vis is a relatively small island and it offers the same vegetation and weather as the rest of the islands. I would say it could be slightly harder to get to Vis in comparison to the other islands. Vis is definitely as authentic as it gets and so the island is the perfect destination if you’re looking for a relaxing holiday.



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This is it, we covered the one day and half a day trips to nearby islands. You can also take trips for the nearby lakes and waterfalls such Krka and Plitvicce; two of the most spectacular National Parks and waterfalls in the world.

So yea this is it! I hope you guys enjoy this article. I certainly did enjoy writing it even though it took the longest time to write it.

Cheers

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