What to Expect
The cruise pier is on the Riva, a palm-lined waterfront promenade that is the center of Split's outdoor life. Diocletian's Palace is immediately behind the Riva — the Golden Gate (north), Silver Gate (east), Iron Gate (west), and Bronze Gate (south, opening onto the Riva) are the four main entrances. The Peristyle — the central courtyard where the emperor received visitors and which is now an outdoor café — is the visual and spatial heart of the palace. Diocletian's Mausoleum, converted to the Cathedral of Saint Domnius in the 7th century, stands in the Peristyle and retains its octagonal Roman exterior and some of its original interior carvings. The basement halls (hypogeum) of the palace, which supported the imperial quarters above, are open and give the clearest sense of the palace's Roman engineering scale.
Diocletian and a Palace That Became a City
Diocletian was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305 AD — the last emperor to voluntarily abdicate. He built his retirement palace at Spalatum (Split) near his birthplace in what is now Croatia, chose to tend his garden rather than reclaim the throne when urged to do so (his recorded response to the request: "If only you could see the cabbages I have grown at Salona with my own hands, you would never tempt me"), and died here in 316 AD. After the collapse of Roman authority in the 7th century, refugees from the nearby Roman city of Salona (destroyed by the Avars and Slavs in 614) moved into the palace and converted it into a city — using the walls as their outer defense, the temples as churches, and the imperial halls as apartments. The process of building into the ancient structure continued for 1,400 years; the result is a palimpsest of Roman, medieval, and Venetian architecture that is genuinely lived in.
Getting Around and Island Day Trips
The old town and Diocletian's Palace are fully walkable from the pier (5 minutes). Ferries to the nearby islands depart from the Jadrolinija terminal on the east end of the Riva: Brač (50 minutes to Supetar, €6 each way), Hvar (60 minutes to Stari Grad, €5), Šolta (50 minutes, €6), and Vis (2.5 hours). Hvar Town is the fashionable option — a 35-minute catamaran from Split's faster ferry terminal to the old town harbor, with medieval walls, a Venetian loggia, and clear water. A roundtrip to Hvar Town and back, with 2 hours ashore, is just workable in a 7-hour port call. Taxis and Ubers operate in Split; a taxi to Klis Fortress (7 km north, a medieval Croat stronghold used as a filming location for Game of Thrones) costs €15–20 each way.
What to Eat
Dalmatian food is grilled fish and lamb, olive oil, prstaci (date mussels, now protected), peka (lamb or octopus slow-cooked under a bell dome with embers), and fresh vegetables. The daily fish market (Pazar) outside the Silver Gate opens at dawn and closes by noon — the quality is uniformly high. Konoba Matejuška near the west harbor is a reliable old-town restaurant with grilled fish and Dalmatian specialties at €20–35 per person. Prgice (fried dough with cheese), sold from street stalls near the gates, is the local fast food. Croatian wine from the Dalmatia appellation is worth exploring: Plavac Mali (a full-bodied red grown on the Pelješac peninsula) and Pošip and Grk (indigenous whites from the islands of Korčula and Vis).