It’s so incredibly easy to get from Split to Trogir, that I wholeheartedly advise anyone and everyone visiting the city to take a day trip to see the beautiful ‘Little Venice’ of Dalmatia. The pretty little town encapsulates Croatian life, and its compact size makes it easy to explore even if you’re short on time.
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Updated 2026.
The town of Trogir is located on the historic Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, not too far from Split (and in actual fact, closer to Split airport than Split itself is). I was so glad that we decided to visit, because it really is beautiful. We headed from Split to Trogir by bus one very hot day in July, and it was a nice relief to get out into the countryside and a slower pace of life after a few bustling days in the streets of the city. The main town of Trogir is actually on an island, connected to the mainland by a series of bridges- which means it’s also possible to get from Split to Trogir by boat. If you’re up for it.
How to get from Split to Trogir
We travelled from Split to Trogir on the Split City Sightseeing bus’s Blue Line, which took us to several stops for around €20. Firstly Klis Fortress– an Ancient hilltop fortress where some of Game of Thrones was filmed, secondly the remains of a Roman city called Salona, and finally onwards to Trogir itself. Considering we hadn’t done a lot of research into the area it was a good way to see several places in one day.
However, it’s very possible to get to all of these places for far less money, and under your own steam- therefore giving you more flexibility with timings! By road it takes about half an hour to travel from Split to Trogir.
You could take public bus number 37 (which is also the bus to the airport) for €3 each way.
Or get the Arriva coach, which costs between €5-7 depending on the time of day.
Entering the time-capsule of Trogir
We were dropped off close to the market located on the mainland, which was packed to the brim with colourful fruit and vegetables that smelt downright delicious in the midday sun.
From there we headed across a little bridge onto the island of Trogir itself- a UNESCO World Heritage Site set within Medieval walls. And obviously as it’s completely enclosed within these stone walls, this means that no cars can get to the heart of it, making the whole place seem as if it’s inside some kind of bubble of a time capsule- narrow stone alleyways, Venetian palaces and all.
The only kind of vehicle that we did see, was the odd moped that came winding its way through the quiet alleyways, disturbing the shady silence.
Trogir versus Venice
Trogir has been continuously inhabited for over 2300 years: first by the Greeks and Romans, and then as part of the Venetian empire. And it’s the Venetian influence that can be felt more than any other throughout every cobbled street of the old town. Windows of the various palaces and grander homes that line the main square wouldn’t look out of place amongst the canals of Venice, and Trogir has been used as a filming location for TV and films set in the beaut Italian city.
It makes complete sense- I’d imagine Trogir is far less crowded and far cheaper to film in than the Tourist Central Station of Venezia.
The winged lions of St. Mark- the symbol of Venice- that once adorned many a wall around the town, were destroyed after the fall of the Venetian Empire. And nowadays there’s only one left, inside the courtyard of the Garagnin-Fanfogna Palace. It’s not too hard to spot the odd smashed lion, or the faded ghostly marks impressed on the walls where a beast once stood.
And it’s pretty strange to think of the amount of massive changes throughout Trogir’s history every time it was run by a new bunch of people. After the Venetians came the Austro-Hungarians, then eventually it was part of Yugoslavia, and now at long last the whole of Croatia is just simply Croatia, all by itself.
(Although I did overhear a deceptively knowledgeable-sounding English guy informing his girlfriend that the president of Croatia is Vladimir Putin. Which is clearly massively incorrect, however confident he seemed.)
The walls of Trogir
On the opposite side of the island to the mainland, is a beautiful waterfront walkway, with what looks like a small stone house nestling against the outside of the town wall. I thought it looked like the ideal kind of size for me! But alas, it’s not a house at all but a shelter for everyone who didn’t make it to Trogir before the gates closed at 11pm, so they’d still have somewhere to rest their weary heads before the morning came.
What a thoughtful old town! These days it’s actually used as a place to sell souvenirs, as the gates are open at all times of the day and night.
As we strolled along by the seafront, a man who looked a lot like a traditionally-dressed drunken sailor sat twanging an out of tune guitar and yelling what may or may not have been Croatian sea-shanties at the top of his lungs. It really only added to the whole experience.
Wandering the streets of Trogir
We wandered our way through the winding back streets of the town, past stone steps leading up to mysterious-looking doors, and lines of washing swaying ever-so-slightly in the breeze. After stopping for an ice cream and to sample rafioli- a traditional unsweetened and very dry-tasting pastry filled with almond paste- we headed back to the main square, with the tower of the St Lawrence Cathedral standing upright in the middle.
After my brush with death whilst climbing the very similar-looking bell tower of the Saint Domnius Cathedral in the Diocletian’s Palace, I decided today was not the day for another tower-climbing shenanigan. We headed back to Split feeling pretty satisfied at having had a rather chilled out exploration of this beautiful little place.
Although there are plenty of things to see and do here if you want to, Trogir feels so much like a living, breathing museum, that just strolling around and soaking in the atmosphere is all we really needed. This is a really wonderful little town, and travelling from Split to Trogir was absolutely, 100% worth it.
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Sounds like a dreamy town. Lovely post and great photos 🙂 And just clarifying, isn’t Croatia a Balkan country and not Baltic?
Oh my goodness my ipad’s autocorrected and I completely missed it; the Balkans and the Baltic have a very different vibe don’t they!! Thankyou so much for pointing it out!! 😂🤦♀️ (The other day it was trying to change the word South into sandwich so at least Balkan/Baltic makes more sense)
Ha ha..Tell me about autocorrect.. It always assumes that we don’t know what we are typing 😀 and the only reason I knew it is not Baltic is only because we were in Helsinki recently and I was reading up a bit about The Baltic states. I seriously, liked your article very much 🙂 Another place added to the list of ‘hope to go there someday’ places 🙂
Ooh would love to go to Helsinki one day! Haha thankyou- Croatia really surprised me, I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did but it really is a beautiful country 😄 Definitely recommend!
Great photos. Was there a few years back – its a nice day out when visiting Split
Thankyou! Yes, such a great visit from the city ☺️