The longest day on my recent trip to Greece and Croatia may very well have been in Split. We were nearing the end of our breathtaking two week tour, and suddenly going to bed at a reasonable time didn’t seem like a good idea!
We had a whirlwind spin around Split which started with a dawn hike, continued on with a wander through town, an afternoon visiting several beaches, and an evening having dinner and bottles of prosecco on the Riva promenade. Not bad for one day!
The highlight of my short visit to this gorgeous city (which reminded me a lot of my hometown of Vancouver) was the morning wander up Marjan Hill.
Looking at a map, this park takes up a good portion of central Split, but borders the historic area where you’re likely to stay on a visit. We were lucky to be close to the entrance, and started our mini hike around 7:30am.
I’m warning you now — the climb is 178 meters and there are a good few stairs to reach the top! But if you go at a comfortable pace, you can make it to the summit regardless of your level of (or interest in) fitness. There are several routes that can take you around the hill and through the park, but we chose the main, well-defined steps to bring us straight to the top.
In total we spent 90 minutes going up and down. It was great to do early in the morning, when the only people we ran into were runners and dog walkers. We also beat the summer heat!
The views were breathtaking. Split is the second largest city in Croatia, and you can clearly see how it has been built up around the historic centre from your perch atop Marjan Hill.
I’d recommend adding Split to your list, and take a few hours to get some exercise in this beautiful park!
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