7 Days of Hidden Courtyards & Winter Couture in Split, Croatia

The day starts with the smell of fresh-ground beans and cool marble under your elbows at kava², where the autumn light slides across terrazzo tables and lemon trees shiver in the breeze outside. From there, you slip straight into the stone heart of Split: Diocletian’s Palace, where footsteps echo against 1,700-year-old walls and laundry lines cut across the sky like accidental art installations. Late morning is for color and texture—pop art at Jaman and the surreal feeling of seeing contemporary canvases inside a medieval grid. By lunch, SIP27 becomes your living room: clink of Negroni glasses, small plates arriving in a slow rhythm, the Palace just beyond the doorway. Afternoon sharpens into a fashion hunt: concept pieces at SHARENO, then the intimate drama of Vampirica’s family-made body jewelry, chains cool against your fingertips. Dinner at Bome is all candlelight on ceramic plates and the low murmur of locals dissecting the menu, before Bottiglia’s upstairs terrace wraps the night in soft music and the round warmth of Dalmatian reds. You fall asleep already tracing tomorrow’s path through courtyards you haven’t walked yet.

The day opens with the hiss of a milk steamer and the smell of toasted focaccia at Jo & The Sisters, a corner spot that feels like a neighborhood living room. From there, you drift toward the Palace again, but this time with a jeweler’s eye: past the Old Town Hall’s clock tower, into narrow lanes where tiny signs announce ateliers more than shops. Midday is for layering—Phi Design’s stones, Grubic’s sculptural pieces, ZORIANI’s precise metalwork—each one a different take on how to wear the Adriatic. Lunch is close by, giving your feet a break while your fingers still remember the feel of silver and coral. Afternoon turns toward design in all forms: UVIK’s compact art-and-jewelry mix, Peristil Art’s carefully chosen souvenirs that feel more gallery than gift shop. As the light fades and the stones of Narodni trg cool underfoot, dinner at Ćiri Biri Bela wraps you in bohemian warmth, textiles and candlelight softening the day’s edges. Bar Sistema closes the night with serious cocktails and low, confident music—a reminder that Split’s style extends well beyond its shop windows. Tomorrow, you’ll trade jewelry cases for sea air and a different kind of promenade.

You wake to the muted clatter of cups and the smell of fresh pastry at Caffe & gin bar Tina, tucked just off a passage where locals cut through on their way to work. The caffeine kicks in as you walk toward the Riva, the waterfront promenade that every neighborhood guide mentions as Split’s living room—palm trees, smooth stone, and the hush of winter waves. Morning is for the big picture: the Riva as catwalk, then the nearby Promenade of Split Olympians, where plaques and statues quietly celebrate local heroes. By midday, you’re back inside the Palace seams, eyeing coral at Belinda and precise metalwork at Zlatarna Vagus, the sea now translated into jewelry. Lunch is a simple, satisfying stop where the pizza arrives blistered and hot, perfect for tearing with your hands while you map the afternoon. Later, you head inland to Utopia Specialty Coffee and Varos Ltd., where the design focus shifts from clothes and jewels to caffeine and interiors. Dinner at Pizzeria Sette Sorelle is casual but confident, and the night ends with a slow walk along the Riva again, this time tuned to the softer rhythm of winter. Tomorrow, you’ll trade sea-level promenades for a climb into Marjan’s pines.

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