Trogir – Split – Vis
Sue and Tom are compatible travel partners. Tom does a bunch of research and then Sue asks questions Tom never considers like “is there a ferry directly from?” As it turns out the ferry to Split leaves 100m from our hotel at 11am, takes the same amount of time as driving but without all the hassles of driving and cost $5 per person. Score!!
Tom once again got breakfast pastries and coffee and by 9:30 we were back on our balcony. By 10:30 we were packed and out. By noon we were in Split.
One of the joys of ferry travel is that like trains they often drop you directly in the middle of town. This was true in Split. Another joy is booking a high end apartment stay where they will let you leave your luggage in the center of town and give you tips on visiting the town, even when you aren’t staying there for 5 more days!
By 1:30, we had found Roko our Split host, had enjoyed a fruit bowl/ice cream snack and he had taken our bags so we could freely roam the compact old town of Split.
Built in 300AD, the main sight is Diocletian’s palace which has been modified over the centuries to be a compact ancient town. Designed in a rectangular layout, the palace is 230m by 180m with 4 main gates in a north/south east/west grid with a main square in the center. We followed a walking tour that started at the north gate and made our way to the center now dominated by a 12th century bell tower and Catholic Church. It is built directly on top of a Diocletian’s crypt which is ironic given that he spent most of his time as Caesar persecuting Christians and was the last Caesar to do so before Christianity was adopted as the official religion of Rome.
We decided to join the queue and make the 5 minute hike to the top of the bell tower for the panoramic views of the old town. The staircase up was impossibly narrow and it became instantly obvious why they strictly limited the number of visitors.
By 3pm we were back on the ground and we made our way to a sandwich shop before splitting up to wander the town – Evie and Sue shopping in one direction and Tyler and Tom exploring in the other. At 5pm we reconvened at the office where our bags were being stored and made our way back to ferry focal to catch our 6pm high speed catamaran to our ultimate destination Vis.
We navigated through the throngs of people jostling in every direction until we made the boat with 20 minutes to spare, sweaty and grumpy. Thankfully, we got seats on the shady side of the air conditioned ferry. A few rows ahead of us was a group of German young men, all wearing lederhosen and sporting a large collection of wristbands. We later noticed that they had literally no luggage of any kind save for a large bottle of Jamison! A quick internet search revealed that the last night of Ultra-Europe, an electronica music festival was happening from 10pm to 4am on the island of Vis. Clearly their plan was to dance all night and catch the 7am ferry back to Split. Now aware, we noticed more than a few of the younger travelers were sporting the telltale wrist bands.
The ferry ride was smooth although we arrived 30 minutes late and at 8pm we were dragging our roller bags down the promenade of the adorably picturesque Vis Town. The waterfront was packed with sailboats of all sizes and nearly every mooring in the harbor was taken.
At 8:15 we were met by Tomislav our host at the perfectly located AirBnb Tom had reserved for our our 4 nights in Vis. Our place was in Kut, at the far end of Vis Town, in a pedestrian zone full of lovely restaurants and cafes. Once again Sue and the kids were amazed at the exceptional quality of our accommodation with its large balcony overlooking the harbor. Truly, the only way to be closer to the water would be to be on a boat!
At 9pm, we walked 10m out our front door to a recommended restaurant to discover that it is owned by our host! We had pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, fried calamari and a lovely salad. The main topic of conversation was who would sleep where as the adults wanted to break up the pattern of ‘girls room, boys room’ and with 4 bedrooms it was possible but who would get the small bed upstairs versus the queen bed that opened out on to the balcony. Ultimately Tyler negotiated to take the upstairs bedroom for $6 per night!
Apparently dinner at 10pm is the new normal for us as we didn’t finish our meal until 11. Snug in our super comfortable beds it is hard to believe that we started our day in Trogir and spent half a day touring Split. Welcome to Vis.