Split

The cellars copy the plan of the rooms above, so the vanished imperial floor can be read down here. Rubbish filled them for centuries, and that is precisely what preserved them.

Granite columns ring the central yard of the palace and the steps sit like rows of seating. On summer evenings people gather on those steps to listen to singing.

The tower stands beside a building that was an emperor's mausoleum before it became a cathedral. The stair is narrow with wide gaps in the rail, so the climb asks for nerve.

A pine covered hill runs straight out of the centre and steps lead to its crown. Partway up, cave chapels cut by hermits remain in the cliff.

Palms were planted on the broad strip between the south palace wall and the harbour. White awnings stand in a row and the traffic of boats is watched from the chairs.

The house a sculptor built to live in was turned into a gallery as it stood. Bronzes are placed in the garden so that they are seen with their backs to the sea.

It sets up outside the east gate every day, much of the produce carried in from nearby islands. Everything is weighed out and the price is not haggled over.

It runs long and narrow on a rock ridge 12 kilometres inland. Holding this pass meant holding the harbour, so one power after another took it in turn.

The water stays so shallow that walking out 100 metres still leaves it at the waist. A local ball game played in that shallow water goes on at all hours.

A bronze bishop 8 metres tall stands before the north gate of the palace. Touching the left big toe is said to grant a wish, so that one spot is rubbed bright.

Built as a Roman temple west of the emperor's quarters in Diocletian's Palace, it became a baptistery in the Middle Ages. Inside, the coffered stone barrel vault survives intact. A headless Egyptian sphinx crouches where the narrow lane to its door begins.

This round hall south of the Peristyle once led into the emperor's apartments. Its dome is open at the crown, so the sky shows straight through. Sound carries well, and klapa groups, Dalmatian male a cappella singers, often perform inside.

No museum in Croatia is older: it opened in 1820. Most pieces come from nearby Salona, Roman sarcophagi, inscriptions and mosaics. The arcaded garden holds more of the big stone coffins and grave markers than the halls do.

The old quarter of farmers and fishermen on the Marjan slope west of the palace. Stepped stone lanes cross each other in tight turns, and washing hangs from the windows. The stairway up to the hilltop lookout climbs straight through its middle.

Beside Marmontova street, this hall lays the day's Adriatic catch out on ice. Locals say the smell of a nearby sulphur spring keeps flies away. Trading is a morning affair, and late arrivals find bare counters.

Officially Republic Square; in the 19th century it was ringed on three sides with red arcades modelled on St Mark's in Venice. The south side lies open to the sea. A stage goes up in summer for song festivals and concerts.

A former cemetery on a small headland west of the harbour, now a pine park. Most of the gravestones are gone, and a lone pavilion stands by the sea. Close to town yet quiet, it suits sunset, with ferries sliding in and out of port below.

A pebble beach tucked under the south side of Marjan hill, backed by pine woods. The water is clearer and the crowd thinner than on the town beaches. Even after the last city bus stop there is a walk down through the trees.

At Solin lie the remains of Salona, capital of Roman Dalmatia: an amphitheatre, walls and early churches spread wide. When it fell in the 7th century, its people fled into the palace, and Split began. Shade is scarce, so go early in high summer.

The small town of Omis is wedged into the gorge where the Cetina river meets the sea. Medieval pirates hid out here, and Mirabella fortress on the cliff looks over river and sea together. Upstream, rafting and ziplines run through the canyon.

Built for the 1979 Mediterranean Games, its roof opens like a seashell. Hajduk Split play here, and the Torcida supporters pack the stands. On match days white shirts appear all over town.

A 16th-century summer house the sculptor Mestrovic bought, a little further along the coast road from his gallery. In its chapel, walnut reliefs he carved of Christ's life run around the walls. One gallery ticket covers both places.

A long pebble spit reaching into the sea from Bol on the island of Brac. Wind and currents swing its tip, so its shape shifts a little with the seasons. A fast catamaran from Split makes the round trip in a day; windsurfers come out with the afternoon wind.

A sea cave on Bisevo, beside Vis, where sunlight bouncing off the white seabed makes the water glow blue. Light is best around midday. The entrance is low, so visitors move into a small boat, and when the waves are high nobody goes in.