Split, Croatia 22nd to 29th September 2025

Our first event will be a trip to the beautiful ancient seaside city of Split in Croatia. The core dates to overlap with fellow members of the Mix and Mingle group are Monday 22nd to Sunday 28th September, but obviously you can choose your own dates according to what suits your own calendar and pocket, but the Mix and Mingle social engagement will only be between those dates. We will coordinate and communicate all details via a dedicated whatsapp group, but with so many options available to us, decisions will probably be made by consensus at each of the Mix and Mingle social occasions.

Split is the second largest city in Croatia after the capital Zagreb, with 161,000 inhabitants (2021 census, smaller than Brighton and Hove’s 277,000), and is the largest city on the Adriatic coast. There are plenty of sights from the Roman architecture (in particular the Diocletian’s Palace, one of the most famous and complete architectural and cultural features on the Croatian Adriatic coast and the world's most complete remains of a Roman palace with UNESCO world heritage status), museums (including Game of Thrones, which used Diocletian’s Palace and several other local places for location shots of the TV series), sandy beaches (Bacvice and Ferule are both walkable), yachts in the harbour (several episodes of TV’s “Below Deck” were filmed in Split), Riva seafront (promemade) strolls, Marjan Hill Nature Reserve and other sights. There are excellent options for dining, drinking and nightlife and plenty of day trips available - such as Trogir, Solin, Makarska Riviera or the 17 Skradinski Buk waterfalls at the Krka National Park (or the Roski Slap, 12 waterfalls in a space of 450 metres), ferries to the islands of Solta, Hvar or Brac, or coach tours across the border into Bosnia for Mostar, Medjugorje and Sarajevo. There are formal sightseeing, walking and activity tours available locally, including kayaking, white-water rafting, and sailing – in and near the city. Basically there’s tons to do and see if you’re willing, otherwise a wonderful place to just chill-out if that’s your thing.

We can discuss and agree which of the many options open to us we might do on a day-to-day basis, as we meet up socially or via the whatsapp group.

For optimal opportunity to join in, please aim to find accommodation close to the harbour (for ferries to the islands), as that’s also the main bus and coach rendezvous point, and convenient for the restaurants and bars. Within the city walls of the ancient city would be perfect.

I’ve put some tourist board photos, maps, this week’s temperature guide and flight prices in the picture album for your information. As at right now (5th Sept), return flights from Gatwick via Easyjet for Monday 22nd to Sunday 29th are from £206 (or £166 returning to Luton instead) with 3 flights per day. Hotels via Expedia range from £500 for the week to well over £1,000 depending on your taste and pocket, of course. I’ve also included a screen-shot of AirBnB options that are a bit cheaper, but not so many within the city walls (the yellow area in the various maps). Obviously prices may go up or down, this is intended just to be indicative.

The local currency is Euros and Croatia is in Europe, so relevant visa and passport rules apply. Please make appropriate medical insurance arrangements. I last visited Split in 2019 and at that time there was still heavy reliance on cash rather than card payments, so be prepared that it may still be the same. There are plenty of cash machines, but may charge a fee.