Croatian Adriatic Highway: Split to Dubrovnik

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Split

   Split began as a retirement home. The Roman emperor Diocletian, born nearby, built a vast fortified palace on this peninsula around the year 300 and retired here after abdicating, to grow cabbages, so the story goes. After the Roman world fell apart, refugees from the nearby city of Salona sheltered inside its walls, and over the centuries the palace turned into a town. Today you walk through the Golden Gate, the Peristyle and the old cellars, and find cafés, shops, apartments and washing lines inside what is, effectively, a Roman building, with the emperor's mausoleum converted into a cathedral. UNESCO lists the palace and the historic centre.

   Read the complete Split write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Split is where the day begins. Next is Makarska.

2. 2. Makarska

   Makarska sits under a wall of grey limestone, with the Biokovo mountains rising almost straight out of the sea behind the town. The highest peak, Sveti Jure, stands at about 1,762 metres, and the ridge runs for thirty kilometres along the coast, so the town and its neighbours, Tučepi and Baška Voda, are squeezed into a narrow strip between mountain and water. This is the Makarska Riviera, one of the most scenic stretches of the Dalmatian coast, and the old Adriatic Highway runs right along it, with views over the sea to the islands of Brač and Hvar.

   Read the complete Makarska write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Makarska comes up about 86 km into the recorded legs. Next is Dubrovnik.

3. 3. Dubrovnik

   Dubrovnik was once an independent republic, called Ragusa, and it lasted for centuries by being clever. It was a small city-state that paid tribute to bigger powers, traded with everyone, banned slavery early, and kept a splendid ring of walls that still surrounds the old town. Walking the walls, about two kilometres of stone with towers and bastions, takes an hour or two, and offers views over terracotta roofs and a glittering sea. In 1991 and 1992 the city was shelled during the Yugoslav war, and the damage has been repaired, though a few signs remain. UNESCO added it to its list in 1979.

   Read the complete Dubrovnik write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 273 km.