10 FREE locations in Dalmatia, Croatia

Hello World!

When we started blogging life we thought we need to travel outside Croatia all the time, for people to be interested in our stories. Luckily, we realized you don’t need to escape your country or hometown to be interesting, what you need to do is EXPLORE it MORE.

We know it is not easy to travel 365 days in a year, but you can easily walk around your city every single day. When you get enough of your town (if that is even possible when you live in a place like Split, Croatia) you can explore it’s surroundings. That’s exactly what we have been doing recently.

Split city is located in DALMATIA region, so let’s break down some FREE highlights of this area.

1. SALONA

Near city of Solin there are remains of ancient Roman town Salona. At it’s entrance you can find beautiful martyrs (Manastirine) and Tusculum, while at the south part there are remaining of the Roman forum. There is small fee only for the Archaeological museum, which we skipped and enjoyed only outdoors. If you have time, it is perfect picnic spot.

Near Solin you can also find remains of the Hollow Church (Šuplja crkva) on the Jadro river bank.

2. KLIS

On the mountains above Split you can find small village of Klis. It is mostly known for it’s Klis Fortress, were TV series “Game of Thrones” was recently shoot. The entrance fee is 50 HRK per person. Since this was FEE FREE trip, we didn’t go inside, however we admired the views from it.

Nearby, we also found the most magnificent bridge that gave us serious Harry Potter vibes.

3. NUTJAK FORT

Fort is located near city of Trilj, on Cetina river bank. There aren’t many signs on the road (although it should be, because this place is pretty incredible), so follow the instructions here: MAP. From the main road turn onto dirt road, which leads very close to the fort.

Nutjak fort is also famous for it’s wild life: birds, lizards, but also snakes, so if you have any phobia, skip this one. If you are a nature lover, prepare your photo gear and take your time, they crawl all around.

4. GREEN LAKE

We visited Blue and Red lake near Imotski before (find that story HERE), but this time we decided to visit it’s less known sister Green Lake. This gorgeous “Cinderella” is located near town Ričice and it is man made accumulation lake, not natural one. Still, we found it mesmerizing and totally worth of visit! You can come with your car, over the dirt road, all the way to the middle of the lake. It looks like you are walking on Mars.

5. PROLOŠKO BLATO

Again, near Imotski there is another nature phenomena that is out of this world and it is called Prološko blato (mud). It is a huge wast flooded area with the lake in the middle. You can ride your car around the field, but be careful because water created crests, so you will find many “dead ends”. Also, there is big reason it is called mud field. Water variates during the year, so there are periods when the field is almost entirely flooded and there are dry periods. We were there in semi dry period and walked around. I had marvelous idea to skip over water stream to get to Franciscan monastery, on the other side of the crest. I fell so deep in the mud that I almost lost my shoe in it :). Btw. monastery was not worth it.

Prološko blato from above, I took this pic with my phone

6. RUDA river SPRING/SOURCE

Like the name says, this is Ruda river spring. To find it, there are no markings on the road (approximate location – HERE). I’ve put request to Google Maps to update on location, so you can easily found it next time, but in the meantime just ask the locals. It always works :).

When you come to old mill ruins, don’t just stop there, go behind it. Follow concrete path, because it leads you to were spring is hidden. You can walk all the way to the spring too, follow woods path on your left. Just be careful because the water is crazy fast and below the spring is a rocky waterfall.

7. GRAB river SPRING/SOURCE

Grab is the sweetest little village famous for it’s mills and river spring. Everything is very well marked, so you cannot get lost here. Our advice is to park your car right at the city entrance, near the church, and walk from there. Grab charmed us completely. Nature is beautiful and heritage is so valuable. There are couple of mills that are still in function, we stopped by “Čosića mlinica” and “Samardžića mlinica”, where they ground grain to water run. If you want to buy homemade flower, you can do it there.

8. CETINA CANYON BRIDGE

We found this beautiful bridge, in Cetina river canyon, completely by accident. On our way to Imotski, we found marking on the road for “Kreševski most (bridge)”, in Kreševo village, and decided to pursuit it. You can find directions -> HERE. Again, it is not direct link, but there are markings on the road, so you should easily find it, once there.

The bridge connects mountaineer road from Kreševo to Blato na Cetini, so if you are up for a nice walk a long Cetina river, this is the perfect place.

9. CISTA VELIKA WELLS

These ones you cannot miss, they are right on the side of the road! That said, we missed it, hahaha. So keep your eyes open when passing Cista.

Besides wells, the area of the Cista Velika has other historical findings like tombstones and fortresses, so if you have time, stop and explore it more. We only stopped to see wells from Turkish times. They were obviously water source once, but now they are incredible photo shoot location.

People also use it as a garbage bin, so sad about it

10. TRNBUSI and BLATO NA CETINI

Two little villages in Dalmatia hinterland, located on beautiful Cetina river, which have several magical river banks and locally owned picnic spots. I would say it is more summer location, because in summer time you can swim in river and definitely refresh your body and soul in it.