By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Nightlife Editor
At first glance, figuring out the nightlife in Split, Croatia, is as confusing as finding your way through the old Palace grounds, which locals call Old Town.
It’s a maze of walkways and alleys without any huge bar or club or anything standing out among the dizzing number of restaurants, shops and the occasional Game of Thrones souvenir store. Now I don’t mean to split hairs when writing about nightlife in Split but most of the bars are in Old Town and you may not even recognize them as bars at all because many are quiet restaurants until the diners have departed.
So to make things easy for you, I have created this simple guide t0 the best bars and the nightlife scene in Split, Croatia. There is also this sidebar post on my personal experiences of the nightlife in Split whereas this is more of a guide to the best bars.
Old Town Croatia Bars
I found two “go-to” starter bars in Split. One is O’Hara’s, a small Irish bar that, even if it’s not busy, will entertain you because it plays 80s MTV videos on the TV. The other is Sanctuary Bar. Both are great places to begin your night because people go in and out of those places and they set the table for a fun bar night in Split. And heck, you may wind up enjoying one of both of them so much you will toss out your anchor and stay all night.
Sanctuary Bar is on Kružićeva Street, not that you’ll be able to find it or any other bar in the Palace area by the street name, but know it’s just down past the rotisserie chicken place. It’s also a few steps from the most lively bar in Old Town, Charle’s Bar. I had shades of Mykonos here. It’s where the backpackers and people staying in hostels go to party and party they do, singing and dancing to lively music in a casual come-as-you-are bar.
Another lively place is a larger Irish bar, Harat’s Irish Pub. Like most spots, it’s not a big place so you have to squeeze your way into it to get a beer. That’s why most people drink their beers just outside of the pub.
Shotgun Shooters Bar is just what is sounds like – so don’t overdo it there!
Bokeria Wine Bar is a large (large by Old Town standards), nice bar that is a popular place to stop and have Croatian wine or a cocktail on a fairly prominent corner (in other words, it’s relatively easy to find).
Boiler is a restaurant in Old Town that becomes a club.
Hey, I stated this is a simple guide, right? There are countless other bars, mainly small ones and many are mellow spots to have a nice cocktail. But the ones listed here are more for the PubClubber in you, which is to say for the single and fun couples party people.
Waterfront Croatia Bars
There is nightlife along the waterfront, too.
On the harbor, Roof 68 is a large wrap-around all-outdoor bar with lounging seating and a theme of “food, fetish and me.” I didn’t see any of the middle part there but this is a cool, all-outdoor bar and lounge.
It is owned by the same people as Boiler and The Olive Tree. The latter is a cool, hip bar with a mini Vegas-like lounge upstairs. But, as I discovered after a scolding by a waiter, don’t go upstairs unless you are invited or have a VIP wristband. This created a negative vibe there for me so I tried Antique a few doors down from it. It’ s a restaurant with a small (25-30 people) bar scene but the doorman – who was as big as the actual doorway entrance when I was there – told me I needed “reservations.”
I’m not sure what that meant or if it was a speical event that night but then I moved onto the happy-to-have-you-here ST-RIVA. This is a small, narrow upstairs bar with a narrow balcony holding about 25 people. It’ s cool, relaxed spot with a view of the harbor and really good beer. Look for the old-school neon cocktail glass sign behind all the waterfront restaurants.
Dance Clubs In Split, Croatia
Split has dance clubs, led by Central The Club. This is a big, two-level club, the closest thing Split has a mega club. It opens at midnight and goes until 5 a.m.
The Vanilla Club (Mediteranskih igara 21 21000) is another club with live music.
In Old Town, the 305 Club is able to skirt the early-closing law (see below) for late-night club partying.
Pub Crawls In Split, Croatia
There are pub crawls every night in Old Town. My advice to get on one is to go to Sanctuary Bar around 6 or 7 and ask about joining a crawl. Sanctuary is the launching pad for one of the top pub crawls in Croatia and the organizer is the wife of the Canadian bartender.
Closing Time For The Bars Close in Split, Croatia
Like many European cities, nightlife in Split doesn’t begin to pick up until after 10 p.m., and really starts to accelerate after 11. This can be a bit of a problem, tho, because the bars in the Old Town close at the are-y0u-kidding-me hour of midnight during the week. On the plus side, they are open on weekends until 1 or sometimes even 2 a.m. The one exception is the 305 Club because the mayor – who initiated the midnight closing in 2023 and I took an immediate misliking to when I learned of this policy – is friends with the owner. Or so I have been told.
The clubs outside of Old Town don’t get cranking until Midnight and go until 4 or even 5 a.m.
For more on Croatia, check out this link!