Split Food & Wine Tours
Split is a Roman palace that became a city, and it eats the way Dalmatia eats: fish from the Peškarija market grilled with nothing but oil, black risotto, pašticada on Sundays, and wine from Kaštela twenty minutes up the coast, where the vine that became Zinfandel was found. This is our Split hub. Below are the top-rated food and wine experiences in the city, then our pages for food tours, cooking classes and wine tours, and the islands a boat ride away.
Top-rated food and wine experiences in Split
Three ways in: a food tour through the palace and the markets; a cooking class for pašticada, black risotto and peka; a wine tour to Kaštela and the Zinfandel vineyards.
What to eat: crni rižot, pašticada with gnocchi, grilled fish, soparnik, fritule, and Plavac Mali or Pošip to drink.
Read next: the best food in Split: what to taste.
Food and wine in Split: how the city eats
Split’s old town is Diocletian’s retirement palace with 1,700 years of houses built into it, and its food happens in two markets at either end: the Pazar, the green market against the east wall, and the Peškarija, the fish market to the west, where the sellers still shout the catch. Dalmatian cooking is Mediterranean and plain: fish grilled and dressed with oil, parsley and garlic; crni rižot, black with cuttlefish ink; pašticada, beef marinated for a day and stewed with prunes, served with gnocchi on Sundays; peka, lamb or octopus cooked under an iron bell in embers; and soparnik, the chard pie from the Poljica villages. The wine is Plavac Mali from the islands and Kaštela.
Food tours
Three hours through the palace and the markets with seven to ten tastings, often ending with a glass on the Riva. Split’s tours are the best on the coast. See Split food tours.
Cooking classes
A market visit, then pašticada or black risotto, soparnik and fritule in a small kitchen, with wine. The class that made Split a cooking destination runs most days. See Split cooking classes.
Wine: Kaštela and the islands
Twenty minutes up the coast in Kaštela, the vine Crljenak Kaštelanski was identified in 2001 as the original Zinfandel; wineries there and in the hills above pour it alongside Plavac Mali and Pošip. Hvar and Brač are an hour by boat. See Split wine tours, Hvar wine tours and Dalmatia wine tours.
Day trips
Trogir is thirty minutes; Krka’s waterfalls and Šibenik an hour; Hvar an hour by catamaran; Korčula and Pelješac a long day. Most food and wine day trips from Split combine one of these with a winery lunch.
When to come
May, June and September for warm sea and open kitchens without the August crush; October for harvest in Kaštela; winter for the quietest version of the palace and the cheapest classes.
Read next: 3 days in Split for food & wine · Split to Dubrovnik: a Dalmatian food route · Split cooking classes: peka & black risotto · Croatia food & wine road trip: Istria to Dalmatia
How we choose
We list only experiences with a strong rating over a meaningful number of reviews and free cancellation where available, and we favour small-group and family-run hosts. FindEatLocal earns a commission when you book through GetYourGuide or Viator links on this page; it doesn’t change the price you pay. More about how we choose.
FAQ about Split Food & Wine Tours
Frequently asked questions
Why Split for food?
Because it has the best food tours on the Croatian coast, a cooking class that has become an institution, a green market and a fish market inside a Roman palace, and ferries to Hvar and Brač for the island wineries.
What food is Split known for?
Black risotto, pašticada with gnocchi, grilled fish, peka, soparnik, fritule and wines from Plavac Mali and Pošip.
Is there a cooking class in Split?
Yes; the market-to-table class is one of the best-known food experiences in Croatia and runs most days from spring to autumn.
Can I do a wine tour from Split?
Yes; Kaštela’s wineries are twenty minutes away, and Hvar and Brač are an hour by boat.
Food tour or cooking class first?
The tour on your first evening to learn the palace and the markets, the class the next day to take a dish home.
When is the best time to visit Split for food?
May to June and September to October; the markets are open all year, the sea is warm from June, and August is full.