On my recent trip to Split, Croatia, we took one of the days to climb the stunning Marjan Hill.
As a recommendation as ‘the heart of Split’ from our villa hosts we decided that this was one of the things we couldn’t miss and despite the journey up being difficult, I’m so glad I persevered.
The night before we were planning to walk up I did some research online about what kind of difficulty it would be. Most sites said it’s moderately Okay, with only 314 steps to climb. What we didn’t realise though is that those 314 steps are what you climb to get to the flag at the top, not for the whole hill.
The hill isn’t too well signposted from the city centre but if you walk to the end of the promenade and keep walking straight, you’ll end up at a big flight of stairs. From then On, the rest of the journey is pretty straightforward.
After about a 15 minute walk up A LOT of steps we came to a really cute bar on one of the terraces. There’s a viewing platform nearby which was perfect for photographs, but there seemed to be something so relaxing about sitting on the terrace with a beer in hand – so that’s exactly what we did as a reward on the way back down.
When we reached the terrace we spotted the ‘halfway church’ so we walked in that direction. Although the church was stunning, we probably should have turned and gone back the other way as it took us the long way around – completely missing out the forest park.
Eventually, we came to a sign that said 314 steps. By this point, I was struggling to walk as my knee had swollen so I sat down and point blank refused to move. Knowing it was as many steps as the church I climbed in Poland I could not bear the thought of walking any further, but after about 10 minutes of saying I can’t, I braved the rest of the journey.
Oh my god was it worth it.
When we got to the top I couldn’t believe the views, they were incredible. From one side you can see the whole of Split and from the other side, you can see as far as Trogir, somewhere I wish we had visited.
We stayed at the top for quite a while as I needed to rest my knee and as the photo opportunities were amazing, especially as the sun started to set.
On the way down we went a completely different route, walking through the forest park. There were lots of places for kids to play, and abandoned zoo and a hell of a lot of stray cats. If I wasn’t so tired and determined to get myself to the bar to order a beer, I probably would have explored this part a little bit more.
The rest of the evening was spent at the terrace bar watching the sun set and enjoying our new favourite local beer with the terrace cat, Charlie. He was so friendly he even came and sat on our laps while we chilled.
I would 100% recommend climbing to the top of Marjan Hill if you ever get the chance as the views are incredible and it’s so worth the journey. I’d say it takes a good few hours to climb, spend time at the top and enjoy a beer on the way down – the perfect way to spend an afternoon in Split.
Kirsty Leanne
Xoxo
