Split

Diocletian's Palace at 8 am, Marjan coves and Salona in two days

Split takes two unhurried days. See Diocletian's Palace early: the Peristyle by 8 am, the Cathedral of St Domnius and its bell tower, the cool basement halls and Grgur Ninski's statue by the Golden Gate. Give an afternoon to the coves and trails of Marjan hill, and another to the Roman ruins of Salona.

Be at the Peristyle by 8 am, before the café terraces fill. Visit the Cathedral of St Domnius and climb its bell tower while the light is soft, then go below ground into the basement halls, which stay cool even in August. Leave by the Golden Gate to touch Grgur Ninski's toe, and walk back through the palace to the Riva for lunch.

In the late afternoon, wander through Varoš and up the steps to Marjan. Walk over the headland and swim from one of the coves on the far side, then come back down for dinner in a Varoš konoba.

On day two, take a city bus to Solin for the ruins of Salona, the Roman city whose refugees settled in the palace, then continue uphill to Klis Fortress for the view over the bay and the islands. Return by mid-afternoon and spend the evening at Bačvice watching the picigin players in the shallows. If you have a third day, take the early car ferry to Supetar on Brač and come back on the evening boat.

Pašticada, soparnik and Split's morning markets

Split cooks simple, seasonal Dalmatian food. Order pašticada, beef marinated in vinegar and braised with prunes and wine, served with gnocchi, black cuttlefish-ink risotto, and soparnik, the chard-filled flatbread of the Poljica coast. Shop the morning fish and green markets, and skip restaurants with photo menus.

Dalmatian cooking is simple and seasonal, and Split does it well when you avoid the menus with photographs. Crni rižot, risotto turned black with cuttlefish ink, and risotto with white scampi show the long Venetian influence. Start with Dalmatinski pršut, the air-dried ham of the hinterland, and hard sheep's cheese from Pag.

Soparnik is the local curiosity, a flat pie of chard, onion and parsley between two thin sheets of dough, baked traditionally under embers and usually vegan. Look for it in bakeries in winter.

Shop where the cooks do. The green market, called Pazar, spreads outside the Silver Gate on the east side of the palace every morning, with fruit, figs, olive oil and lavender. The fish market on the western edge of the old town is busiest before 9 am. For eating, the konobas of Varoš are more relaxed than the terraces on the Riva, which are better for coffee than for food. Finish with a bottle of Pipi, the local orange soda, or its stablemate Orela, both made by Dalmacijavino.

Sudamja in May, then the Summer Festival and Ultra in high summer

Visit Split in June or September, at 28°C and 25°C, for warm seas and fewer crowds. July and August average 31°C with little rain and bring the Split Summer Festival and the Ultra music weekend, while Sudamja, the feast of St Domnius, falls on 7 May. The city gets about 2,800 hours of sunshine a year.

Split gets about 2,800 hours of sunshine a year, and the figures show why the coast fills up. July and August average highs of 31°C, with only 25 to 32 mm of rain a month. June, at 28°C, and September, at 25°C, are the sweet spots, warm enough to swim with far fewer people on the ferries. Rain arrives in autumn: October and November bring 80 to 120 mm a month, and the wettest weeks come in November. Winter highs stay around 11 to 12°C, and frost is rare, though the cold bura wind can blow hard down from the mountains.

The city's own feast is Sudamja, the day of St Domnius on 7 May, when the old town fills with a fair, a procession and a public holiday mood. From mid-July to mid-August the Split Summer Festival puts opera, theatre and concerts on open-air stages, with the Peristyle used as a setting. Ultra Europe, a large electronic music festival, has taken over Park Mladeži for a weekend each July in recent years; check the dates, as rooms become scarce that weekend.

Hajduk's home games at Poljud stadium bring the whole city out in red and blue, and the graffiti of Torcida, the club's supporters since 1950, covers walls across town.