Split

Is Split safe?

Yes. Split has very little violent crime: Croatian police recorded 2 homicides in the whole of Split-Dalmatia county in 2025, in a county of about 429,000 people, and robberies fell from 47 to 26 in a year. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary describes crime in Croatia as low and violent crime as rare, and nothing in the figures marks Split out as an exception.

The things that go wrong for visitors here are more ordinary. Summer brings large drinking crowds into a small old town, pickpockets follow the crowds, the roads in the county kill about two dozen people a year, and wildfires burn in the dry hills behind the city most summers. We score Split 80, two points ahead of Dubrovnik (78), which has even less crime but more dangerous roads, and level with Lisbon.

Party tourism and nights out

Split's problem in summer is not crime so much as behaviour. In February 2026 Mayor Tomislav Šuta told the Croatian press that "situations arise that impair the safety and quality of the life of tenants", and councillors proposed stopping shops from selling alcohol between 8 pm and 6 am in the streets with the most clubs, bars and all-night shops (Euronews). Bars and restaurants would not be covered.

The city already uses fines. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary names Split among the towns where police give on-the-spot fines for drinking alcohol in public, sleeping in public spaces, urinating or vomiting in the street, climbing on monuments, and walking around shirtless or in swimwear. Euronews puts those fines at up to 700 euros, and fighting, shouting or drunken behaviour can cost up to 4,000 euros.

The FCDO's wider warnings apply here too. Some "gentlemen's clubs" in Croatia have charged tourists thousands of euros and threatened them when they refused to pay. There have also been reports of sexual assaults in taxis: use an app, photograph the taxi number and share the trip.

Is Split safe at night?

Mostly, yes. Split is not part of the EU's 2023 survey of how safe residents feel, so we use Zagreb, the only Croatian city in it, where 80% of residents said they feel safe walking alone at night in their city and 91% in their own neighbourhood. That is well ahead of Lisbon (68%), Athens (40%) and Rome (38%). We take 2 points off for Split because of the drunken disorder that its own mayor describes.

In practice the old town and the Riva waterfront are busy and lit late in summer, and with 26 robberies in the whole county in 2025, street robbery is rare. Most late-night trouble involves drunk visitors. The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary also warns of fan violence around derby football matches; avoid the area around the stadium at kick-off and when crowds leave.

Pickpockets and theft

Police recorded 1,004 thefts in Split-Dalmatia county in 2025, about 234 per 100,000 residents and 21% fewer than in 2024, plus 448 burglaries and other aggravated thefts. That is low for a city that fills with visitors every summer, and a fraction of Venice province's rate of more than 2,000 per 100,000 (Eurostat, 2023). The FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary still warns of pickpockets in tourist areas. In Split that means the narrow lanes of Diocletian's Palace, the Riva, the green market, and the ferry port and bus station when ferries load.

Do not leave bags on the beach while you swim, and use the safe in your apartment for passports and spare cash.

Roads, ferries and heat

Police counted 26 road deaths in the county in 2025 and 450 people seriously injured, a death rate of about 6.1 per 100,000 residents, close to Croatia's 6.8. The county covers a long stretch of coast, inland valleys and the islands. If you hire a car or scooter, the legal limit for drivers is 0.05% blood alcohol, and zero for drivers under 24.

For boat trips, the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary says Croatia takes a zero-tolerance approach to anyone in charge of a boat who has been drinking.

KBC Split, the city's clinical hospital centre, runs emergency departments for adults and children. Croatia's PM2.5PM2.5Tiny airborne particles 2.5 micrometres across or smaller. They reach deep into the lungs and are the air pollutant most linked to early death.More in the glossary average in 2024 was 13.8 µg/m³ (IQAir), above the WHO guideline; we found no official annual figure for Split. GHIC and EHIC holders still pay up to 530 euros per treatment, according to the FCDO.

Wildfires and earthquakes

Wildfires are the hazard most likely to touch a visit. In August 2024 lightning started a fire above Žrnovnica, on the edge of Split, that burned about 700 hectares of grass, scrub and forest; 250 firefighters and Canadair planes worked through the night to keep it from reaching homes, Euronews reported. A separate fire burned at the same time in the hills of Gornja Podstrana. Outdoor fires and barbecues are illegal outside designated areas from 1 June to 31 October, and the FCDOFCDO travel adviceThe UK government's travel advice for each country, which can advise against all travel or all but essential travel to specific areas.More in the glossary warns that broken glass can start fires.

The FCDO also notes that earthquakes in Croatia can be strong, with small tremors several times a month. The deadly quakes of recent years hit Zagreb and Petrinja, not Dalmatia.

How we scored it

Violent crime (91) is Split's strongest factor. Walking at night (83) uses Zagreb's answer to the EU's 2023 survey, which we apply to every European city, minus 2 for documented drunken disorder. Theft and scams (76) reflect low police figures but real pickpocket and club warnings. Traffic safety (68) is the weakest factor because of the county's road deaths, and natural hazards (70) reflect summer wildfires and earthquake risk.