May 18, 2022 - One shocking Split taxi experience made a turn for the better thanks to the help of the local community. 

Those in Split know that the tourist season came a bit earlier than usual this year - especially when we consider we're enjoying 28 degrees in May. But, unfortunately, we can't kick off the season without the horror taxi stories we know so well from the past, with some tourists already desperate for help after forking out cash for mindboggling fares. Like Emma Watkinson.

Emma shared her unpleasant taxi experience in the uber-popular Facebook group "Split Croatia Travel 2022", which has 9.7K members - a mix of locals, expats, tourists currently in Croatia, and those planning on traveling to Split. As Emma explained, she took a taxi from the city center, near Roof 68, at the beginning of the Tourist Palace on Monday evening. 

"Last night, I grabbed a taxi from the Split city centre, at a taxi rank in the region near Roof 68 bar. The journey was approximately 10 minutes back to the apartment, and the taxi driver has charged us £71, rather than £7.10. Given this was a random taxi amongst a taxi rank, it’s proven impossible to track this particular taxi, given ‘Dalmatia travel’ doesn’t relate back to a particular firm. Has this happened to anyone before? Any help would be really appreciated," Emma posted in the Facebook group. 

According to the CNB exchange rate, one pound is 8.91 kuna. This means that the taxi driver charged a dizzying 630 kuna for a ten-minute ride instead of approximately 63 kuna.

Emma wondered if a similar situation had already happened to someone. Members of the group tried to help her find the owner of the taxi company, others suggested waiting in the spot she picked up the taxi to find the driver, while others urged her to use secure platforms like Uber where the cost of travel is clearly calculated.

"A few days ago they charged over 900 kuna from the Bus station to the Airport. Same as last summer. A few years ago they charge my guest for a 3-minute drive during the rainy day 200 kuna, and it was without a bill."

"Shame on the driver, always ask for the price estimate in advance!"

"Why didn't you use Uber?" 

"I’m ashamed. This shouldn’t have happened. It’s an exception, though, most people are honest." 

And one taxi company showed just how honest they are. 

"I'm sorry about what happened to you, my company has been providing taxi services for the last few years in this city... As a company director to you as a guest and visitor to our city I would offer you a FREE TRANSFER to the airport at the expense of our company to keep Croatia in your good memory...We don't want people to have a misconception about legal taxi drivers who do their job fairly

Feel free to contact me directly at wapp +385915276145 or via email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.."

Well done to Call Taxi Split! 

You can check out the official Split Airport prices published on TCN yesterday here. 

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

From Tuesday, June 11, the new city metro, connecting the Split ferry port and Kopilica, will begin operations. The first metro trip will depart at 10:11 am, reports Dalmatinski Portal on June 7, 2019. 

From Saturday morning, Hercegovačka street is open for traffic. The asphalting is completed, horizontal signaling is up, and before dawn, the first cars were able to pass through this roadway where the works have been ongoing for quite a while. 

During the works on Hercegovačka street, a gas pipeline was installed, the storm drainage was adjusted, they renovated the installation channels and pavement, the sidewalk from the south side of the road was reconstructed, and a new sidewalk was built on the north side.

Recall, Deputy Mayor Neno Vela originally announced the new metro to begin on June 9.  This new traffic measure will unload and load tour bus passengers at the new Kopilica station and facilitate travel into the city center. Namely, passengers can travel for 11 kuna via public city transport (the metro) from the Municipal Rail Station in Kopilica to the Split Ferry Port. 

The new measure also encourages buses outside of the congested city center to relieve summer traffic. We announced last month that if tour buses did want to load and unload their passengers at the terminals at the Tourist Palace in the city center, they are limited to 15 minutes and will walk out with empty pockets. Namely, the buses who wish to bring their tourists to the Riva will have to pay 800 kuna (400 for unloading passengers, 400 for loading). Until now, they've paid 50 kuna. Kopilica, on the other hand, will boast a parking lot for 48 tour buses, and the daily parking fee for buses will cost 120 kuna (the same parking fee as Dračevac). 

"The organization of the Main Railway Station in Kopilica and the introduction of the city metro in the service of public transport is expected to reduce the pressure of vehicles, especially tourist buses at the center of the city. Passengers can get to the center in just four minutes with the new metro and by using a single ticket that is valid for the train and bus, issued by the hour. City trains on the route from Kopilica - Ferry Port and vice versa will travel every 20 minutes,” reads the correspondence sent to the travel agencies, which is signed by Deputy Mayor Nino Vela.

The announcement added that these measures are being introduced so that the “arrival of tourists in the destination is as pleasant as possible, and so that they do not waste time standing in queues, but also to make sure that the local population feels less pressure of tourist flows."

This new traffic measure if just part of it, as one-way traffic will also be introduced at the Split Ferry Port.

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The fact that we are edging closer to the heart of the tourist season is evident by the number of cruise ships entering Split’s city port. Namely, on Sunday, two cruise ships sailed into Split, both under the Panamanian flag, and both under the cap of MSC Krstarenja. Their Musica and Sinfonia cruisers brought thousands of guests to the city over the weekend, albeit only on a one-day excursion, as they sailed off at 6 pm, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on May 19, 2019. 

The Musica ship can accommodate 2,550 guests, while the Sinfonia carries one hundred more. Apart from the Port Authority of Split, who surely get their share of the profits, Split caterers and sellers of ice cream and souvenirs earned little from the cruise ship guests, though buyers of magnets seemed to make the biggest buzz.

"These are not the guests who spend a lot, they have everything on the ship, and in the city they only create crowds,” commented one Split resident. 

Split will, however, have to get used to these guests. On Sunday, the city welcomed only the 60th cruise ship this year, and by the end of the year, there will be more than 224 arrivals. 

Namely, the Port Authority of Split has announced the arrival of 284 cruise ships on excursions to Split this year alone - and this is still not the final number. Recall, Split welcomed 260 cruise ships last year, and by 2020, some 305 arrivals have been announced.

No stranger to cruise ships, Dubrovnik implemented a new measure that will introduce a daily tax for guests of cruise ship passengers in the amount of one euro per person in 2021, from which the city will be able to turn about 950 thousand euros into cash in just one year. The move will limit the number of cruise ships in Dubrovnik to two daily, so that no more than 5,000 visitors will arrive in the city in any one day. This is the result of intense negotiations between the City of Dubrovnik and the largest cruise companies in the CLIA association, which took place to attempt to solve the problem of up to seven cruisers a day entering Dubrovnik, which would bring up to 10,000 passengers into the city per day.

Should Split look into doing something similar? 

To read more about travel in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Sun, a popular daily tabloid published in the UK and Ireland, names 7 reasons you should visit the Dalmatian coast.

The new taxi service 'Go Green' is now servicing Splićani.