Kaštilac – Game of Thrones, Trogir, Blue Lagoon and Šolta private boat tour

A fortified monastery on its own rock in the sea that played Braavos in Game of Thrones, a UNESCO-listed town on another island, the turquoise lagoon at Krknjaši, and two bays on Šolta to finish. All of it north and west of Split, and all of it on a boat that belongs only to your group.

This is the tour for people who have already seen Hvar, or who would rather look at old stone and quiet water than at a crowded riva. It is also the only route we run that goes up the coast instead of out to the open sea, which makes it the most sheltered full day on our list.

The pace is yours. Your skipper adjusts the day around how long you want to stay in each place.

Kaštilac is a small fortified settlement built on a rock about forty metres off the shore at Kaštel Gomilica, reached by a stone arched bridge that once ended in a drawbridge.

HBO filmed here in September 2014 for season five, and used it as the Free City of Braavos — the waterfront where Arya Stark sells oysters, clams and cockles. If you have watched the series you will recognise the bridge and the stone houses rising straight out of the water the moment you come round the point. The other Braavos scenes, the Iron Bank and the House of Black and White, were shot in Šibenik rather than here.

What is worth knowing is that the place is not a set. Benedictine nuns from Split held the estate here from 1078, when King Zvonimir granted it to them, and between 1529 and 1545 they built this fortified complex on the rock to shelter their seventeen tenant families from Ottoman raids. Seven such fortified villages grew into the towns that make up Kaštela today, and Kaštilac is the best known of those built out on the water.

You see it from the water, which is the way it was designed to be seen.

The tour lasts about 10 hours in total, normally 08:00 to 18:00. We do not publish a minute-by-minute schedule — on a private boat the time at each stop is yours to decide, and the sea decides the rest.

Departure from Split

You meet your skipper at the agreed pick-up point, get a short safety briefing and head north-west along the Kaštela bay, with the Kozjak ridge running above the coast on your right.

Kaštilac, Kaštel Gomilica

The first stop, and a short one — this is a place to look at rather than walk around.

Your skipper takes you in close so you can see the bridge, the arcades at water level and the tower. It photographs best from the sea in the morning, with the light coming over the mainland behind it.

Trogir

Fifteen minutes further west is Trogir, and it is worth the stop even if you have seen a lot of old towns.

The entire historic centre is on UNESCO's World Heritage list, and it sits on its own small island between the mainland and Čiovo, which is why the street plan has not changed much since the Middle Ages. Greeks from Issa on Vis founded it as Tragurion in the 3rd century BC; the Romans, Venetians and Habsburgs each left a layer on top.

Two things to see if you only have an hour:

• the Cathedral of St Lawrence, whose west door — the Radovan Portal, signed and dated 1240 — is the finest piece of Romanesque sculpture in this part of Europe
• the Kamerlengo fortress on the south-western corner of the island, built by the Venetians between 1420 and 1437, with a walkable rampart and a view back over the roofs

The riva outside the walls is where you will find lunch. If you'd rather visit independently, see our guide on how to get to Trogir from Split.

Blue Lagoon, Krknjaši bay

From Trogir it is a short run out to the lagoon between Drvenik Veli and the two Krknjaš islets — the Blue Lagoon that everyone in this area means when they use the name.

It is shallow, in much of it only waist to chest deep, over a bottom of pale sand and Posidonia seagrass. That is what makes the colour. The seagrass is protected, so skippers who know the bay anchor on sand and stay off the meadows.

This is the main swimming stop of the day and the best snorkelling on the route. There is a konoba on the Drvenik Veli shore if you want a drink.

Maslinica, Šolta

Maslinica is the only settlement on the western end of Šolta, tucked into a bay with seven small islets scattered in front of it — the most photogenic harbour entrance in the Split archipelago.

The stone castle on the waterfront was built by the Marchi brothers in the first decade of the 18th century — Venice granted permission in 1703 — and is now a heritage hotel and marina. Beyond it the coast is empty: pine, rock and a series of coves that see almost nobody.

Nečujam, Šolta

Nečujam is the largest bay on Šolta, so deep and so enclosed that its Latin name, Vallis Surda, means the deaf bay — sound gets swallowed in it.

It is really eight small coves inside one big one. Marko Marulić, the father of Croatian literature, spent time here in the early 16th century as a guest at the country house of his friend Dujam Balistrilić, which still stands at the head of the bay and was restored in 2025. For guests it is the last, quietest swim of the day, with pine down to the water and beaches on both sides of the bay. If you would rather spend a full day just on the island, see our half day on Šolta, or our Trogir, Blue Lagoon, Rogač and Nečujam tour for a different mix of stops.

Return to Split

Nečujam is on the side of Šolta that faces the city, so the run home is short — half an hour or so across the Split channel, with Marjan and the Dinaric mountains ahead of you.

Every other full-day route from Split goes south: Brač, Hvar, Vis, Biševo. This one turns the other way, and that changes three things.

It is the most sheltered day we run. Kaštela bay, the Trogir channel and the Split channel are all enclosed water. When a strong wind cancels the outer-island tours, this one usually still goes.

It is the quietest. Trogir gets day visitors, but Krknjaši early in the morning and the western end of Šolta are empty compared with anything around Hvar.

It is the only one with a real town on it that is not Hvar. If you have already done the Hvar routes and want a different day rather than a repeat, this is the one.

• May and early June – comfortable air, sea around 20–22 °C, Trogir pleasant and the lagoon almost empty.
• July and August – warmest sea and longest days, but Krknjaši fills up from late morning and Trogir is busy at midday. An early start matters.
• September – the sea is at its warmest of the whole year and the crowds have thinned. The best month for this route.
• October – still fine on calm days, and Trogir is at its most pleasant once the day-trip coaches stop.

Because the whole route stays in enclosed water, this is the tour we most often suggest when the forecast is poor and you still want a full day out.

If what you want is the famous Dalmatian island scenery, the Blue Lagoon, Hvar and Pakleni tour covers the same lagoon and adds Hvar.

Swimwear, a towel, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, a light jacket for the crossings, comfortable shoes for the old town in Trogir, and cash or card for lunch. Water, snorkelling gear and safety equipment are already on board. Want to add a sea scooter and SUP to your day? These can be arranged as an extra.