Split Airport to Trogir

Here is the thing most people miss when they land at Split Airport: the airport is not actually in Split. It sits on the edge of Kaštela, and Trogir — the little UNESCO-listed island town of stone lanes, a Romanesque cathedral and a Venetian fortress — is only about 6 km west. That is barely a 15-minute hop. If Trogir is where you are sleeping tonight, do not join the crowd piling onto the shuttle bus heading the other way into Split. You are practically on Trogir's doorstep already, and the cheapest ride there leaves from a stop you can walk to from the terminal.

Bus 37 goes the opposite way to the Split crowd

Local bus 37, run by Promet Split, is the one you want, and it is the reason you can reach Trogir for pocket change. Walk out of arrivals, cross the car park to the main-road stop, and make sure you are on the side heading away from Split — the Trogir-bound bus runs the opposite direction to the airport shuttle everyone else is boarding. The fare is €1.75 in the Promet Split app or €3.50 from the driver, and the ride takes about 15 to 25 minutes depending on traffic. Buses come every 20 minutes on weekdays and every 30 at weekends and on holidays, with the last one leaving Split at 00:15. You can pay the driver in cash or use the Promet Split app. One thing to know: bus 37 drops you at Trogir's mainland bus stop, not inside the old town. From there it is a few minutes on foot across the bridge onto the islet, where cars cannot follow anyway. That short walk is the finish line: no transfer, no second ticket, no detour through Split.

Landing at midnight, when bus 37 has clocked off

The snag with a local bus is that it does not run around the clock, and Split's flight schedule pushes plenty of arrivals into the late evening. If you touch down after the daytime frequency drops away, a ride-hail app is your friend here precisely because the distance is so short. Uber and Bolt both operate at the airport, with a marked pickup point in the car park, and because Trogir is such a quick run the fare usually lands somewhere around €12 to €20 — a rare case where the door-to-door option barely costs more than a proper taxi. It drops you as close to the old town as the bridge allows, which after a night flight beats hunting for a bus stop in the dark. The airport taxi rank outside arrivals works too, typically €15 to €25, but confirm the price before you get in: short runs sometimes carry a minimum charge that sits above what the meter alone would read, so a quick word with the driver saves any surprise at the bridge.

Arriving with kids, bags and a booked apartment

If you are travelling with young children or simply do not fancy sorting out fares while herding luggage, a pre-booked private transfer earns its keep on this route by delivering you straight to your Trogir accommodation rather than the mainland bus stop — which, with a stroller and suitcases, is the difference that matters. Firms like Welcome Pickups and local operators charge around €20 to €30, the driver meets you in the arrivals hall, and English-speaking drivers and child seats can be arranged when you book. For a family that has been in transit all day, having someone carry the bags the last stretch is often the reason people happily pay a little over the taxi price. It is not the cheapest way to cover 6 km, but it is the calmest.

Renting a car? Remember Trogir's core is car-free

A hire car makes sense only if Trogir is a base rather than the whole trip. The rental desks are inside the terminal and open for flight arrivals, with Sixt, Europcar, Hertz and local outfits competing on price — allow €30 to €55 a day depending on season and vehicle. Just keep in mind that the old town sits on a small islet and does not allow cars, so you will park on the mainland side and walk in regardless. That makes a car pointless for Trogir alone, but really useful if you plan to push along the coast to Šibenik, the waterfalls at Krka or the beaches of the Čiovo peninsula, where a bus timetable starts to feel limiting.

So the short version: if Trogir is your destination, treat Split Airport as your arrival point and nothing more. Bus 37 for €1.75 in the app, a €12-ish Uber if you land late, or a transfer to the door if you have kids in tow — every one of them ends the same way, with a walk over the bridge into a town that has looked much the same for six hundred years. Skip the ride into Split; you would only have to come back.