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24 hours in the pirate town - Omiš
Over the years Omiš finally started to gain the popularity it deserves. We are talking about an extremely picturesque town with a real old Mediterranean atmosphere. A typical medieval town with a well-fortified castle and its suburbs. The town of Omiš develops around the parish church of St. Mihovil, between the cliffs of Omiška Dinara, Cetina river, the sea and Fošal (which today is the main road through the city, and once it was a canal filled with water).
Today, Omiš is a city that hides rich cultural and historical heritage that includes many interesting stories such as those about its famous pirates, it is a home to the Festival of Dalmatian klapa’s and a great place to escape the routine because here everyone can find something of their own interest. So, if you’re interested in what we did you can check out the video below, and if you want to know how you can do the same, keep on reading.
How to get there?
We started from Split (which is 30 kilometres away from Omiš) by car. We chose the ride along the coast, which by the way we warmly recommend, because wherever you look the view is beautiful, plus you can stop and jump into the sea whenever and wherever you want. If you leave before 9 am you will not have any problems with traffic jams and you will arrive to Omiš in about 30 minutes. Parking in Omiš will cost 5KN per hour, or 100KN per day. You can also get there by bus (number 60), whose timetable you can check on the official website of Promet Split.
The City Center
First things first, we decided to have breakfast, coffee and wander around the town center. At the very entrance to the old part of town you will see the Church of St. Mihovil, behind which there are small circular stairs that will take you to the Mirabela Fortress. In the history MIrabela served as an elevation for pirates who cleverly monitored the sea so they could attack any ship that did not pay tribute. Unfortunately, that day was a holiday so we were not able to enter anywhere, but the view of the fortress itself is fabulous. What we saw is that the ticket for the fortress costs 30kn. If you continue to wander through the city center you will come across the City Museum, the House of the Happy Man, the House of the Dalmatian Klapa Festival, Illyrian seminary, Poljički Trg (food market), The coat of arms of Omiš, etc.
After 3 hours of walking in the sun at 35 degrees we decided to cool off in the sea on the City Beach (which is a 7-minute walk distance from the city center). The next step was the Fortica Fortress. With the help of Google maps, we arrived at the middle of the Omiška Dinara mountain, just below the Fortica Fortress. From that place to the fortress it took us a 20-minute walking. There is also a well-marked trail from the town center to the Fortica Fortress, in case you want to do some hiking. To get to the top you will need about 2 to 2 and a half hours. Whichever way you choose believe me it will pay off.
Radman's mills park
Our next stop was the picnic area - Radman's mills, located in the heart of the canyon of the river Cetina, 6 kilometers away from Omiš. In the 19th century, the Radman family arranged the already existing mills into a restaurant that still leaves visitors breathless with its delicacies. As the part of the restaurant there is a mini golf, football and basketball courts and a small children's playground. At Radman's mills you can enjoy the magic of the river Cetina and the beautiful canyon, rich vegetation and the spirit of timelessness. For those who want more adventure, you can book a 3 hours long rafting tour on the Cetina river as we did, if not you can make a picnic and cool off in the river on one of the many small beaches in the park, or you can simply enjoy this beautiful nature.
Conclusion
If you want to see all of this, you’ll need a car or a day more. In two days, you can go around all of this places and more with a bike which you can rent at every corner of the town.
After a day spent like this, all we can do is recommend Omiš to anyone who wants to escape from reality, to all of you who wants to be a part of the pirate stories, to all of you who wants to experience nature and enjoy the most beautiful sunsets.
