Trieste

Trieste (Triest in German, Trst in Slovenian and Croatian) is a city in North-East Italy that was once a very influential and powerful centre of politics, literature, music, art and culture under Austrian-Hungarian dominion.

Today, Trieste is often forgotten as tourists head off to bigger Italian cities like Rome, Milan, and Trieste's archrival Venice. But those tourists miss out on a very charming and underestimated city, with a quiet and lovely almost Eastern European atmosphere, several pubs and cafes, some stunning architecture and a beautiful sea view. It was also, for a while, the residence of the famous Irish writer, James Joyce.

Understand
Trieste is the capital of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia and has about 200,000 inhabitants (2023). It is at the crossroads of several commercial and cultural flows: German middle Europe to the north, Slavic masses and the Balkans to the east, Italy and then Latin countries to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

Its artistic and cultural heritage is linked to its singular "border town" location. You can find some old Roman architecture (a small theatre near the sea, a nice arch into old city and an interesting Roman museum), Austrian empire architecture across the city centre (similar to stuff you can find in Vienna) and a nice atmosphere of metissage of Mediterranean styles, as Trieste was a very important port during the 18th century.

Talk
The region of Friuli Venezia Giulia is officially quadrilingual (Italian, Slovene, Friulian, and German). Signs are often only in Italian in Trieste, as the city is generally Italian speaking and the local dialect (a form of the Venetian language) is called Triestine. Surrounding villages and towns are often inhabited by mostly Slovene speakers. Residents, and those working in the city, can easily find free courses to learn Italian, Slovene, German, English and many other languages. When walking around Trieste, you will also likely hear Croatian/Serbian, Romanian, and Albanian, mainly from immigrant populations (most immigrants in Trieste come from the Balkans and Romania) and people who visit the city on brief shopping trips.

By plane
A small regional airport hosting flights from various Italian and European cities. The airport is just off the A4 Trieste-Venice motorway (Redipuglia exit). Long and short-stay car parks are available. Transport options include:
 * Bus number 51, run by APT, runs to the airport from Trieste's bus station (next to the railway station). Weekdays buses leave at 5 minutes and 35 minutes past the hour. On Sundays the service is every 1 to 2 hours. The bus takes about 55 minutes. Tickets can be purchased at city bus/coach stations or at the airport: in the Arrivals Hall, with an automatic machine for self-ticketing and at the Post Office.
 *  Trieste Airport  Railway Station is in front of the airport. The station is on the Trieste-Venice railway line, 25 minutes ride from Trieste. Tickets can be purchased at the airport railway station or online.
 * Taxis are available outside the Arrivals Hall from 08:00 to 00:00. Taxi fare to Trieste is around €70 and takes 30-35 minutes.

Nearest major airports are Venice Marco Polo & Venice Treviso. From either airport, take the Fly Bus - express service to Mestre railway station (€10) and get on the regional train from Mestre railway station to Trieste Central Station (2 hours, €14-29).

Other nearby airports (less than 2 hours from Trieste by private or public transport) include Ljubljana (Slovenia), and Pula & Rijeka (both in Croatia). The more adventurous and leisurely travelers can also use Zagreb Airport (Croatia), Klagenfurt (Austria), and Verona (Italy), all of which can be reached by car.

By bus
Local routes include Udine, Grado and San Candido/Innichen.

At the, bus and coach connections to several European countries, including Slovenia (Izola - Isola, Koper - Capodistria, Ljubljana, Piran - Pirano, Portorož - Portorose, Postojna - Postumia, Sežana - Sesana), Croatia (Dubrovnik, Poreč - Parenzo, Pula - Pola, Opatija - Abbazia, Rijeka - Fiume, Rovinj - Rovigno, Split - Spalato, Zadar - Zara) and Serbia (Belgrade - Belgrado) are available. Connections to Germany and Austria are available via Flixbus.

By car
A4 Venice-Trieste, toll-gate Monfalcone-Lisert, exit point "Sistiana" (SS 14 "Costiera"). The town is 24 km from the motorway.

SS 202 Triestina: Motorway A4, toll-gate Lisert, Carso Plateau, Opicina, Padriciano, Trieste

SS 15 Via Flavia: Koper (Slovenia) - Rabuiese border

SS 58, Carniola highway: Ljubljana (Slovenia) - Fernetti border - Opicina, where the highway joins to SS 202, Trieste

By train
Lots of trains from Venice and Udine, InterCity trains from Rome and Florence, FrecciaBianca from Milan and Torino at the Central Railway Station. If you arrive by train, the last 15 minutes of travel you have a beautiful sight, because the railway goes along the sea and if the weather is good it should be very striking.

As of the summer of 2021, direct rail service to/from Slovenia and Austria have been restored; it is now possible to travel by train from Ljubljana and Vienna to Trieste. There are two daily trains from Ljubljana and one or two trains per day from Vienna, allowing further connections from central and eastern Europe.

On foot
Like most of Europe, a stroll through the town to admire its ancient architecture is a very popular activity. You get to travel at your own pace and even get some coffee along the way. Trieste is not particularly big and if you do not have luggage with you there is no need to take a bus.

By public transport
Trieste has a network of buses running on a strict schedule. This can often be checked on the web. Routes are very frequent through the day but rarer after 21:00 in the evening, on Sundays and holidays. Strikes occasionally affect buses but Trieste is a small city and most places of interest can easily be reached on foot.

Single tickets cost €1.25 each, and can be bought from tobacconists and from machines which are found at some of the busier bus stops. Tickets are valid for 60 minutes and allow unlimited change of routes within that time. Daily tickets for unlimited trips, cost €3.10 and are valid until midnight. Once on board, the tickets must be validated using the machines which stamp the time of first use. A fine for not having a validated ticket is €70 and there are often inspections on lines 6 and 36.

For a small extra fee (€2-4) you can get unlimited bus and tram service with your FVG Card, which can be purchased at the Trieste tourist office in Piazza Unita d'Italia.

See
Unlike many other Italian cities, Trieste's all-inclusive tourist pass is well worth the price. The FVG Card can be purchased at the tourist center in Piazza Unita, and includes free access to nearly all the major attractions in the Trieste area, and many in other nearby cities. €18 for 48 hours, €21 for 72 hours, and €29 for 7 days.

Sights

 * Museum
 * Capitoline Temple
 * Church of San Giovanni
 * San Michele al Carnale
 * WWI Altar
 * Roman forum and civic building
 * Castle of San Giusto
 * Park of Remembrance World War I commemorative park,
 * Lapidary Garden. Contains Roman and Medieval relics discovered in Trieste. In it stands a Cenotaph to the archaeologist Johann Winckelmann, father of neoclassicism, who died in Trieste in 1769.
 * Lapidary Garden. Contains Roman and Medieval relics discovered in Trieste. In it stands a Cenotaph to the archaeologist Johann Winckelmann, father of neoclassicism, who died in Trieste in 1769.


 * Maximilian's Chambers and those of his consort, Carlota of Belgium; the guest rooms; the information room telling the history of the Castle and the Park's construction.
 * Duke Amadeo of Aosta's apartment with furnishings from the 1930s in the Rationalist style.
 * Throne Room
 * The park offers the public a chance for an interesting stroll among botanical species and an important collection of sculptures dotted along its numerous paths.
 * The Stables, a building which was restored and is now used for temporary exhibitions;
 * The Old Greenhouses
 * Little Castle containing the seat of the Direction of the Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare and a small number of aquariums
 * Little Castle containing the seat of the Direction of the Natural Marine Reserve of Miramare and a small number of aquariums



Buy
During the 1970s and 1980s Trieste was the number one shopping destination for tourists from Yugoslavia.
 * Ghetto and Piazza Unità. for Biedermeier and Liberty furniture, Bohemian glassware and Austrian silverware, and other fine antiques.
 * Glassworks from France and Venice.
 * Paintings
 * Prints and antique engravings as well as books, postcards, and historical photographs.

Eat
The cuisine of Trieste reflects the living traditions of the many populations that have passed through the city over the centuries. In the city's restaurants, called "buffets", you can find delicious examples of the local Austrian and Slavic tradition.


 * Caldaia Traditional dish of boiled pork.
 * Jota a soup prepared with pork, potatoes, cabbage, and finely-ground beans
 * Gnocchi in the style of Austrian dumplings, made with everything from ham to stuffed with plums.
 * Brodetto Fish soup
 * Risotto Creamy rice dish
 * Sardoni in savor flavored pilchards
 * Salads common favorites here include chicory and rocket (arugula)
 * Bruscandoli
 * Farmers of the plateau who had been allowed by an imperial decree to sell their own products during a period of 8 days, organized the so-called osmizze, where it is possible to taste local wines and products, such as Monrupino's tabor cheese and honey from San Dorligo.
 * The pastry shops in Trieste offer delicious local varieties of the most famous Austrian cakes: Sacher torte, krapfen, strucolo cotto and strucolo de pomi (local varieties of strudel), chiffeletti (cookies made with flour, eggs and potatoes and fried in oil)
 * During Easter you can taste the pinza, a sweet leavened bread that many women still prepare at home and take to the bakery to be cooked. Richer variants of this are the titola, decorated with a hard-boiled egg, putizza and presnitz. Fritole, pancakes stuffed and fried in oil and fave, small round cookies made with almonds and aromas are typical during Carnival.

Mid-range

 * In the first little alley to the left of the Piazza Unità d'Italia, leading towards the hill, there are several small pasta restaurants and bistros.
 * In the first little alley to the left of the Piazza Unità d'Italia, leading towards the hill, there are several small pasta restaurants and bistros.
 * In the first little alley to the left of the Piazza Unità d'Italia, leading towards the hill, there are several small pasta restaurants and bistros.
 * In the first little alley to the left of the Piazza Unità d'Italia, leading towards the hill, there are several small pasta restaurants and bistros.

Drink
Some local specialties include:


 * Frambua - from framboise - mint and tamarind
 * Grappa
 * Terrano wine other popular local wines include the Rosso, Malvasia, and the white Vitovska Garganja.

Coffee
Coffee has been an important part of Trieste since the 1700s. Some of the most famous caffè, known as much for their famous patrons as their food and drink, include:



Locals usually enjoy coffee at the bar in the form of a capo in B, a small cappuccino (kind of like a macchiato but with a but more milk and foam) served in a glass cup. This is a unique kind of coffee only served in Trieste.

Sleep


The helpful tourist information in Piazza Unita can provide you with a list of accommodation and will even make bookings for you. They also have free maps.

Stay safe
Trieste has long been Italy's safest city (possibly due to being a border city and, therefore, formerly being full of border police and other security services), and according to an increasing number of reports, the city ranks among the safest in Europe. There are very few problems with regards to walking the streets at night, taking taxis or pickpocketing. Obviously, normal precautions should be taken and like elsewhere in Italy be careful of drivers who tend to think that they own the road.

Partially as a result of its geographic location, Trieste finds itself smacked in the middle of many migrant routes from the middle east to the rest of Europe, and the main railway station has made headlines for attracting hordes of dodgy and suspicious-looking individuals. Simply avoiding eye-contact and looking sure about where you're going is enough to avoid trouble.

Work
Despite being a mid-sized Italian city, Trieste has one of Italy's strongest economies, and one can quickly notice the relative affluence of locals compared to other parts of Italy. Some world-famous companies like Illy (coffee) and Generali (insurance) come from Trieste. Speakers of Italian or Slovene or German should find work easily in Trieste. The city has a lot of science parks which employ scientists from all over the world and communication at these centres is usually in English. There are also a few English language schools which employ native speakers.

Consulates

 * 🇷🇴 Romania

Go next

 * Across the countryside you can find small beautiful farms where you will find beautiful different kinds of home-made salami, cheese and ham, and a characteristic red wine. Along the Riviera (Muggia, Sistiana, Duino) you can find some nice places to sleep, too.
 * The pretty island of Grado just to the west makes a good half-day boat trip (return ticket €6).
 * Venice and Ljubljana are also major nearby destinations.
 * Skocjan Caves in Slovenia is a few minutes from Bassovica, one of the suburbs above Trieste.
 * The Slovenian coastal cities of Koper and Piran are about 30 minutes away (1 hour by bus) and make a great day trip. Buses depart from the bus station (€5.30 one way). The twin cities of Gorizia (in Italy) and Nova Gorica (in Slovenia) are around 45 minutes by train from Trieste.  From Nova Gorica it's easy to take a connecting train to Lake Bled or other parts of the Slovenian Alps.
 * During the summer months there are daily ferries to Piran (Slovenia) and Porec, Rovinj and Pula in Croatia costing around €40 for a return ticket. The Croatian cities in Istria are all accessible from Trieste by car in little over an hour.  Trips to Austria (2 hours by car, 3 hours by train) are possible from Trieste via either Udine or Nova Gorica