Trieste is a small city that feels far more Viennese, or rather Austro-Hungarian, than Italian, tucked into the north-eastern corner of the country against the Slovenian border. It is a gem: a beautifully preserved old town where central-European grandeur meets Roman roots and the Adriatic. I have written separately about what first brought me here, an opera at the Teatro Verdi, but Trieste rewards a few slow days in its own right, and this is how I would spend them.
Famous for the Bora, its fierce, cold north-easterly wind, the city has been Roman and Byzantine, but it is the centuries of Austrian rule that left the deepest mark, in the coffee houses, the grand palazzi and the melancholy, cosmopolitan air that drew so many writers here.
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The literary city
For me, Trieste is above all a city of books, and that is the thread I would follow.
James Joyce lived here, on and off, from 1904 to 1915, teaching English at the Berlitz school and writing much of Dubliners and beginning the work that became Ulysses. You can follow him along the Canal Grande, where his statue crosses the little Ponterosso bridge, and visit the small Joyce Museum. One of his English pupils became his close friend: Italo Svevo, the Triestine author of La coscienza di Zeno, whom Joyce encouraged and who has his own museum here. The poet Umberto Saba, born in Trieste, ran an antiquarian bookshop in the old town, the Libreria Antiquaria Saba, still there on Via San Nicolò, a genuine pilgrimage for book-lovers (and, for me, a cousin to the bookshops of Paris I adore). And just along the coast, at the castle of Duino, Rainer Maria Rilke began his Duino Elegies, the wind and the sea doing their work on him as on everyone here.
The essential city
Beyond the writers, give your days to these.
- Piazza Unità d’Italia, the vast, sea-facing main square, one of the largest in Europe, ringed by grand Habsburg-era palazzi. Come back at different hours: the light off the Adriatic changes the whole mood, and at dusk it is breathtaking.
- The Canal Grande and the streets around it, for a stroll, a coffee and the Joyce statue.
- Castello di San Giusto, the hilltop fortress on the site of the Roman city, for the history and the panorama, alongside the Roman theatre and remains below.
- Castello di Miramare, the fairy-tale white Habsburg castle on the sea a little out of town, built for Archduke Maximilian, with sumptuous 19th-century interiors and lush gardens. Reach it by bus or taxi and allow a half-day.
- Museo Revoltella (a fine art museum in a grand palazzo) and, for something quite different, the Synagogue and the Jewish Museum, testament to Trieste’s once-great Jewish community.
Coffee, and the Trieste table
Here is a thing not enough people know: Trieste is the coffee capital of Italy. It has been the great coffee port of central Europe for centuries (illy was born here), and its historic Viennese-style caffè are institutions. Order like a local: a capo in b, an espresso “corrected” with a little milk, served in a small glass. If you love coffee, read my guide to ordering it in Italy first, then come and see where the culture runs deepest.
The food, too, tells the city’s mixed history. Seek out scampi alla busara (langoustines in tomato and wine), the hearty sauerkraut-and-bean soup jota, the crisp cheese-and-potato frico, and, for the Austro-Hungarian sweet tooth, strucolo de pomi (apple strudel), presnitz and palacinke (thin pancakes). Wash it down with a glass of Istrian Malvasia or Prosecco from just up the road. The two-level, Art Deco Mercato Coperto is a lovely place to browse.
An extra day, out of the city
With more time, hire a car for the Carso plateau above the city, all rugged limestone, tiny villages and osmize (farm cellars serving their own wine), and the vast Grotta Gigante, one of the largest show caves in the world. Or take the sea air along the coast towards Duino.
Wind, Habsburg grandeur, sea-facing squares, palazzo-museums, old coffee houses and the ghosts of great writers: that is Trieste, and I hope you fall for it as I did.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Trieste is one of Italy’s most distinctive and underrated cities, with a strong Austro-Hungarian character, a grand sea-facing main square, a rich literary and coffee-house culture, and Roman and Habsburg sights. Two to three days is ideal: enough to see the city on foot, take in Miramare Castle, and add a day trip to the Carso plateau or the coast.
James Joyce lived in Trieste from 1904 to 1915, teaching English (his pupil and friend was the novelist Italo Svevo) and writing much of Dubliners and beginning Ulysses. The city also nurtured the poet Umberto Saba, who kept an antiquarian bookshop still open today, and inspired Rainer Maria Rilke, who began his Duino Elegies at the nearby castle of Duino. Its cosmopolitan, melancholy atmosphere has long drawn writers.
Yes. Trieste has been central Europe’s great coffee port for centuries and is the home of illy, with a deep-rooted culture of Viennese-style coffee houses. It even has its own coffee vocabulary: ask for a “capo in b”, an espresso with a little milk served in a small glass. For coffee-lovers, it is a destination in itself.
Trieste’s food reflects its mixed heritage: seafood like scampi alla busara, the hearty jota soup (beans and sauerkraut), crisp frico (cheese and potato), and Austro-Hungarian sweets such as strucolo (strudel), presnitz and palacinke. Pair them with Istrian Malvasia or Prosecco. The Art Deco Mercato Coperto and the old coffee houses are lovely places to sample the city’s flavours.
Trieste has its own airport and is reachable by train from Venice (around two hours) and the wider network, in Italy’s far north-east near the Slovenian border. Once there it is very walkable; Miramare Castle is a short bus or taxi ride, and a car helps for day trips to the Carso plateau, the Grotta Gigante and the coast.
Further reading
- What first brought me here: the Teatro Verdi, a reason to visit Trieste
- For fellow coffee obsessives: how to order coffee in Italy
- More northern Italy: Brescia, an underrated city
