Trieste – Italian home of cafe society
Written by Karen BryanTrieste is tucked away in the north eastern corner of Italy, close the border with Slovenia. It was seaport of the Hapsburg empire for many years and even 70% of Italians questioned in a recent opinion poll didn’t know that Trieste was part of Italy.
Trieste seafront in the evening
In Trieste you can enjoy a combination of a sea/beach holiday and the attractions of a cultural city. The sea in the Gulf of Trieste is very clear and clean, with limestone cliffs and rocky beaches. The centre of the city has a mid-European feel, more Austrian than Italian.
The City Hall, Piassa Unita Italia, Trieste
You can sip coffee on Piazza Unita Italia with its grand 19th century buildings, while looking out over the Adriatic. As Trieste is a port it was one of the first European cities to take to coffee in a big way. The first coffee houses in Trieste opened at the beginning of the 18th century. These cafés become very popular with artists and intellectuals. Several of the original cafes are going strong, the Tommeseo and the Cafee degli Specchi. Triestines are very particular about their coffee. If you order a cappuccino the Trieste version will be a black coffee with a little milk. You would need to order an Italian cappuccino. Mixing spirits with coffee is a no-no, viewed as a beverage favoured by foreign lorry drivers!
Of course there’s a lot more to Trieste than cafe society. The Barcolana regatta is held on the second Sunday of October. This is a sailing competition which has run for 30 years and has almost 2000 vessels competing. From October to May the concert and opera season unfolds in the historic neo-Classical Teatro Comunale Giuseppe Verdi (opened in 1801 and designed by Matteo Petch, architect of Milan’s La Scala) and the modern Sala Tripcovich. The festival of Light Opera is held in July and August at the Verdi. Miramare Castle was built for Archduke Maximilian as a residence by the sea and gardens. Probably the best is The Revoltella Museum, which was founded in 1872 when Baron Revoletta left his home and art collection to the city of Trieste.
Miramare Castle
So if you’re looking for somewhere different for an Italian short break or part of a trip around Italy, Trieste is a great destination.
This post was featured in Carnival of Cities, February 13 2008.
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We are a family of 4 that have been looking for the ideal compromise holiday destination. The Kids (boys of 5 & 9) would prefer a mega resort on the beach, where as the adults prefer low-key relaxation with possebilities for cultural sightseeing. I have read about Trieste with interrest – Beaches, great food, culture ect. I would much appreciate some advice on where to stay.
My idea is to look for a small low-key place near a beach, somewhere in the region of Trieste. Hope to get some kind assistance :-)
Soren, we stayed at the Hotel Riviera which is a couple of miles from the city centre but it’s in a lovely location with great views and with it’s own private beach, I think it could be quite expensive in the Summer. The Riviera also has apartments in the hotel which might be more suitable for your family. However you might be better staying in Trieste itself.
Do any readers have any ideas of suitable accommodation??
My nan was born in Trieste and moved to the uK after meeting my Grandad during the war. She always spoke of how beautiful Trieste was and how if we got the chance we should visit.
This oportunity came along last september, we decided to visit my nan’s family who we’d never met before.
I visited Trieste with my partner and 9 year old boy.
We entered the resort via train which travelled along the coastline into Trieste, the scenery was breathtaking!
When we arrived in Trieste we were pleasently pleased how beautiful it was. It wasn’t over run with mass tourism, which was nice unlike other places we have been to in Italy.
Trieste was very clean and had a very calm oura about it. It had stunning hillside backdrops overlooking a clean promenade and clear sea views.
The main Piazza was stunning, it looked very Austrian. Alot of the buildings showed evidence of past occupation of different countries.
The main Piazza, which is most impressing opens out onto the sea, it was so quiet and my little boy enjoyed running around on there.
A stone promenade also runs out into the sea, this was lovely to eat a ice-cream on as you could look back on the town from a different perspective, looking at the sea front with a small town with stunning mountainous backdrop.
The marina is lovely with some quite large boats. We walked along te front and past the marina and came to lovely park. In the park was a lovely waterfall that my son loved playing in, he took his shoes off whilst we sat on a bench overlooking the gorgeous views of the sea.
On meeting our family they took us to a little village on the outskirts of Trieste called Muggia. This was gorgeous. we sat my its marina and had a lovely drink in a quaint little cafe. The they took us to the top of the village where they lived where we dinned into the evening with views of the bay and city of Trieste lit up by night, truly breathtaking!
The following day we visited the castles and tourist sights of Trieste, here we bumped into tourists, we hadn’t seen any beforehand. The higher up the village the better views became.
That evening we met up with other members of the family this time they took us up into the mountains where they lived, on the borders with Slovenia, they showed us the tallest light house in Europe with was huge!
Then we were taken for a meal, once the cook realised we were english he went out of his way to bring us local specialities for us to try and was very nice.
Over all, Trieste was gorgeous and well worth a visit, there is alot to see and do and i would suggest a week at least to see everything. The mass tourism hasn’t occured in Trieste yet so you can get traditionality whithout it being spoilt. The food is traditional and alot of fish on the menu.
The buildings are not just typically Italian and has alot of buildings that represent times occupied by other countries.
A truely lovely place that i am proud to say my family originate from
Debbie, thanks for sharing your experience, sounds like you really enjoyed your visit to Trieste.
Italian black coffee is the best coffee in the world cause italians know hot to prepare it.
Black Coffee, I can’t really comment as i;m not a black coffee drinker, I like milky coffee but the coffee in Trieste is supposed to be really good.