I am visiting Venice for 17 nights mid-September 2018, mainly for the Architecture Biennale, and I was considering taking a day trip to Trieste. I have previously visited Verona, Padua, Vicenza et al, but never Trieste. About two hours each way on the train, which is doable.
I have not looked at guide books yet, and any hints would be most welcome. Special places, quirky things and so on.
Thanks in anticipation.
My traveling companion and I will be doing a Trieste to Turin trip because she was intrigued by an article from the New York Times from April called 36 Hours in Trieste. My suggestion is to burrow around the web and visit your local library to find out more about the sights. Since Trieste is not a major tourist destination, guidebooks have little or no sections devoted to it.
I spent a night in Trieste back in May. I'm not a "museum person" so I didn't seek any museums out. Other than explore the big Piazza Unità d'Italia, I also devoted a few hours to hiking the Strada Vicentina (Strada Napoleonica), a very easy hike (more of a stroll) above the city with fantastic views down on it. I took the bus from center of Trieste to one end and the bus back at the other end. Do some googling if you are interested in this hike - it's well known. The main reason to do it is for the views.
Lonely Planet's Italy guidebook has about 10 pages devoted to Trieste. I've only passed through Trieste, so unfortunately I can't be of more help.
I'm not big on museums either, so when I go to Trieste, I usually either go walking along the Strada Napoleonica that Andrew mentioned, or walk on the clifftop Rilke Path between Duino and Sistiana. I also enjoy visiting the nearby town of Muggia and it's cute little Venetian town centre. I always end the day watching the sunset from the seafront in the old town, followed by an aperitivo in one of the back streets. My local friends usually take me to one of the many excellent osmiza (spelled also as osmica), inns serving local food run by the Slovene communities in the Karstic countryside, but on a day trip you would probably want to stick closer to the city.
In terms of sights, That New York Times article has some pretty good suggestions on what to visit in Trieste, though. I would probably add the Risiera di San Sabba, a turn-of-the-century industrial building that was turned into a Nazi concentration camp for political prisoners and Jews from Trieste and neighbouring regions, as well as the Chiesa di Santo Spiridione, a Serbian Orthodox church by the Canal Grande, a testament to Trieste's multicultural history.
I love Trieste as a city. The whole city centre is virtually unchanged since the days it was the seaport of the Austrian-Hungarian empire. The Piazza Unitá d'Italia and the Canal Grande are highlights, but the whole 19th-century part has its gems. And not many places are so multicultural as Trieste, as is shown by the variety of places of worship, from the Synagogue to the Lutheran church.
It can all be seen on a long daytrip, but why not stay over for one night?
Thanks to all for your most helpful responses, and particularly to Phillip for the link to 36 hours in Triest.
So much to see there, and an eight hour day trip visit is not going to cut it. So I think I must make an overnight visit. If I arrive at 9:00 and depart at 19:00 next day, I will have a busy almost 36 hours!
Again, thanks.
