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Trieste, Italy

I cannot find any information about Trieste, Italy in RS Italy. Why is it ignored? I plan to be in the area in late May. Any suggestions where to stay? I am traveling by car.

Posted by
16893 posts

It's not among Rick's favorites for a limited visit to Italy but that doesn't mean that you wouldn't find things to enjoy. Lonely Planet has a chapter that you can buy online for $3.50. If your next destination is someplace like Piran, in Slovenia, then that's not a much further drive.

Posted by
11613 posts

Try the Lonely Planet or Michelin guidebooks. Rick doesn't write about lots of great places, no room in the book or no interest from Rick, not sure which in this case.

I've only been to Trieste once but I really liked it, not a lot of tourists and the city doesn't depend on them. You might check out Aquilea as an alternative.

Posted by
16028 posts

Rick ignores a lot of great places.

We were going to spend two nights in Trieste on our way to Venice in October, but our flight into Salzburg got cancelled, so we made other plans. Had we gone, I was planning at staying at Hotel James Joyce. But I do not know if they provide parking.

With a car, you might consider staying above Trieste in Villa Opicina, close to the Slovenian border. It is connected to Trieste by a tramway (or funicular? It is fairly steep). I identified a great little B and B up there, but cannot recall the name.

Posted by
11294 posts

Rick's books do not try to be comprehensive. Rather, he chooses the places likely to appeal most:

  1. To people from the US.
  2. On a first trip to the country.
  3. With limited time.
  4. With "general" levels of interest. In other words, if you are an artist, you may find his selection of museums lacking. If you are a musician, his coverage of music venues will be inadequate. Etc.

Furthermore, he is constrained by book size. Laura posted in another thread that his Italy book is now as big as his publisher will allow (over 1000 pages), so he couldn't include more places even if he wanted to.

Yes, Lonely Planet and Rough Guide are just two of the guides that try to be comprehensive. You'll find that even they give only short coverage to Fruili-Venezia-Giulia (Trieste's region), but they do have it. It does sound very interesting, with its mix of Italian, Austrian, and Slovenian influences. Here's a New York Times article about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/travel/01trieste-italy.html?_r=0

Posted by
15043 posts

There is plenty of information on Trieste.

Don't rely just on Rick Steves' guides. His guides cater to the first time visitors to a country, therefore they are not comprehensive, but rather they focus only on the top destinations (or at least what he considers top) which can be covered on a 3 week trip.

If you are going to that region (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), you might also enjoy a visit to Udine, since there are some beautiful Palladian piazzas and buildings.

http://www.turismofvg.it/Tourist-Areas
http://www.turismofvg.it/Locality/Trieste
http://www.turismofvg.it/Locality/Udine