Friuli-Venezia Giulia · Trieste
Trieste
The Adriatic port the Habsburgs built as their window on the sea, an Italian regional capital still arguing in four languages on the Slovenian border.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Trieste is on our list
It holds Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- May–Sep
- By car
- 1 h 2 min from Udine
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 198,388
- J9°
- F12°
- M14°
- A17°
- M21°
- J26°
- J30°
- A30°
- S25°
- O20°
- N14°
- D10°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. The sea is warmest in July at 27° and coldest in February at 10°. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Trieste sits at the head of its gulf, on a narrow strip of Italian land between the Adriatic and Slovenia. Rome made it a colony under Julius Caesar; Augustus built the harbor and walls around 33 BC. The Habsburgs held the city from 1382 until 1918 and ran it as their empire's free port, the access route to the sea for Vienna: that arrangement set the shape of the modern city, laying out the Borgo Teresiano and the Canal Grande that cuts into it, and opening the great sea-facing square onto the water where the old town meets the Habsburg extension.
The castle on the cliffs north of town was built by Archduke Maximilian, who left it for Mexico in 1864 and was executed three years later. The former rice-husking plant used as the only Nazi camp on Italian soil with a crematorium sits in the southern industrial belt, apart from the imperial center. A city built as an empire's outlet to the sea, then handed over at the end of that empire, carries both the harbor it was built for and the border it was built against.
How to get there
From Treviso (TSF), about 1 h 55 min by car.
Verona (VRN) is about 3 h 8 min away.
By car from the center of Udine 1 h 2 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Venice?
Every town within reach of Treviso airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Piazza Unità d'Italia
The largest sea-facing square in Europe, framed by Habsburg-era municipal and Austrian Lloyd buildings opening directly onto the Adriatic.
Castello di Miramare
White castle on the cliffs north of the city, set in a park of acclimatized Mediterranean and exotic species.
Cattedrale di San Giusto
Romanesque cathedral on the San Giusto hill, formed from the eleventh-century fusion of two adjoining basilicas, with fifth-century mosaics and a fourteenth-century rose window.
Borgo Teresiano
Eighteenth-century neighborhood laid out under Maria Theresa around the Canal Grande, the planned Habsburg extension of the old port city.
Risiera di San Sabba
Former rice-husking plant used as a Nazi concentration camp from 1943 to 1945, the only camp on Italian territory equipped with a crematorium, now a national monument.
From the guides
Where to eat and stay
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Antica trattoria SubanTrattoria
Antica trattoria Suban has a Slow Food snail, a place on Italy's historic-locali register and a Gambero Rosso listing.
Antica Trattoria MenarostiRistorante
Antica Trattoria Menarosti holds two Gambero Rosso forks (81/100) and a Slow Food snail.
Harry's PiccoloRistorante
Harry's Piccolo carries three Gambero Rosso forks (91/100), plus a La Liste score of 87.5.
7 more places the guides name in Trieste
Al PetesRistorante
Al Petes has two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100) to its name.
BollicineBistrot
Bollicine carries two Gambero Rosso tables.
Bracerie VeneteGriglieria
Bracerie Venete has a Gambero Rosso listing to its name.
Chimera di BaccoRistorante
Chimera di Bacco holds one Gambero Rosso fork (79/100).
L’ApprodoRistorante
L’Approdo has a Slow Food snail to its name.
NerodiseppiaTrattoria
Three Gambero Rosso prawns, at Nerodiseppia.
Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste – Starhotels CollezioneHotel
A place in the Michelin hotel guide, at Savoia Excelsior Palace Trieste – Starhotels Collezione.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Trieste is a city.
- A city of 198,388 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive away.
- A station of its own, so the rest of Italy is a train ride away.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 198,388, down 1.9% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,800 to €3,100 per m² to buy, €6.70 to €12.10 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Trieste airport (TRS), 37 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Trieste, 10 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
12% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Serbia, Romania and Kosovo, against 9% across Italy. 851 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly Germany, France and the United Kingdom. There are 278 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 18% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Trieste province ranks 17th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is a major emergency department in the comune. There is a children's emergency room in the comune. The nearest IB school is UWC Adriatic, 19 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Trieste, 4 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Working from here
Poste Italiane has finished a coworking room in the comune, on its register of 30 September 2026. Check that it is open on Poste's booking site before you count on it.
Taxes
Friuli Venezia Giulia has its own property tax, ILIA, in place of IMU. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €12,500. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Friuli-Venezia Giulia spends about €2,350 a month, €520 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €478 a year for water, on the Friuli-Venezia Giulia average. In Trieste, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.42, a meal in a pizzeria €11.49 and a man's haircut €28.74.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. Under 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, under 1% in a high or medium one. Under 1% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
JOYCE AND SVEVO
James Joyce taught English here 1904 to 1915 and drafted Ulysses; his pupil Italo Svevo wrote La Coscienza di Zeno in the city he never left.
HABSBURG PORT
Free port of the Habsburg Empire from 1719 to 1891, the architectural and economic spine of the city, still visible in the Borgo Teresiano and the Lloyd buildings.
THE CAFFÈ
Working literary cafés from the imperial era: Caffè San Marco, Caffè Tommaseo, Caffè degli Specchi on Piazza Unità, Caffè Pirona where Joyce drafted Ulysses.
Common questions
- What is Trieste known for?
- Trieste is the Adriatic port the Habsburgs built as their window on the sea, an Italian regional capital still arguing in four languages on the Slovenian border.
- Where is Trieste?
- Trieste is a comune in the province of Trieste, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, at 2 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Trieste?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Trieste (TRS), about 37 min by car.
- Can you get to Trieste without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Udine to Trieste?
- About 1 h 2 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Trieste?
- Best in May–Sep. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 15 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Trieste?
- Ravenna, Pesaro and Senigallia.
- How many people live in Trieste?
- 198,388 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Trieste a good place to live?
- Trieste is a city of 198,388 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
The numbers
- Elevation: 2 m
- Population: 198,388
- Surface area: 85.11 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Trieste appears in
- The best coastal towns within two hours of UdineNear Udinecoastalwithin 2 hours6 towns · smallest 1,674 residents · closest 43 min away
- The best coastal towns within two hours of VeniceNear Venicecoastalwithin 2 hours6 towns · smallest 1,674 residents · closest 46 min away
- The best towns that eat well within 75 minutes of TriesteNear Triestewithin 75 mineats well8 towns · smallest 1,674 residents · closest 10 min away
Similar
Towns like Trieste
What all six share with Trieste: on the Adriatic coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Trieste is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Trieste comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Chioggia, 126 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.