This article originally appeared in the April/May 2022 issue of Dream of Italy.
Read more in the main aritcle Trieste: A Different Side of Italy
Where to Eat
Antica Trattoria Suban
Via Comici, 2
(39) 040 54368
www.suban.it
It will require a taxi ride into the suburbs, but this much-beloved institution has been the home of classic Triestin cuisine since 1865. In a comfortable, old-style room or the leafy terrace, you can get their famous roast veal shank, game birds or pastizzada (Dalmatian stew with prunes and cinnamon); main dishes from 15€.
Da Giovanni
Via San Lazzaro, 14
(39) 040 639396
www.trattoriadagiovanni.com
One of the city’s best trattorias: wine from the barrel, outside tables, a jolly atmosphere with a lot of neighborhood characters. Excellent cooking at bargain prices. Mains start at 8€, with plenty of choices.
Vecio Buffet Marascutti
Via Cesare Battisti, 2
(39) 040 633719
www.buffetmarascutti.it
A landmark buffet near the market for more than a century, this one also has a full menu and some seafood (the Triestini are very fond of their baccalà, cooked in several ways). Main dishes start at 12€.
Where to Stay
Savoia Excelsior Palace
Riva del Mandracchio, 4
(39) 040 7794
www.collezione.starhotels.com
Rates start at 140€ for a double room.
Advertised as the “grandest hotel in the Austro-Hungarian Empire” when it opened in 1911, this remains Trieste’s top address. Rooms are contemporary and elegant; many have great views up the coast.
Duchi d’Aosta
Piazza dell’Unità, 2
(39) 040 7600011
www.duchidaosta.com
Rates start at 240€ for a double room.
Built in 1873 on a spot in Piazza dell’Unità that held Trieste’s aristocratic hotel for centuries, the Duchi d’Aosta’s rooms are modernized with elegant restraint. The best—and most expensive—have views over Piazza dell’Unità and the sea. The restaurant, Harry’s, has Trieste’s only Michelin stars (two of them) and tables out on the piazza.
Aquila d’Oro
Via Carlo Ghega, 8
(39) 040 1233456
www.aquiladorotrieste.it
Rooms start at 70€, including breakfast.
This high-design B&B has a quiet, central location. Each room is different, but all are decorated with striking artistic flair.
Read more about Trieste here.
** Curious about Trieste? Join Kathy McCabe October 5, 2024 for a very special Regent Seven Seas Cruise departing from Trieste with multi-night port calls in this city, Croatia, Montenegro and Athens! Book your cabin today and use code: Dream of Europe for a $500 shipboard credit. Kathy will be hosting special dinners, excursions and seminars. **
—Michael Pauls
Michael Pauls has spent most of his lifetime as a travel writer, co-authoring more than 20 guidebooks to Italy with his wife, Dana Facaros. Pauls grew up on putizze just like the ones in Trieste; his Slovenian grandfather sailed from here for America a century ago.