05/25/2026 - 05/30/2026

We took a bus (actually a van) from Rovinj Croatia to Trieste Italy. This van was much better than the one we took from Albania to Montenegro! We actually knew what kind of vehicle we were looking for, the driver was personable and spoke English, and the van was nice. It was about a 2.5 hour drive and a super easy travel day! Trieste is a really nice seaside town with a population of about 220,000. It is just barely in Italy right by the borders of Croatia and Slovenia. We only had 5 days here, so not a lot to write and not as many photos (sorry Mike C.!)

Weirdly, Trieste spent a significant portion of its history (over 500 years) under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Habsburg Dynasty rather than under the Venetians like most everything else in this area. So it has more of a Vienna feel than an Italian feel. Following World War I, Trieste became part of the Kingdom of Italy. Then, after WWII it actually became a Free Territory for about 7 years and was a neutral independent state to serve as a buffer between Italy and Yugoslavia. For anyone that has been following the blog since last August, you will (surely!) recall that Gdansk Poland was also a free territory for a short period of time as well. Trieste was eventually returned to Italy in 1954, but there are locals who still consider it “The Free Territory of Trieste” and there are flags and signs to prove it!

Above the town sits the Castle of San Giusto. The construction of the castle was ordered by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III in 1468 as a residence for the Imperial Captain of the Habsburg Dynasty and as a stronghold to protect the city. It never saw significant military battles. Instead, it primarily served as the residence of the Imperial Captain and later as a prison. Also on the grounds are a 14th-century cathedral, ruins of a prehistoric village and Roman forums.

But the BEST part… we arrived on a day when they were doing a wine tasting event that evening! So we returned later for an incredible sit-down event with tastings from six wineries, food pairings, and a beautiful sunset! And what was funny too was that it was all in Italian ! We sat in the front with our Google translate running the entire time and tried to follow the wine maker’s presentations.

We took a ferry to Miramare Castle which is on the outskirts of town, right on the water. It was built from 1856-1860 for the Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg. For anyone who has watched The Empress (on Netflix) this is the rather scandalous and largely useless younger brother of Franz Joseph (married to Charlotte). Touring this castle was a little blast from the past from when we visited Austria back in September. It was really beautiful!

We did an amazing private tour north of Trieste to a couple of small towns and a winery. Our guide, Mateja was awesome … if anyone is ever in this area and interested in a private tour, I would highly recommend her!! The company is “Discover Soca Tours”.

We traveled along the Slovenia border still on the Italy side about an hour north and stopped in the small town of Cividale. This was an amazing little medieval town founded by Julius Caesar in 50 BC! There was a pretty river running through town with a 15th century bridge crossing it. One of the things I thought was really cool were the signs on the building describing what the building had originally been along with photos of what it looked like and the family that had occupied it. After walking around a bit, I was ready to purchase an apartment there! It is an incredibly cute town and not overrun with tourists.

Next we crossed over into Slovenia and drove through endless gorgeous vineyards in the Brda wine region. It was so beautiful! We had visited Slovenia for a few days in 2018 and also did a day trip to a town in the north this past September when we were in Austria, but we hadn’t yet seen this particular region. We’ve decided that Slovenia is worth a return visit in the future! We stopped at Edi Simcic Winery for a tasting and it was incredible. The wine and food were outstanding, the facilities were gorgeous, and most important, the staff were delightful!

Our final stop was the charming medieval Slovenian town of Smartno. Mateja gave us a quick tour of the town. We stopped and checked out the church of St. Martin and a cool little restored historic home to see what traditional life in the region looked like. Then she dumped us at a little wine bar with an amazing view to enjoy a glass of wine. Perfect! 😊

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TRIESTE