Itinerary for Trieste with children
Thursday
4pm
Reconnect with the sea. Trieste sits on the edge of the Adriatic Sea. Spend some time watching the rhythm of the water and inhaling deeply while the children run alongside the seawalls and beaches. For a long seaside walk, Barcola is the perfect neighbourhood to take the family.
6pm
Piazza Unita d’Italia is lined with 19th century Viennese buildings while one side opens to the sea, so it’s an ideal spot to linger and soak up the ambiance of the city while the children are playing tag around the fountain. Once they’re worn out take a table at Caffe degli Specchi, a coffee house that opened in 1839 directly on the piazza for an espresso or a Aperol Spritiz to watch the sky change to sunset colours over the water. The buildings are illuminated at night, which adds extra drama. They have patate fritte that aren’t fries or roast potato, but the best of both.
Caffe degli Specchi, Piazza Unita
8pm
Gelato dinner. Save all your calories and skip the full sit-down affair. Gelato Marco has some of the best gelato in the city and is only a few streets off Piazza Unita. Also highly rated is Gelateria Zampolli, a 10 minute walk north. All Gelaterias have take-out containers to take gelato home or to a dinner party. If you need more than gelato for dinner, walk over to DiNapoli Masters Pizzaioli. Classic margarita pizzas.
Friday
9am
Playground coffee. There aren’t loads of playgrounds throughout town, but there is one at Piazza Attilio Hortis. Once the kids have a play, stop for a Capo in B (the coffee of Trieste) at the Mug cafe next door, which also does a good hot breakfast. The Capo in B has the same proportions as the cappuccino but served in a small glass or bicchiere. The Mug cafe has a terrace on the pedestrianised street with impromptu market stalls next door. You might find costume jewellery, books, kitchen accessories. The James Joyce and Istrian culture museum are nearby: Museo Joyce, Civico Museo della Civilta Istriana Fiumana e Dalmata.
11am
The Green Dolphin to Muggia. Il Delfino Verde is a passenger boat that leaves regularly, everyday from the seawall near Stazione Marittima. You can buy tickets on the boat. 7.90 for an adult return. Kids travel for free. The Green Dolphin takes less than an hour cross the Gulf of Trieste to Muggia, which is the only Italian port town in Istria and is a contrast to the Austrian ambiance of Trieste. With outdoor and indoor seating, the Green Dolphin is a fun adventure for the kids and provides a view of the working port of Trieste. Once at Muggia, walk through the marina and restore yourself with an espresso at Gelateria Jimmy Muggia and take in the Venetian architecture in the surrounding inlet. If you have time for an extended afternoon meal with a view, go to Sal de Mar. If you need a quick slice of pizza go to Pane e Pizza and continue following the street to the viewpoint from Castello di Muggia.
5pm
For the full Triestian experience, head up into the hills for Suban. With history dating back to 1865, the interiors feels like a rural mountain villa that’s been loved and unchanged in the last 50 years. If the weather is warm, they have a terrace canopied in grapevine with views of Trieste. The menu represents the city’s hybrid, Austrian, Italian and Slovenian history. The most popular dishes are osso bucco, jota, which is an Istrian stew made of beans, sauerkraut, potatoes, bacon and spare ribs, and a trio of three primis including homemade penne pasta, a crepe and dumpling.
Saturday
8am
Shopping
Maximise the early wake up time with kids to enjoy empty streets and a coffee by the Canal Grande. If shopping is on the menu, Trieste has small boutiques, old markets and quirky antique shops.
· Rigatteria – antiques, old maps, paintings and vases. Affordable, but prices range upward.
· Mercato Coperto Trieste – beautiful Art Deco exterior with an indoor market: fruit, vegetables, meats and clothing.
· Okaidi – mid range kid’s clothing shop, new-borns to 12 years old
Mercato Coperto Trieste
1pm
Hidden away on the Via Luigi Cadorna, Mimi e Cocotte is a bohemian chic café with a decadent pasta menu and refreshingly light vegetable mains. The service feels personalised. They roll chalk board menus and wine lists up to your table and apt to make recommendations. We had pumpkin ravioli, tortellini cheese soup and a Buddha bowl. Relaxed and welcomes children. Pasta masterclasses available.
3pm
Teatro Romano is located near the Piazza Unita. It’s easy to stroll past with children and look at the well preserved amphitheater which dates back to the 1st Century AD. When it was built, the sea came to the outer edge and was the back drop for all productions. Performances and concerts are still held there. See the tourist information centre for upcoming shows.
5pm
Quality Italian food hall with a stunning window wall towards the Mediterranean that features the best local Italian foods, products and wine. It features a coffee bar, fresh seafood stall, a bakery and wine cellar. Out of the slow food movement, Oscar Farinetti opened the first Eataly in Torino in 2007. The concept is a place to eat, shop and learn about food. There are now 40 locations across the world. Cooking classes and wine tastings are available. An endless range of olive oils, pestos and cheeses.
Sunday
9am
Spend the morning sipping coffees at old world coffee house and bookshop Antico Caffe San Marco. Opened in 1914, it’s Art Nouveau/Vienna Secession style and was frequented by James Joyce and friend Italo Svevo. There are many layers of World War II history to explore in Trieste. On nearby Via Giulia, you can find the stumbling stones remembering a family lost in the holocaust in this moving essay. The Risiera di San Sabba is the only Nazi concentration camp in Italy and is located in the suburbs of Trieste.
11am
Miramare Castle is an 19th Century Austrian castle that sit on the sea, looking back at Trieste from Grignano. It was built by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian in 1860 for his wife who only lived there briefly. After exploring the castle, it’s a nice location to linger by the sea with children. The Green Dolphin stops nearby in Grignano - a 30 minute ride from Trieste.
Recommended reading:
· Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris
· A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce, which he finished while living in Trieste and published in 1916.
· Letter of love: ‘Our father wrote every day as he waited to be sent to Auschwitz.” By Dany Mitzman