trie.st • Welcome to Trieste
Trieste, as the main city of the Friuli region, is reasonably well connected for a city of its size both within Italy as well as increasingly to other countries.
Airports
Trieste is served by the Trieste Airport, a small airport located about 45 minutes (by train) outside the City.
Further afield, the Venice Venezia Marco Polo Airport is a midsized airport which can be reached by train in about 2 hours. It offers significantly more international connections particularly from North America.
Trieste Airport
The Trieste Airport offers primarily connections to:
- Rome-Fiumicino daily by ITA Airways (formerly Alitalia), the Italian flag carrier airline
- Frankfurt daily by Air Dolomiti, a Lufthansa subsidiary
- Naples five times a week by Ryanair
- London-Stansted four times a week by Ryanair
- Bari three times a week by Ryanair
- Catania three times a week by Ryanair
- Brussels twice a week by Ryanair
- Cagliari twice a week by Ryanair
- Palermo twice a week by Ryanair
- Valencia twice a week by Ryanair
- Malta twice a week in the summer by Ryanair
- Barcellona twice a week in the summer by Ryanair
- Dublin twice a week in the summer by Ryanair
- Tirana twice a week (starting in July) by Wizz Air
The airport’s train station is directly connected to the airport: you exit the main entrance of the airport and then can use a covered passage to reach the train station (about a 5 minutes walk). Look for the right side of the platform (to Trieste Centrale) and any train will take you there (but make sure you have the right ticket!). The train station does not have a manned ticket booth, so only the automated machines on the platform can be used to purchase tickets.
Trains
Train Station
Trieste has one rail station in the City itself, Trieste Centrale (you may find also Trieste Campo Marzio on some websites/planners, but that is not really in use outside specialized trains). It is located in the downtown area, no more than a 20-minute walk at most places downtown.
The station is a terminal station, meaning it is the “end of the line” if you will. All train bound for Trieste stop in it for quite a while (so if you are distracted a bit as you come in, you will be fine won’t miss it).
The station does not have any underpasses and is generally pretty straightforward to navigate. It has a small but well stocked supermarket with lots of offerings for snacks and lunches to go (a good options for day trips via rail to other places).
The train station has a manned ticket booth (during business hours) and many automated ticket machines if you wish to purchase the ticket in person.
The Trieste Aereoporto (Trieste Airport) station is about 45 minutes from Trieste Centrale and is only useful to get to/from the airport (particularly as any train going to it will go after to Trieste Centrale).
Trains to/from other places in Italy
Trains from/to most Italian destinations west of Venice will generally involve changing a train in Venice at either Venezia Mestre (the station on the mainland) or Venezia Santa Lucia (the station on the Venice islands themselves), however many direct trains are offered as part of the Frecce high speed train offerings.
Do be aware that Italian trains are not always on time and can at times be even several hours late. Plan accordingly! (A train to the Airport will probably just take the allotted time to get there, but departures may be delayed. Keep an eye on the arrival board on the )
The main railway carrier of Italy, Trenitalia, has a pretty comprehensive website allowing to book train tickets online in English. On the main page, do watch out for the dropdown saying “Main Solutions”. It allows you to toggle between Main Solutions (whatever trains the carrier recommends), Frecce (fast but expensive trains), and Regional (slow but cheap trains). Sometimes the time different is not worth the increased cost on some solutions!
Trenitalia also has an app, however it may not be installed by accounts located outside of Italy, so it is not really an option for most travelers.
Tickets may generally be booked up to 3 months in advance, but you may want to check on your specific date to make sure. Regional trains are on a first-come-first-served basis for seats once boarded (so if it’s a busy time you may be standing)
International Trains
Train connections from Trieste to Austria and Slovenia are available, however they are not very frequent and can be challenging to arrange. The Austrian Railways, OBB is the main carrier for trains towards Austria and Slovenia, and has an English language website and trip planner. However, Firefox visitors beware that the ticketing system does not work reliably outside the Chrome browser.
Trains to/from Vienna take about 8 hours if travelling via Udine (which requires a change of trains there) or 9 hours if travelling via Ljubljana (in Slovenia, but those are often direct trains). Be wary that some trains take significantly longer due “layovers” so do check in advance.
For anywhere in Europe, the German Railways Deutsche Banh have an outstanding planner that may also be used, however it will show trains going through Ljubljana as two different trains. This is because the OBB trains will change number in Ljubljana but not the physical train, so you may simply remain seated during the about 20 minute stop time.
Long-distance busses or coaches
FlixBus, the German bus company, offers connections between Trieste and many destinations in Italy and Europe. Tickets can be booked many months in advance, sometimes up to a year, and are quite cheap!
Busses in Trieste will depart (or arrive) from the coach station which is located next to the train station (if facing the train station, the building on its left).
Transit times vary greatly with traffic and the whether a bus is direct or requires a connection. Direct destinations include (but not all listed busses will be direct!):
- Venice, about 2.5 hours and very frequent
- Padua, about 3 hours
- Bologna, about 4.5 hours
- Florence, about 5 hours
- Verona, around 5 hours
- Bergamo, around 5.5 hours
- Milan, about 7 hours
- Rome, about 8.5 hours
- Genoa, about 8.5 hours
- Turin, about 9 hours
- Slovenia:
- Croatia:
- Austria:
- Germany:
- Czechia:
- Prague, about 11 hours
- Slovakia:
- Bratislava, about 8 hours
- Hungary:
- Budapest, about 8 hours
- Poland:
- France:
Most other major cities in Europe and Italy are accessible via transfers to other FlixBus lines. Frequency even for the direct destination varies greatly, with some connections only happening as a single daily overnight bus. Schedules also vary greatly on weekends, with often more frequent connections available (e.g. to Ljubljana).
Boats
Trieste’s port offers the opportunity to visit nearby towns while travelling through the gorgeous Adriatic Sea, and offers great view of the City. However, all but one routes are seasonal and only offered in the summer.
Trieste - Muggia (year-round)
This route is operated by Trieste Trasporti, the same company that runs the busses in Trieste (see above).
It is quite a bit more expensive than busses, but does get one to Muggia in about a half hour.
It leaves Trieste from Molo Bersaglieri, right in the center of town. If in the main square facing towards the sea, it is the first pier on the left.
Timetables and fare information are available in Italian.
Tickets are purchased once you have boarded.
Trieste - Barcola - Grignano - Sistiana (seasonal)
This is a seasonal line offered in the summer that goes from Trieste westbound, stopping at popular summer destinations (for swimming and sunbathing). It is also run by Trieste Trasporti.
Timetables and fare information are available in Italian.
Tickets are purchased once you have boarded and the line departs from the corner of Molo Bersaglieri and Riva Nazario Sauro.
Trieste - Grado (seasonal)
Grado is a popular seaside resort near Trieste, which can be reached by boat in 1.5 hours.
This line is only operational in summertime and departs from Molo Audace, the first pier on the right if looking out to sea from the main square.
Timetables and fares are only available in Italian and unfortunately Google Translate appears to not always work on this webpage.
Tickets are purchased onboard.
Trieste - Croatia (seasonal)
Trieste is connected seasonally to several Croatian towns via hydrofoil. These lines are run by Liberty Lines which has an English website!
Destinations available are:
All of these lines depart from the Trieste Ferry Terminal on Molo IV (4th Pier), a 10 minute walk North-East from the main square.