Trieste

Trieste grew as the main seaport of the Austrian empire after 1719, and its centre was built in that period: wide neoclassical blocks, the Borgo Teresiano laid out on a grid around a canal, and Piazza Unità d'Italia, one of the largest squares in Europe that opens on one side straight onto the water. Coffee arrived through the port and the city kept a Viennese cafe culture, with historic houses still trading and a local vocabulary for coffee orders that confuses visitors. James Joyce lived here for about a decade from 1904 and worked on Ulysses; Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba were both Triestine writers.

What you actually see

• Piazza Unità d'Italia - a vast square open to the sea on one side.
• The Borgo Teresiano - a Habsburg grid around a canal basin.
• The historic cafes - Viennese-style coffee houses still trading.
• The literary city - Joyce, Svevo and Saba, with markers around town.

When to go

April to October; the Barcolana sailing regatta in October fills the gulf with hundreds of boats. The bora wind can blow hard in winter, occasionally closing streets.

Honest expectations

The bora can be genuinely strong, with ropes strung in some streets historically. Coffee terms differ from the rest of Italy and need learning. The city feels Central European rather than Italian.

Nearby

Miramare lies north; the Grotta Gigante is inland.