I was on my way further south, heading towards Croatia. Between Ljubljana and Piran in Slovenia, there is not much worth a visit or stop. However, once I looked on the map, I saw the corner of another country. Trieste in Italy was literally (or more or less) on the way, and as I loved Italy, I had to stop there. I looked it even up to see whether Trieste is worth a visit.
All the blogs and websites I found said yes, it’s a beautiful city in Italy. Well, I would disagree… what a disappointing detour it was.
TRIESTE in Italy
I am a big fan of Italy and have done many trips to this beautiful country, while living in Munich. (Not to mention my roadtrip through Italy a year later, in March 2019)
Crossing the boarder to Italy was exciting however as soon as approached Trieste, noticing the big size of the city, I wanted to turn around. It seemed way too big and too industrial for my liking! Even from far away. I should have known though, as I read that is was one of the biggest import/export harbour.
Anyway, I had the accommodation already paid so had to drive in. This night cost me a relative fortune with parking, food and everything else. Yes, I was new to traveling and doing a road trip, and this was my very first lesson of ‘what not to do’. (I am much more experience after two years of it). Is it even worth mentioning that the hotel host didn’t speak English, lied about the breakfast and free parking as well as the ‘shared bathroom’ scenario… etc. It wasn’t a very good impression of my return to Italy.
I guess the only thing that saved the total disappointment was the local market in the city that had lots of amazing street food. Like EatStreet in Brisbane really.. loved the simplicity and atmosphere there. And the food was delicious!
My Trieste summary
You might like the town, personally, I wouldn’t call Trieste in Italy ‘a little hidden treasure on the coast’ as some websites say. In my opinion, and given what else Italy or Slovenia has to offer, this city is not worth a visit. Can you tell? I hardly took any photos.
Luckily Slovenia was only a few kilometers away and the landscape changed back to beautiful coast lines, amazing Mediterranean hills and small villages. I couldn’t wait to see Piran in Slovenia. What a roadtrip so far!
Piran in Slovenia
I also read, that the small village Piran is worth a visit! Piran is a very cute and small resort town on the Slovenia’s Adriatic coast and it is known for its long coast lines and the mediavel architecture, as well as narrow streets. I liked Piran and I highly recommend it. It lifted my travel mood a bit, after my disappointing trip to Trieste in Italy.
The town of Piran is so small, that, as a tourist, you have to park your car outside the town and then walk in. Happens a lot I noticed during my future travels. I did my usual walk, had delicious breakfast and left for Croatia! Porec and Pula were first on my list.
Crossing the border is always exciting, but this time, at the border between Slovenia and Croatia I had my first proper border control, including passport check. I can’t remember last time I had that.. back in 1989 before the polish (European) borders opened? (That said, during this roadtrip I had a border check in Turkey and back in Bulgaria as well).
But for now, I can’t wait to tell you more about Croatia! You will love it!
Piran, Slovenia
