Trieste is one of the top 10 trendiest global destinations for 2025

A few months ago Trieste entered the top ten of the trendiest global destinations for 2025 according to one of the world's largest travel search engines, along with such far-flung destinations as Sanya in China, Tromsø in Norway, João Pessoa in Brazil and Naha in the Land of the Rising Sun. After all, the interest of Italian and foreign tourists in this city is growing year by year, and it is no surprise: the Viennese architecture and Venetian-style campi, the Central European cafés and the fin de siècle atmosphere of Trieste are winning over more and more travellers. For an itinerary out of the ordinary compared to the usual tourist routes, when you are in these parts it is worth looking up just above the Gulf; in the Karst, there are no luxury hotels and trendy shops, but glimpses to be discovered and experiences to be had with dusty boots and a backpack, in a North-East straddling reality and imagination.

The Karst, a plateau of stone and legends

For those who were born and raised in Trieste, the Karst is a second skin, the essence of a city that has always told stories of borders, of coexistence between cultures and of clashes, unfortunately frequent and painful. Geographically speaking, it is a plateau shaped over the millennia by water erosion, so much so that the dolines and caves in the area are affected by a phenomenon that geologists have called karstification; it lies in a space between the provinces of Gorizia and Trieste, and the Istrian and Slovenian provinces on the other side of the border. What is certain is that the area lends itself to stories, anecdotes and legends: according to a popular fairy tale, God instructed the Archangel Gabriel to rid the world of excess stones, but the Devil, out of spite, made them all fall together in one spot on the earth - a rugged expanse that is one with vegetation, the Karst.

Discover the osmize, where time seems to stand still

Impossible to think of taking a tour of the Karst without stopping at an osmiza, just as impossible to think of looking them up on Google Maps: born during the reign of Maria Theresa of Austria, the osmize are small family-run inns, nestled between vineyards and dry stone walls on the plateau. They can be found by following handwritten directions, faded signs and wooden arrows, but above all thanks to the frasca, a bunch of ivy hanging by the side of the road - it indicates that the osmiza is open, for a variable period decided by each family, as when Joseph II of Habsburg authorised the coastal peasants to open their farm to the public, obviously on a time-limited basis. In the osmiza there is no à la carte menu but goat's cheese, smoked meats and pickles, house wines and soups such as jota; although today there is the osmize.com portal with periodic openings, the real way to find the perfect osmiza is to ask the locals, and to carry on an age-old word-of-mouth tradition.

Literary walks on the Rilke Path, between sea and poetry

Two kilometres of wonder: the Rilke Path connects Sistiana to Duino, along an overhanging stretch of the Karst ridge, carved into the white rock and overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. The name of the path, inaugurated in 1987, is a tribute to a writer such as Rainer Maria Rilke, who, as a guest of Duino Castle, walked the surrounding area every day and fell in love with the Trieste Karst. After the final stretch, you can visit Duino Castle, still inhabited by the Della Torre and Tasso princes but partly open to the public, or walk a little further on to the church of San Giovanni in Tuba at the Mouth of the Timavo. The river, which disappears in Slovenia and resurfaces here, is celebrated by Virgil in the Aeneid.

Monte Grisa, mystical brutalism on the gulf

There are those who detest it and those who adore it, but no one remains indifferent: with its concrete geometries, the Sanctuary of Monte Grisa dominates Trieste from above, a brutalist giant built in the 1960s as a vow to the Virgin for saving Trieste during World War II. When he designed it, Antonio Guacci imagined 40,000 square metres of triangles and trapezoids intertwining to form a cross. The light entering obliquely into the naves, the absolute stillness inside and the nature all around are the added value of a mystical space, capable of truly speaking to anyone.

The return of the Opicina Tram

After years of restoration, one of Trieste's best-loved means of transport returned to service last February: the tram to Opicina is a small blue and white tram, halfway between a train and a funicular railway, which was inaugurated by the Austrians in 1902 to more easily negotiate the Scorcola ascent, thanks to a traction system that is still unique in Europe. In a matter of minutes, in short, you pass from the city centre to the silence of the plateau; you can smell the scent of maritime pines, the light becomes clear and your gaze travels as far as the Slovenian coast and, on clear days, even to Croatia. Once in Opicina, you can continue on foot along the Karst paths, or stop on a bench and look down on the town from above, letting the light change colour as the hours pass.

Seen on Harper's Bazaar / Lifestyle