• Car Rental

   

Pick up your car after you have collected your luggage upon arrival in Venice Marco Polo Airport.
Start your journey northbound toward the enchanting town of Trieste

(approx 1h 45min from Venice by highway)

• Welcome to Trieste

Beautiful and cultured, Trieste is Italy’s most cosmopolitan city. There are still echoes of the glorious Habsburg past and in its characteristic mixture of languages, peoples and religions one easily senwwses its combined Central European and Mediterranean souls.

The heart of the city is the most beautiful and most symbolic of all its squares, Piazza Unità d’Italia. The buildings around it perfectly summarise Trieste’s history. However, the most spectacular side of the square is the one facing the sea, from which a pier, the Molo Audace, extends for over two hundred metres. From here, the view sweeps beyond Piazza Unità and on to the monumental palazzi and the Greek Orthodox Church of San Nicolò on the Trieste Canal Grande (Grand Canal), the centre of the neighbourhood built at the behest of Maria Theresa of Austria. The churches in this district testify to the harmonious coexistence of different religions.

In the distance, one can glimpse the white profile of Miramare, the romantic castle of Maximilian and Charlotte of Hapsburg.
Trieste is also the city of coffee. A free port for coffee imports from the 18th century onwards, the port of Trieste is still the busiest in the Mediterranean. In Trieste, coffee rhymes with literature: the city has numerous beautiful literary cafés, timehonoured coffee houses with a retro charm that were once the haunt of great novelists such as James Joyce, Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba and are still the preferred watering-holes of writers and intellectuals.

Taking a break in one of Trieste’s old cafés is an unmissable ritual for which you even have to learn some special jargon: here, an espresso is a “nero”, but what on earth is a “gocciato” or a “capo in b”?

• Check in at Hotel – 15:00 – Central European Time

City tax not included to be paid on spot at check-out

• Private walking city tour of Trieste (half day)

Meet with your private English-Speaking licensed guide at the hotel. The circuit will visit the Molo Audace, Piazza Unità d’Italia, the Roman Theater, the Orthodox Church. Upon return, free time to enjoy at own leisure, a typical Spritz Aperitif at one of the elegant cafè close to Piazza Borsa. Dinner at own leisure. Overnight.

• Palmanova, Aquileia and Grado

The third masterpiece of Venetian military architecture is in Friuli-Venezia Giulia: Palmanova, a nine-point, star-shaped fortress city built by the Serenissima to defend its borders from the Ottoman and Austrian threats. The peculiar hexagonal structure and its perfect symmetry make Palmanova one-of-a-kind, a true war machine with bastions and walls designed taking into account the range of the cannons of the time. Palmanova represents the “ideal fortified city”, a perfect synthesis between the utopias of the Renaissance and the military war theories of the time.

The fortress contains a 70-hectare urban center enclosed within three concentric walls – two Venetian walls and an outermost French perimeter – giving Palmanova its characteristic nine-point star shape. –Bastioned system ”which evolved in the territories of the Republic of Venice in the 16th and 17th centuries. The fortresses of Palmanova is a refined and intriguing destination, which allow the visitor to explore and discover the military, historic and architectural genius of the Serenissima.

After breakfast, departure by car, for an intense day to discover at own leisure Palmanova, Strassoldo, Aquileia and Grado. Visit the museum of the Great War, the Parco dei Bastioni. In Strassoldo visit of the medieval village. Lunch with tasting of wines and typical Friulian products, at a renowned winery in the area. In the afternoon in Aquileia visit to the Basilica of SM Assunta, to the Duomo complex, including the crypt, the frescoes.

Return to the hotel in the late afternoon. Dinner at own leisure. Overnight.

Inclusions:

• • Licensed English-Speaking private guides in Palmanova and Aquileia
  • Wine tour and tasting nearby Strassoldo (including a light lunch of typical local products)
  • Ticket entrances (in Palmanova and Aquileia)

• Castello di Miramare & Revoltella Museum

In the morning, after breakfast, jump on your car and drive toward the iconic Castello di Miramare (Castle of Miramare).
Enjoy a visit of the gardens and of the interiors. A radio-guided path will help you to find the perfect route inside this amazing masterpiece.
The Castle of Miramare stands on the tip of the promontory of Grignano. Its position overlooking the sea, provides the possibility to enjoy a wonderful view over the Gulf of Trieste. The Castle is surrounded by a beautiful park with valuable botanical species where one can relax.

A noble residence commissioned by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg, its interiors feature sumptuous original furniture.
Characterised by the “white towers” described by Carducci, rather than a castle it is an example of a nineteenth-century prince residence, the result of the eclectic architectural style of that period.
Built between 1856 and 1860 by Archduke Maximilian of Austria, later Emperor of Mexico, the building is strongly influenced by a Romantic taste, as a revisited construction of a medieval fortress.
The archduke personally oversaw both the planning of the building and the layout of the large park (over 22 hectares), an English-style and Italian-style garden, rich in rare plants, sculptures and ponds, which goes down towards the sea with wide steps.

From April 12, 2021 only the Park will open regularly from 8 am to 7 pm.

The castle is made up of over 20 rooms: particularly valuable are Maximilian’s Rooms, among which the bedroom, furnished as a ship’s cabin, and the “Throne Room”. Since 1955 the castle has been a State museum.

A curious fact:
According to the legend, there is a curse linked to the castle of Miramare, according to which whoever spends the night there is destined to die prematurely in foreign land.

Lunch at own leisure. Return to your hotel and park your car.

In the afternoon, enjoy a visit of Revoltella museum, elegant city residence, in Renaissance style, belonging to Baron Pasquale Revoltella, it hosts sculptures and works of modern painting. The museum is at a walking distance from your hotel.

Revoltella museum, elegant city residence, in Renaissance style, belonging to Baron Pasquale Revoltella, it hosts sculptures and works of modern painting.
The interior of the Revoltella museum, is characterised by a spectacular helicoidal staircase that connects the three floors, preserves the original furniture and decorations, as well as a large art collection (Magni marble groups, historical scenes, landscapes and portraits dating back to early 19th century).
In this century, the museum Revoltella has found its location in the nearby Brunner building, which nowadays hosts one of the most  important collections of modern art in Italy (with works by Hayez, Fattori, De Nittis, Morelli, Palazzi, Nono, Favretto, Bistolfi, Previati, von
Stuck, Morandi, Fontana, etc.).

Once the visit is over enjoy a typical aperitif or a coffee. Dinner at own leisure. Overnight.

• Private Wine Tour and Tasting

In the sixties, grandfather Min and then father Livio began a story that continues today in the Tunella of Massimo and Marco Zorzettig,  custodians, together with their mother Gabriella, of more than fifty years of family history. In today’s Tunella, current events and memory, the desire to experiment and the highest traditions of the Eastern Hills of Friuli coexist: a present that builds its future day after day.
In the morning after breakfast, departure with your car towards Collio Friulano. Stop at a typical winery. Private visit of the estate followed by a typical lunch, served in the form of a tasting, accompanied by excellent local wine.

• Cividale del Friuli walking tour

Cividale del Friuli, with artistic gems whose significance have been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Tarcento are the most important towns in Friuli’s Colli Orientali, known the world over for their wonderful wines.
Faedis, Attimis and Nimis are villages surrounded by the remains of medieval castles.
The Natisone/Nediške Doline valleys are full of ash, chestnut, hazelnut, lime and hornbeam forests and flowers in a great profusion of colours and fragrances in all seasons. On all these valley footpaths you can, if you’re lucky, meet many animal species ranging from roe deer to wild boar, hare to wolves, squirrels to bear prints. The Natisone/Nediške Doline keep their Slovenian culture and traditions alive together with rituals and customs such as those linked to Christmas and the Carnival//Pust and Kries/Falò di San Giovanni. The natural attractions of this area bring in mountain bikers, cavers, sports climbers and horse riders and to the many themed footpaths: the Gadda path, the artists’ path, the Guziranje path, the Votive churches path and the Great War sites.

Valli del Torre is a pristine mountain paradise near to Friuli Venezia Giulia’s historic towns. It is a destination for all those who love to get out into wild nature full of rivers and streams which generate spectacular Karstic torrents and splendid waterfalls including those of Rio Boncic on the Campo di Bonis plain. The Gran Monte chain affords breathtaking views ranging from the Alpi Carniche and Giulie to the Adriatic Sea. Along the various footpaths leading to the mountains you can see exquisite flora (asphodels, irises and various types of lily) and interesting fauna (griffon vultures, deer, bears, lynxes and wild cats). The natural attractions of this part of Friuli attract hang gliding and paragliding fans as well as those who love mountain biking, caving, sport climbing and horse riding. The variety of footpaths suitable for everyone is much appreciated as are the winter Nordic skiing circuits and snowshoe walks.
In the early afternoon, once the wine tasting is over, the discovery continues towards Cividale Del Friuli and its territory, rich in history and artistic heritage. Here you will encounter the Friuli of the Lombards and Unesco sites, through the Lombard Temple, the MuCris and the Monastery of S.M. downstream. The tour ends with an exterior visit to the wonderful Castelmonte Monastery a few km away from the town of Cividale.
Drive back to the hotel. Dinner at own leisure. Overnight

• Coffee Tasting Experience in Trieste

If you enjoy coffee and drinking it is an irreplaceable must for breakfast or your work breaks, you must come to Trieste and try a coffee-experience that is wholly unique. Here, you will find not only historic coffee shops and classic bars, but also a third choice. We refer here to the traditional “Tastings”.

Similarly to the wine cellars for tasting wines, in the Degustazioni (literally ‘tastings’) it is the coffee that is the main product. In these venues, there is always a wide selection, with the possibility of tasting/purchasing several types of blends. In this way, the experience becomes even more rewarding as you can buy several roasted mixtures—even just 100 grams of freshly-ground blend—thus ensuring an even greater freshness than offered by a packet purchased in asupermarket.

The launch of this type of outlet dates back to the immediate postwar period. In Trieste at the time, a wide number of initiatives were blossoming and the demands of these activities did not allow for long coffee breaks in the cafes. Moreover, these degustazioni differed from bars as the products on offer were restricted to colonial products (tea, chocolate and, of course, coffee). Alcohol consumption was banned here.

The harbinger of this type of outlet can be credited to Primo Rovis, a true patron for the city, who made a number of contributions on several fronts. First of all, he helped Trieste’s medical services through the acquisition of machinery and other important material, but this was not all: Rovis also contributed significantly in other fields, including social and cultural.
His Degustazione, located in the central piazza Goldoni, at its height used to see sales in excess of 7,000 cups a day.
Such was its success that very soon similar bars began to pop up. Now, however, we can count them on the fingers of one hand. Among those still fully active and unchanged and which preserve the uniqueness and scents of times gone by, are one in piazza Cavana and one on the other side of town in corso Saba.

This brief excursion into the city enable let you to discover this peculiarity of Coffee 100% Made in Trieste!

In the morning after your breakfast, meet with your guide to start an amazing typical local experience: the coffee tasting at one of the historical coffee shops in Trieste. Learn all bout coffee grains, how to recognize the blends and how coffee blends are made. Taste an intense and lovely coffee before starting your next visit, escorted by your local guide.

Lunch at own leisure.

• Guided visit at Risiera di San Sabba (Deportation Camp)

In October 1943 when the city of Trieste was included in the military operation Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland – OZAK, the most tragic period in recent history began, therefore some buildings used for rice husking (the Ricemill of San Sabba) were designated as Polizeihaftlager (police detention camp). The building had the function to torture and sort prisoners in particular Jews who were destined to be deported to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. In addition, many political enemies and partisans of different nationalities were killed in this building. The ricehusking factory of San Sabba was the only Italian Nazis camp with a crematory oven activated from 1944 until the end of World War Two. After the Second World War some buildings were used as refugee camps starting from the 1950’s. In 1965 following a decree of the Italian president of the republic it became a National monument. The Memorial was restructured in its current form in 1975 after Romano Boico’s intervention. Inside the multimedia museum, created in 2016, there can be seen many artefacts such
as photos, documents, projects, objects given by ex-deportees and videos. Furthermore, the National Monument is formed by various areas that can be visited.

Currently historical research is not able to provide precise information on how many prisoners effectively passed through the Risiera Polizeihaftlager, nor how many victims there were. During the 1976 trial it was hypothesised that there had been “at least 2,000 victims”, though some historians put the figure much higher, between 4,000 and 5,000. At the trial, Albin Bubnič, journalist of the Slovenian daily newspaper “Primorski Dnevnik” presented the judges with a partial list of 317 names of people killed at the Risiera, and today 349 names can be confirmed.

The victims were mostly members of the Resistance (Italians, Slovenians and Croats), hostages captured during the roundups and civilians arrested because they were suspected of collaborating with the partisans. Many of them were transferred from the city prisons of Coroneo or the Gestapo and SIPOSD (Sicherheitspolizei-Sicherheitsdienst) command in piazza Oberdan; many were brought there directly from where they had been captured. The SS and the Ukrainian soldiers working under them were in charge of the killings, and used various means of doing so: hanging, firing squad, gas emissions, bludgeoning. The executions generally took place at night; from the depositions given during the trial it emerged that the SS set the dogs loose and played loud music in the camp to cover the cries of the prisoners.

What is certain is that around 25 Jews were killed at the camp because they were considered unable to face deportation, or because they were accused of breaching the regulations. On 13 September 1943 Heinrich Himmler placed SS Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Odilo Globocnik in charge of the police and security forces of the Adriatic Littoral, previously in charge of Aktion Reinhard, the General Government project for the systematic mass extermination of Jews (around 1,700,000 people). The SS official had many of the staff he had worked with in Poland transferred, including the men from Aktion Reinhard, or Einsatzkommando Reinhard, working firstly under the command of Christian Wirth and then under August Dietrich Allers. The main nucleus of the unit, composed of around 90 men from the SS, plus a group of Ukrainian collaborators, had also taken part in Operation “Eutanasia” (also known as T4, which from 1939 to 1941 began to exterminate German and Austrian disabled and psychiatric patients). Subsequently, between 1942 and 1943, many of them held various positions in the extermination camps in Poland (Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka).
The mini-cells hall is the place in the National Monument which more than any other has remained as it was during the time of the camp. In the hall of the old building, the Nazis built 17 mini-cells, creating a kind of prison inside the concentration camp. These were used to keep political prisoners and members of the local Resistance, as well as Jews and civilians arrested during police operations. For many, these cells were the ante-chamber of death, for others holding cells before deportation. The inner courtyard which today houses the metal sculpture and the large metal plate was at the time of the concentration camp the site of the chimney stack and two buildings – the ex-machine room and the ex-boiler room – where the killings took place and where the crematorium, used to cremate the bodies of the killed prisoners, was located.

What is certain is that around 25 Jews were killed at the camp because they were considered unable to face deportation, or because they were accused of breaching the regulations. On 13 September 1943 Heinrich Himmler placed SS Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei Odilo Globocnik in charge of the police and security forces of the Adriatic Littoral, previously in charge of Aktion Reinhard, the General Government project for the systematic mass extermination of Jews (around 1,700,000 people). The SS official had many of the staff he had worked with in Poland transferred, including the men from Aktion Reinhard, or Einsatzkommando Reinhard, working firstly under the command of Christian Wirth and then under August Dietrich Allers. The main nucleus of the unit, composed of around 90 men from the SS, plus a group of Ukrainian collaborators, had also taken part in Operation “Eutanasia” (also known as T4, which from 1939 to 1941 began to exterminate German and Austrian disabled and psychiatric patients). Subsequently, between 1942 and 1943, many of them held various positions in the extermination camps in Poland (Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka).
The mini-cells hall is the place in the National Monument which more than any other has remained as it was during the time of the camp. In the hall of the old building, the Nazis built 17 mini-cells, creating a kind of prison inside the concentration camp. These were used to keep political prisoners and members of the local Resistance, as well as Jews and civilians arrested during police operations. For many, these cells were the ante-chamber of death, for others holding cells before deportation. The inner courtyard which today houses the metal sculpture and the large metal plate was at the time of the concentration camp the site of the chimney stack and two buildings – the ex-machine room and the ex-boiler room – where the killings took place and where the crematorium, used to cremate the bodies of the killed prisoners, was located.

At the end of the visit, time at own leisure in Trieste. Overnight.

After breakfast check-out and drive toward San Daniele, an iconic village, nestled in the very heart of the countryside.
Enjoy a guided tour in English, in this authenitc farm-factory producing one of the most iconic Italian Cold Cuts: San Daniele Ham. Visit the production and have a tasting of this incredible cold cut, the first competitor of Parma Ham. At the end of the guided visit, with tasting, time at leisure to have lunch on your own.

• Venice

Venice (Italian: Venezia; Venetian: Venexia) is a sanctuary on a lagoon is virtually the same as it was 600 years ago, which adds to the fascinating character. Venice has decayed since its heyday and is heavily touristed (there are slightly more tourists than residents), but the romantic charm remains. It is also known as the birthplace of composers Tomaso Albinoni and Antonio Vivaldi. Venice and its lagoon are a UNESCO World Heritage site. It used to be an independent republic, and remains one of Italy’s most important cities.

• Check-out Hotel in Trieste

After your breakfast, check-out
City tax to be paid on spot

• Check in at Hotel in Venice
  
• Car drop off at Venice Airport

Drop off your car at Venice airport

• Private Boat Tour of Venice Lagoon with Prosecco & Cicchetti

Enjoy Venice from a different point of view. Your private captain will pick you up at your hotel and you will start this incredible private boat tour of Venice.
Surrounded by an eternal and everlasting beauty, you will enjoy local Prosecco wine and “Cicchetti”, typical Venetian Finger Food, mostly made of fresh fish.
You will visit the Burano (with its coloured houses and fishermen villages), Torcello Island and its romantic heritage and you will cruise along the Venetian Lagoon.
At the end of the private boat tour, your captain will escort you back to your hotel.
Dinner at own leisure. Overnight.

• Private transfer by water taxi to Venice Airport

After breakfast, check-out. Meet at the hotel pier with your private captain and start your transfer toward Venice Airport in time to board on your flight back home.

• Check out Hotel

Check-out after breakfast
City tax to be paid on spot

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