Treviso to Trieste

[stuartmoss]

Hi all, I’m considering flying to Treviso on Saturday in order to visit Trieste. Have any of you done this journey before and can recommend any tips / advice?

I would land at Treviso at 10:00, and would expect to be on a train to Trieste around midday. I would want to return to Treviso on Monday afternoon, for a Tuesday morning flight home.

All tips and advice greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

[etr221]

Have been to Trieste, but used Venice airport, not Treviso.

Your options would seem to be to get local bus to Treviso station, or express ATVO bus to Mestre ('Venice on Mainland') - check the airport website for links to bus company websites, for times and how to buy tickets (in Trieste tickets are not available on the bus). Most if not all websites suggested have an English option, if you don't speak Italian (look for Union Jack and EN, or ITA and tricolor for alternative options)
From Mestre, Regionale Veloce ('fast regional') trains to Venice about every hour, except long morning gap (based on times from Trieste), also IC and Frecce (HST) trains, note that fares differ.
From Treviso, there are through RV trains to Trieste, the long way round via Udine. Or go via Mestre (busy station if you want to train spot while you wait) or Portogruaro (change there). Again fares will differ based on route and train (type(s)).
Look at trenitalia.com website for times & fares (has english option). If you don't want to buy ticket through it, expect to buy ticket from machine - it will speak English and take both cards and cash - Trenitalia are minimising booking office facilities. I would buy singles myself, don't think there is any advantage in getting a return.

Do not forget to validate your ticket before boarding train.

 

[dutchflyer]

I've done it both ways, in and out, as indicated, but by now quite some time ago.
The direct ''RYAN''bus to VNZ/mestre took extremely long in the local peak due to congestion. It cost more as the local options of citybus and local train (as these fares are still very low in IT).
The local citybus is, like so often in IT, more a mistery in how to find it, how to use it (buy before-but just try to find out where) and when it goes.
That airport is a former airforce base, small if not tiny and lies more or less directly on a main rd, where both not very frequent citybuses and a regional bus (I think it was to Padova) runs/stops). Coming OFF plane you have to cross the road to go into the town.
But again: this is from at least 4 yrs ago by now and maybe even in IT things change for the better.
BTW: RYAN is to shorten its window to make your boardingpass online from 4 days till just 2 days before from early june! Otherwise pay 55 GBP to have it done-or upgrade, pay more, for advance seat selection.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

In Trieste I can recommend the ancient #2 tram which runs from Piazza Oberdan up to Villa Opicina on the carso, with a rack section on the steepest bit.
These days it's the best way to get from Trieste to Ljubljana (local SŽ train from Villa Opicina FS station).

 

[JB_B]

Last year I took a quick trip from Venice to Udine then Gorizia/Nova Gorica - Trieste and back along the coast.

I'm fairly sure (as you've probably found out) that ATVO run connecting buses from Treviso Airport into the centre and also to Mestre. Pretty well anywhere you go in Friuli-Venezia Guilia will be out of the tourist mainstream - relaxed and interesting.

As etr221 says, it's all very simple on the rail side of things - RV are usually the way to go. If you're curious about the interiors of IC / Freccie then it's not extortionate (by UK standards) to get a segment on those but you'd be paying for solitude rather than speed.

Trieste is probably the most interesting ( Austro-Hungary's access to the sea) and a convoluted history stretching way back - it's still a very significant port which you can clearly see as the railway curves round the bay - you also get a good view of cruise-ships under construction at Monfalcone.

On an earlier trip round the Veneto I found that Treviso has a worthwhile historic centre (and an excellent museum)- so no harm if you find yourself with a few hours there.

 

[JB_B]

In Trieste I can recommend the ancient #2 tram which runs from Piazza Oberdan up to Villa Opicina on the carso, with a rack section on the steepest bit.
These days it's the best way to get from Trieste to Ljubljana (local SŽ train from Villa Opicina FS station).

Tram was great ( when I first visited Trieste in 2003 ) but I'm not sure it's still going?

Well worth getting up onto the plateau and visiting an osmizza/osmica.

 

[AndrewE]

In Trieste I can recommend the ancient #2 tram which runs from Piazza Oberdan up to Villa Opicina on the carso, with a rack section on the steepest bit.
These days it's the best way to get from Trieste to Ljubljana (local SŽ train from Villa Opicina FS station).

Looks like the tram service is still suspended (http://new.triestetrasporti.it/en/2...e-2-opicina-tramway-is-temporarily-suspended/) as it was when I went there to try it 18 months ago!
I gather it was being run by one of our wonderful outsourcing companies when the crash happened.

 

[etr221]

In Trieste I can recommend the ancient #2 tram which runs from Piazza Oberdan up to Villa Opicina on the carso, with a rack section on the steepest bit.
These days it's the best way to get from Trieste to Ljubljana (local SŽ train from Villa Opicina FS station).

As others have said, the tram is currently suspended (following an incident). While originally (many years ago!) it was rack, since the 1930s it has been a funicular, with the trams propelled by (resting against) a 'dummy' at the downhill end - one of the dummies is parked at the bottom of the hill section.

Also currently closed is the railway museum at the old Trieste Campo Marzio (ex kkStB) station.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

As others have said, the tram is currently suspended (following an incident). While originally (many years ago!) it was rack, since the 1930s it has been a funicular, with the trams propelled by (resting against) a 'dummy' at the downhill end - one of the dummies is parked at the bottom of the hill section.
Also currently closed is the railway museum at the old Trieste Campo Marzio (ex kkStB) station.

I was lucky then, I used the tram just 2 years ago.
Was it a system failure of some kind?
I think the rack section had only recently been renewed (but the trams were still original).

 

[AndrewE]

I was lucky then, I used the tram just 2 years ago.
Was it a system failure of some kind?
I think the rack section had only recently been renewed (but the trams were still original).

It was a head-on crash, possibly above the funicular section,
https://www.thelocal.it/20160816/eight-injured-in-crash-on-popular-italian-tramline
but I'm not sure as I seem to remember that it was double track up there. I think it runs (ran) on single track along the the via Commerciale below the funicular section too...

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Yes, it looks like the top section.
I think there's a loop on the level at the top and bottom, and the funicular section is double.
There's more pictures in the Corriere piece in your link.
I see seat61 is suggesting that the Ljubljana-Villa Opicina trains are about to be extended down to Trieste Centrale, but there's nothing on the SŽ or Trenitalia web sites.
https://www.seat61.com/venice-to-ljubljana-and-zagreb-by-train.htm

>>>> GOOD NEWS FOR JUNE 2018 <<<<
NEW DIRECT TRIESTE-LJUBLJANA TRAIN ON THE CARDS FROM 10 JUNE 2018. Plans are in hand for twice-daily direct trains between Trieste & Ljubljana, likely to leave Ljubljana around 05:57 & 16:10, and leaving Trieste around 09:01 & 19:09, journey time likely to be around 2h40. See www.europebyrail.eu/direct-trains-between-ljubljana-and-trieste-in-june-2018. It still has to be confirmed, but watch this space...

But I did discover there is now an Arriva express bus on the route, with train tickets valid.
http://www.slo-zeleznice.si/en/pass...ore-italy-with-slovenske-zeleznice-and-arriva

 

[etr221]

The tram crash was on the upper part of the line - a failure of the single line working procedure, when an extra tram got forgotten. One of the issues delaying reopening is that I understand it left them a serviceable tram short.

Virtually all the tramway is single track with passing loops (the only bit I'm unsure about is the upper part of the funicular section - the lower part is certainly single). The trams date from the 1930s (with relatively recent refurbishment/upgrade of the traction equipment), when the line was modernised and the rack replaced by the funicular, but there is one original tram (No. 6) retained for specials.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Pic of the funicular section (with pusher/retarder) from June 2016.
The uphill one here (404) was the downhill one in the crash.

 

[stuartmoss]

Thanks everyone for your very helpful responses. As it turns out, I missed the cheap air fare I was going for, but am now considering a Tuesday to Saturday trip, just checking out hotels.