Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is an autonomous region of Italy, the country's most northeasterly region, on the borders with Austria and Slovenia.

Provinces

Gorizia (GO)

Pordenone (PN)

Trieste (TS)

Udine (UD)

Cities

• 1 Aquileia
• 2 Cividale del Friuli
• 3 Gorizia
• 4 Grado
• 5 Lignano
• 6 Osoppo
• 7 Palmanova
• 8 Pordenone
• 9 Sauris
• 10 Spilimbergo
• 11 Tarvisio
• 12 Trieste
• 13 Udine

Other destinations

• Cansiglio Forest
• Dolomiti Friulane Natural Regional Park
• Prealpi Giulie Natural Regional Park
• Tarvisio Forest
• Numerous natural regional reserves
• Lagoons of Marano and Grado
• Summer and winter holiday resorts in the Julian Alps: Chiusaforte-Sella Nevea-Canin, Tarvisio, Pontebba-Passo di Pramollo, Malborghetto-Valbruna, in the Carnic Alps: Ravascletto-Zoncolan, Forni Avoltri, Sauris, in the furlan Dolomites: Forni di Sopra, Claut, and in the Carnic Prealps: Aviano-Piancavallo.
• Adriatic sea resorts
• Vineyards in the Collio, in the Colli Orientali and in the Carso.

Understand

If one were to describe Italy's regions as a family, Friuli-Venezia Giulia would be the multicultural oddball that few seem to notice or understand. Sitting in the northeastern section of Italy, the region of 1.1 million inhabitants rarely pops up in discussions about Italy, a real shame given the unique character of its places, sights, and people. Any amount of time spent here will introduce you to a unique mix of Italian, Germanic, and Slavic cultures.

Talk

The predominant language is Italian, but there are noteworthy Friulian, Slovenian, and even small German minorities in the region. Surprisingly, people in this region tend to speak better English than in the rest of Italy.

Get in

By plane

• The regional and international Trieste – Friuli Venezia Giulia Airport (TRS ^IATA) is 20 km away from Gorizia, 33 from Trieste, 40 from Udine and 80 from Pordenone.
• Treviso Airport offers many low cost flights. It can be reached by coach, car, or train from most areas in the region
• The international Marco Polo Airport of Venice (VCE ^IATA). Much further away than Treviso Airport, but offers a wider range of destinations.
• Ljubljana Airport in Slovenia is a good option if visiting the eastern part of the region.

By train

• From other Italian regions: Trenitalia high-speed and intercity trains and Italo high-speed trains connect Udine and Trieste to other Italian cities such as Milan, Rome and Naples. An Intercity Night sleeper train between Rome and Trieste is also available. Additionally, regional trains connect to Venice once an hour.
• From Austria: The Austrian railway operator ÖBB offers daytime RailJet trains and NightJet sleeper trains to and from Vienna. The regionally-owned Ferrovie Udine-Cividale (FUC) also operates trains between Villach and Udine. Alternatively, a EuroCity train is also available from Vienna to Trieste, passing through Graz and Ljubljana. The train takes 9 hours in total, so it's definitely not the fastest option to travel between the two cities, but it could make for an interesting journey.
• From Slovenia: two Trenitalia regional trains per day operate between Trieste Centrale and Ljubljana (one of which starts and terminates in Udine as well). The Slovenian Railways also operate a few services between the border station of Villa Opicina, in Trieste, (which can be accessed by bus) and Ljubljana. Alternatively, arrive in Nova Gorica and walk across the border to Gorizia. Bus number 1 can be used to go to the city centre or the Gorizia Centrale railway station.

By car

• A4 Turin-Trieste
• A23 Tarvisio-Udine-Palmanova
• A28 Portogruaro-Pordenone-Conegliano Veneto

Get around

By train

Regional trains are operated by Trenitalia and connect between most important towns and cities, making them a very convenient way to get around. The trains are generally fairly clean and most of them have power sockets and air conditioning. Frequencies vary between lines, however there is generally one train per hour on the most important ones, with some trains running every half hour at peak times between Trieste and Udine. Bikes can also be carried on the trains, after paying the appropriate supplement, a useful way to get to the Alpe Adria cycleway.

Aside from the Trenitalia trains there are also two lines operated by Ferrovie Udine-Cividale (FUC), which primarily runs trains between Udine and the town of Cividale. They also operate the Micotra - a regional train from Udine to Villach, in Austria. If you're intending to visit Cividale by train remember that tickets can't be bought on normal Trenitalia ticket machines - instead, there is a special FUC ticket machine at the Udine railway station, or you can buy tickets at the tobacconist inside the station itself. Tickets, however, can (and must) be validated on the standard validators present at stations.

By bus

Urban and interurban buses are run by TPL FVG and connect almost all towns and villages, making them useful to travel to places not connected by rail or inside some of the bigger cities, although the schedules may not be very frequent depending on the line. Tickets for the urban buses cost €1.35, while a day ticket valid for the entire network costs €3. Prices for the interurban buses vary depending on the route.

By boat

TPL FVG also operates ferries connecting between various seaside towns (such as Grado and Lignano) during the summer, alongside the Trieste-Muggia ferry active all year. Ticket prices can be found on TPL's boat services page. It is also possible to carry one bike per passenger on the ferries, after paying for the appropriate ticket.

See

• Adriatic Sea resorts — Lignano Sabbiadoro, Grado, Marina Iulia di Monfalcone and the Riviera di Barcolana (Duino-Aurisina, Sistiana, Trieste).
• Alpine lakes— Vajont, Barcis, Tramonti, Cornino, Verzegnis, Sauris, Cavazzo, Doberdo, Fusine, Predil.
• Castles — Miramare, Duino, Muggia, Trieste, Gorizia, Udine, Cervignano del Friuli, Gemona del Friuli, Spilimbergo, Valvasone, and so on... so many.
• Caves — Sgonico Grotta Gigante, Villanova di Lusevera, Pradis di Clauzetto.

Do

Climbing, walking, mountaineering, paragliding, hang-gliding, canyoning, rafting, horse riding, golf, mountain biking and cycling, spelunking, swimming, sailing, surf, wind-surf, kitesurf. On the snow: downhill, off-track and cross-country skiing, freeride, snowboard, snow parks, ice-climbing, outings with snow-shoes and sleddogs.

• Alpine ski resorts: Ampezzo, Cimolais, Chiusaforte-Sella Nevea-Canin, Claut, Forni di Sopra, Forni Avoltri, Lauco, Malborghetto-Valbruna, Paluzza-Timau, Paularo, Aviano-Piancavallo, Pontebba-Passo Pramollo, Ravascletto-Zoncolan, Sauris, Tarvisio, Verzegnis-Sella Chianzutan.

Itineraries

The "Road of Wine and Cherries", the "Road of Ham and Castles", the "Road of Montasio Cheese".

Eat

San Daniele ham wrapped around Grissini

The regional cuisine was born from the union of three great culinary traditions, the Austrian, the Venetian and the Slav, plus a sturdy and tasty popular Friulan cuisine.

• Celebrated hams: San Daniele, smoked Sauris, Cormons and Carso, friulan smoked speck of Sauris.
• Ancient cheeses: Montasio friulano, Asino, Latteria, Malga, Pecorino, smoked Ricotta, Salato friulano, Tabor, Liptauer, Zepek.

Iota or Jota, porcina or porzina, game, goose products, klotznudl, knodel, bobici, kaiserfleisch, sbarbôt, bisna or bizna, cevapcici, San Daniele and Carnia smoked trout, mlinzi, gnocchi, pistum, baccalà, frico, patate in tecia, paparôt, white and green asparaguses, cjalzons, boreto or brodo or brodetto, different soups, granzevola alla triestina, marinated sardines, muset, brovada, riso e fasoi, risotti, sauc, crafus, linguâl, pestât, pestadice, salame friulano, pancetta friulana, peta or petuccia or pitina, goulash or gulash, palatschinken, cren, radicchio canarino, rosa di Gorizia, rusclin, polenta friulana, filon, dobos, cotto di Trieste and di Gorizia, toc in braide, cueste, lujagne, savors, lidric cul poc, pindulis, sassaka friulana, sculta fumât, strudel, kipfel, krapfen, struki or strucchi, crostui, esse biscuits, cuguluf, colaz, gubana friulana, pinza, putizza, presnitz, sacher, pevarins, pickles, honeys, marmelades, olive oil tergeste.

Drink

• White wines — Ramandolo, Picolit, Friulano, Verduzzo Friulano, Prosecco Friulano.
• Red wines — Refosco del Peduncolo Rosso, Schiopettino, Terrano.
• Beers — "Castello di Udine", "Agribeer Zahre", "Befed", "Praforte".
• Ciders — "Klotzen", "Most".
• Spirits — Grappa Friulana, pear brandy, Slivovitz Friulana, plum brandy.
• Coffee — Illy Trieste.
• Mineral waters: "Pradis", "Goccia di Carnia", "Dolomia", "Paradiso Pocenia".

Stay safe

This is one of Italy's safest regions, with Trieste being arguably Italy's safest city and Udine being not far behind. A few beggars might be seen near railway stations and international borders, but otherwise nothing shocking should happen to tourists.

Go next

In Italy, the Veneto and the Trentino-Alto Adige regions. Austria and Slovenia.