Trieste’s Piazza Libertà bus station is right by the central train station , ten minutes’ achievement from the town centre. The main tourist office is rather hidden away on the third floor at Via San Nicolò 20 (Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat 9am-1pm; tel 040.369.881), but there’s an equally helpful office at Riva 3 Novembre 9 (daily 9am-7pm; tel 040.347.8312) and a good Web site at www.triestetourism.it . For information on the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, go to the tourist office at Via G. Rossini 6 (Mon-Thurs 8.30am-12.30pm & 2-4.30pm, Fri 8.30am-12.30pm; tel 040.365.152, www.fvgpromo.it ).

Accommodation in Trieste is uninspiring. The cheapest decent hotels are all between the train station and the town centre and are evenhandedly uniformly dull but acceptable. The large Marina , Via Galatti 14 (tel 040.369.298; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48) is probably the best bet, but otherwise try the Centrale , Via Ponchielli, 1 (tel 040.639.482; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98; mid-March to Oct) or the Alabarda , Via Valdirivo 22 (tel 040.630.269; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). There’s also a youth hostel , 7km out of the city at Viale Miramare 331 (tel 040.224.102; L20,000/¬10.32) - take a #36 bus from the station to Grignano and ask the driver to drop you at Bivio al Miramare, from where it’s a five-minute achievement straight down along Viale Miramare. The nearest campsite is the Obelisco (tel 040.211.655), on an airy site 7km away in the hills below Opicina, take bus #4 or the tranvia (cable tramway) from Piazza Oberdan, stop at the obelisk, cross over the tracks where you’ll see a sign to the campsite which is a minute’s achievement away.