Hello my friend,

I am taking you with me in Monfalcone (->map).

This city has about 30,000 inhabitants and is only 8 km away from the Slovenian border.
The town is well renowed in the region for manufacturing cruise ships, airplanes, chemical and refined oil.
The shipbuilding company “Fincantieri” (whose headquarter is in Trieste) has a huge factury in Monfalcone.
The factory employs more than 2000 people in Monfalcone.
Fincantieri was already the largest shipbuilder in Europe but it bacame even bigger
when it bought 50% of STX France (a French shipyard based in Saint Nazaire) in 2018 to become the 4th largest in the world.
Huge cruise ships like the Queen Victoria (2007) and the Queen Elizabeth (2010) were built here, in Monfalcone.

I live in a little village in Slovenia about 320 meters above sea level.
From here, we can see the red and white striped chimney of  the Monfalcone coal power plant.
The chimney is more than 130 meters high and can be seen from quite far away.
The “Fincantieri” factory is was built next to that power plant because it needs a lot of energy to operate.

It might be silly but I like seeing the red and white striped power plant chimney from my village.
I asked many times people of my village -> What can I visit in Monfalcone ?
They all told me -> “Nothing! It is an industrial city, not touristy at all”.

Many months later, when I was taking a stroll in Sistiana, I talked with a nice gentleman who came to sit on my bench.
We talked a little bit and I asked him where he lived.
He told me that he lived in Monfalcone.
I asked him what he could recommend me good places to visit in Monfalcone.
He answered -> “Nothing ! There is nothing to see there!”.
I was stunned. How could he not defend his city.
We might live in a city that is industrial and not very beautiful but there is always a few nice things to see.

I was desappointed by his answer but I did not give up.
I still liked seeing my beautiful white and red chimney every day
and I was determined to find nice things to see in Monfalcone.

I did my homeworks and I went there 3 times in less than a month.
I even went to the tourist office of Gorizia to ask infos about what to see and visit in and around Monfalcone.
Now I can tell you this. Yes, the city is not touristy …
and yes, there isn’t tons of things to visit for tourists …
BUT there is a few nice things to see and do in Monfalcone.

The city center of Monfalcone is not very big but it is very cute.
You can easily walk around and discover the center with its paved streets and nice cafés.
I also like the old town because it is quiet without being boring.

The main square called Piazza della Repubblica is very nice.
Not far from it, there’s a nice little garden, a fountain and benches where you can sit and relax.
There is also a big Cathedral not far from the main square.
On the right of that Cathedral, there is a memorial for the victims of dolines during WWII.

Now, let’s move away from the city center and go towards the Power Plant.
This part of the city is very interressant because this is where the city grew and developped
into a modern and industrial city in the beginning of the 20th century.
There is an fantastic museum called Muca Museum ( for “Museo della Cantieristica”), just next the shipyard.
This museum tells the history of the development of the shipbuilding industry in Monfalcone
from the beginning of the 20th century untill today.
It also tells the history of the residential district of Panzano (near the factory),
an urban area built since 1908 for Monfalcone shipyard employees and workers.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Trieste needed more place outside the city to expand its shipbuilding industry.
Since the city of Monfalcone was a flat city, next the the sea and not far from Trieste,
a huge shipyard was created in there.

Thousands of jobs were created in Monfalcone and a new district was created from scratch around the shipbuilding factory.
They built houses for employees and managers, a theater, a big stadium etc …
This is explained very well in the Muca Museum of Monfalcone.
The museum also provides a lot of informations about how the city and the region used to be before WWI and after the 2 wars.
The Muca only opened in 2017 and is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
It is located at the basement of the “Nuovo Albergo Operai” Hotel.
This hotel used to be an hotel to house single employees of the shipbuilding factory during the 1900s.
This historic building has been recently renovated and is now a brand new hotel.

Monfalcone is also very close from little cities and villages such as San Giovanni di Duino (5 km away),
Villagio del Pescatore (7 km away), Duino (7 km away) and Sistiana (10 km away).
You can spend a couple of hours to visit Monfalcone, the Muca Museum and then carry on to visit these 4 neighboring cities and villages.

One other thing that makes Monfalcone appealing to me its proximity to the Trieste Airport.

The airport of Trieste is located just outside of Monfalcone in Ronchi dei Legionari, about 40 km away from Trieste.
From the train station of Monfalcone, it takes just 3 minutes by train to arrive at the new “Trieste Airport” train station.
You can take the plane at this airport to fly to other cities in Italy -> Rome (01h05 min), Milan (55 min), Naples (1h15 min).
You can also take the plane to go to Munich (55 min), London Stansded (1h15 min), Reykjavik (2h30 min) or Valencia (2h20 min).

If you come one day visit Slovenia and the Fiuli-Venezia-Giulia region in Italy, the city of Monfalcone is great hub.
You can stay there and easily move to other cities in the region.
You can arrive at the Trieste Airport, rent a car at the airport and go visit Italy, Slovenia or even Croatia.
If you don’t want to rent a car, you can take the train to go to Trieste (25 min), Udine (40 min), Venice (1h30) or Verone (2h00).

This is how I see Monfalcone.
-> A great hub linking south west of Slovenia and many beautiful cities in the north east of Italy.
I, for instance, leave my car in the parking lot of the Monfalcone train station when I go on a day trip in Udine or Venice.
I just leave my car in the parking lot for the day. It is free of charge.

You do not have to worry about where to park your car in Udine or Venise or how much it will cost you.
The parking in Venise is very very expensive. If you are on vacation, not far from Monfalcone,
I highly recommend you to leave your car in the parking lot and go from there.
The train ticket cost only 11,60 € to go to Venice and about 5 € to go to the Udine (40 min by train).
Now that I gave you all these infos, I hope you will see Monfalcone differently.
-> Cute little city center, great new museum near the shipyard, great connexion by train and by plane to go visit other cities in Italy.
If someone tells you that “there’s nothing to see in Monfalcone”, do not listen to him/her.
Go there and see for youself. There’s always something to see !

 

My tips for Monfalcone:

1/ Take a long stroll in the little city center.
2/ Go inside the Cathedral of Sant’ Ambrogio.
3/ Have a drink one of the café in the city center.
4/ Go visit the Muca Museum.
5/ Attend a guided tour of the Muca museum & the Shipyard.
6/ Walk around the industrial district to see the shipbuildings yards.
7/ Take the train to go to Trieste, Udine, Venise and Verone.
8/ Take the plane to fly directly to Munich/London/Valencia.
9/ Take to plane to fly directly to Rome/Naples/Milan.
10/ Sleep at the Nuovo Albergo Operai Hotel.
11/ Go visit San Giovanni di Duino (5 km away).
12/ Go visit Villagio del Pescatore (7 km away).
13/ Go visit the Castle of Duino (9 km away).
14/ Go visit Sistiana (12 km away).
15/ Go eat at Fish&Chips and park your car Here.