I guess it happens to all of us: when we live in a place, over time we get so used to it that we stop seeing its charms. It happened to me with my land: Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The truth, from a very young age I knew that I wouldn't spend my entire life in that little town surrounded by green hills, Fagagna. And so it was: first I "escaped" to study in Padova and then to live in Barcelona. Those "big" cities offered me opportunities, places and experiences that my people could never give me and I moved away from it.
However, as the years went by something strange happened: in each visit to the family during this time Friuli Venezia GIulia liked me more. Its tranquility, the proximity of the people, the views from the top of the hill, sunsets, gastronomy ...
Anyone who travels a lot will know perfectly that there is a complicated aspect in our lives: find a place to call homeAnd guess what, I went back to the starting point: my town is my safe harbor, so much travel to understand it! Of course, I do not even think about living there again: the world is such a great place that we need to continue exploring it, but now I appreciate that little town much more, it is a place with soul, with memories. My memories.
A few days ago we made our last visit and took the opportunity to explore, a little more, my region: Friuli Venezia Giulia. Do not worry if you never heard of it ... there are even Italians who do not know how to place it well on the map: we are a small but bully, quiet but very beautiful region and if you dare to leave the typical tourist route you will know how to fall in love.
→ Here we had 10 reasons to go to Friuli Venezia Giulia
In this post we will recommend a few itineraries to enjoy a road trip through Friuli Venezia Giulia (yes, it's a very long name) 🙂
But you have to start at the beginning, and the principle in this case is to know how to get up there The nearest airports are Sad (it would be ideal to arrive here but the flights from Spain are not too many),Treviso (Be close to Venice, so if you don't know it, you can take advantage of it and visit it) and Venice.
And now you wonder why there are 3 different colors? We explain: 3 cities are marked in pink (Trieste, Grado and Udine) that deserve an entire day just for them. In green and orange we have marked several stages that can be covered in 1 day each, the true roadtrips!
Let's see each one of them!
| PINK ITINERARY (3 DAYS)
Sad
It is the capital of the province of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the least Italian Italian city, due to its enormous Slavic influences and the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
→ Here we leave a post where we tell you what to see and do in Trieste in one day
Udine
It is one of the most beautiful cities in the region, it is tiny, very accessible and pleasant. There are not too many things to see and do, we recommend you take a walk around Via Mercato Vecchio, take a spritz on Piazza San Giacomo, visit the Loggia and the Piazza della Libertá and, of course, go up to Castello from where the views are magnificent. Piazza Primo Maggio It is also worth a visit and if you want to enjoy an authentic place with good food, do not miss a stop at "Pieri Mortadele", a symbol of the city.
The rest of the day you can use it to wander around the city or to do the odd excursion nearby ... to my town for example (you know: Fagagna!) is only about 15 km away and has some beautiful little thing, like an oasis of storks and birds, the Cjase Cocel museum with objects of life "farm" and some great views from Castle Hill. Come on, if you are going to send me a photo that will make me super excited haha. Ah, very important, go eat an ice cream at the “Bar Pasticceria San Giacomo”, right in front of my little house…. it's delicious!
Grade
It is a very peculiar little village: it is located on an island and has many typical touches of the Serenissima period, when Venice dominated the region. A nuance: if it's summer it's worth a whole day and enjoy the beach or the hot springs. If it is winter, with half a day it is enough and you can combine the visit to Udine (although the plan Fagagna and ice cream deserves, ok, stop).
→ Here we write a post where we also talk about Grado.
| GREEN ITINERARY (1 DAY)
We leave from Fagagna, but most likely you will leave from Udine (eh, that in Fagagna besides good ice cream there are accommodations, there I leave it XD).
The first stop is the Cornino Lake, a small but super curious little rabbit, with amazing colors and a unique native fauna. There is a viewpoint on the same road from where you can take photons or you can park the car in the visitor center and ride it in a mini trekking.
From here we will go up to the area called Carnia, full of mountains and lovely villages. We recommend two stops: get to Collina, a small but very handsome town where I used to go camping when I was a child. If the trekking roll is cool, there is a very cool one to Lake Volaia (in Austria). It will take you 2 hours to go up ... around the corner you can eat at the Tolazzi Refuge, in Collina, where they prepare very rich home cooking and have views that take away the feeling.
If instead you do not feel like hitting the stick, we recommend another plan: we go back and go through Forni Avoltri which is a very pretty town, which seems taken from a postcard!
... and we go to one of our favorite places around Friuli ... Sauris. Here you will find a lake with turquoise waters and a small town full of flowers, wooden sculptures and beautiful houses that you will consider living there.
| ORANGE ITINERARY (1 DAY)
Tired of mountain? I'm sorry ... but today there is another ration of landscapes that could well be the Heidi set!
The first stop of the day isVenzone, a town that was in full Via Julia Augusta and this means one thing: it is full of remains from the Roman Empire, like its incredible walls! There are even mummies 0_O
The center of Venzone is a small jewel, although it is almost entirely rebuilt: in 1976 Friuli was struck by a tremendous earthquake that knocked down several cities, one of them is just Venzone. This terrible event was the perfect occasion for friulanos to demonstrate their strength and legendary stubbornness ... in a short time they rebuilt everything! I already told you: we are small but bullies 😉
After the visit to Venzone we head north: Friuli is between Austria and Slovenia and today we will be a few kilometers from one and the other. We passed by Pontebba (where, if you feel like ice skating, there's a great track), Tarvisio (If you have time to stop by this little city) and we get to the star of the day: Fusine lakes. There are two (upper and lower) and they are connected by a simple path (although we, not knowing it, made a steep mountain path ... yuhuuu).
The lakes are super, super, super beautiful. We refer to the photos!
Sella Nevea It is the last stop of the day and, advice, it is worth it only if it is winter: it is one of the most famous ski resorts in the areas. If there is no snow, it is not very interesting ... although the road that passes there is impressive!
So far today's post ... there are many more interesting places in Friuli Venezia Giulia so we threaten to expand the article with new itineraries :-p
