Day Trips in Udine

Udine is well situated for making day trips to nearby attractions and neighboring locations.

Stadio Friuli

The Udine Stadium is only 4km from the city, and it is not only the home of Friuli-Venezia Giula’s preeminent soccer team, Udinese Calico. Other past events include performances by Vasco Rossi and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Cividale

Only 20 minutes away by trains which run roughly every hour, Cividale del Friuli is a picturesque town set at the foothills of the eastern Alps, near the border of the Republic of Solvenia.

The center point of the town is the Piazza del Duomo. The National Archeological Museum is located within the piazza, and the town is also noted for its small establishments such as Tocai friulano and Refosco dal peduncolo, where distinctive local wines can be sampled.

San Daniele

For travelers wanting to sample local delicacies, San Daniele is recommendable for its famed raw prosciutto. If traveling in June, a popular annual event is the summer ham festival, Aria di Festa.

San Daniele is about 80km from Udine, and, apart from its culinary appeal, it also has historical attraction. A rare fourteenth century edition of Dante’s Inferno is part of the collection of the Guarnieriana, a public library founded in 1466, and the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate is praised for the “Sistine Chapel of Friuli.”

Trieste

This seaport city is about an hour by rail from Udine. Under Habsburg rule from 1382 to 1918, Trieste had been the fourth largest city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it has an intricate history.  

The diverse influences of multiple eras can be observed through many of the sights of the city from the Arch of Riccardo, dating back to 33BC, to Miramare Castle, built between 1856 and 1860.

Venice

The famed watery city of Italy, Venice is about 2 hours by train from Udine, and some travelers to Udine fly into the local airport.

Venice has more sights than can be absorbed in a day, but some travelers enjoy touring one or two of the attractions of the city. Of course, the Piazza San Marco is the most often noted location of the city, and wafting through the waterways on a gondola is a relaxing experience.

Yet, a very interesting way to spend a day in Venice is to journey to the island of Murano. After pleasantly floating to the island, travelers are invited to observe the blowing of the city’s admired glass. This tour is not commercialized and so visitors are able to witness an ancient art in close detail.