Duino is a quiet little cliff top village, now in Italy, with a remarkably beautiful, interesting and unique 14th century castle that perches on top of this cliff, with sensational views over the Adriatic sea..

It is just a few km from the bustling coastal city of Trieste, but feels like a million miles away and if you use the superquick motorway connections in this part of the world, you can get to this fantastic castello in just 45 mins directly from the Lodge!

Did you think for one second when you made the excellent decision to finally come see the most beautiful Green country in Europe that you might also go see an Italian castello?!

You have to pinch yourself to think this view is just 45 mins from the Lodge in a different country..

We put our Lodge in the very best position to go see everything in this part of the world and that includes some fantastic secret places to visit in Croatian Istrija and North East Italy too, so guests can choose to have a day out in a different country during thier time here too!

If you already live in a country that is surrounded by other countries, then you cannot really understand the thrill of whizzing in and out of completely different countries in just one day..

Pet lion in the shady courtyard, must be lovely to sit here in the summer..

It really is a thrill to experience hearing a different language, maybe eat different food and down here especially to see how each different country "does" the Mediterranean coast!

Some Lodge guests will even add a daytrip to Venice into their schedule, which is very possible, but probably the most popular Italian daytrip destination for Lodge guests is the wonderful city of Trieste, (which you could also easily combine with a visit to Duino castle, by the way)!

Red carpet to the toilets.. Now that is posh..

And that is the real beauty of it all, cos there are so many amazing places to visit over the paper border with Italy that you would need 2 to 3 days to see them all..

So Duino castello is competing for your attention with other Italinan gems like Trieste, Miramare Castle, the Grotte Gigante cave, Palmanova, Muggia, Sistiana, Grado, Aquileia and the most famous island city of them all at Venice!

This way through into the castle, shop and ticket office on the left..

Why would we go see Duino Castello?

First and foremost this is one heck of a castle and it is quite small and cute inside, so only takes an hour to go around.. but after that, it has some sensationally unique & surprising features to find and we are gonna tell you all about them..

So our job here is to help you decide whether to include this fantastic little castle into your daytrip adventure.. and then see how you can fit it in with a few other secret places into your day or half day in Italy..

You will not see many more beautiful settings for a castle, sat on top of a cliff, surrounded by gardens..

What is so great about Duino Castle?

Like so many castles around here in Italy, Green Slovenia and Croatia, Duino is an absolute beauty, with amazing views, especially along the Adriatic coast, where it has provided exclusive vistas for its owners over 8 centuries of service.

The walls, gardens and rooms are all in immaculate condition and it is one of those castles where you get the feeling the owners have just popped out for a cup of coffee and might be back any time.. it feels lived in..

Harry Potter style library..

We already mentioned one of the brilliant things about Duino is you can get around it in around an hour, but when you discover the other surprises it has in store for you, then you might need a couple of hours..

The rooms have a stately home feeling about them, decorated lavishly and always ready for someone posh to turn up for a cup of tea..

Indeed there is a chart on a wall that seems to be showing that the family who owns Duino is related to the British Royal family..

To be honest, our eyes glazed over a bit looking at this chart as there were more branches on it than a willow tree and we couldn't tell you who on earth owns or owned it, but the biggest influence you can imagine here is Austro Hungarian and Hapsburg, especially if you see the paintings of the men sat on horses with very bushy moustaches..

If we named this room, we would call it the Easter Egg room..

There are collections of marble eggs in cabinets, a library that would not look out of place in Hogwarts and shields & weapons hanging from the walls like Christmas decorations..

So this castello has that warm familiar fuzzy castle feel about it that we were really enjoying, sometimes forgetting we were in Italy and catching glimpses out of the windows of the blue ocean view from every angle..

And then, almost out of nothing, this castle suddenly steps up to another level and surprises you at every next twist & turn you take!

This is the Adriatic coast, Baby..

The real fun starts as soon as you step out onto the main lower balcony, from one of those rooms you would expect to see in a castle, but then BANG the most stunning sea view smacks you in the face and this castle has captured you.

So standing in your balcony dungeon outside is a cliff vista as far and long as you can see, both sides.

In front of you the Mediterranean sea stretches out like a lake to the horizon as you pace this long stone balcony like a cat admiring the views from all angles.

Views from everywhere, here on the lower terrace..

These Adriatic cliffs are some of the tallest in the whole Mediterranean and this balcony will be the first time you get a real appreciation of how this castle is perched right on top of them, propped on the edge.. for the most sensational views.

There are little garden terraces here too where you can sit outside and we saw some other visitors just sat there admiring the views like the cats that got the cream!

Access to the big tower from the inside courtyard..

Amazing Views from EVERYWHERE..

Once you have walked through that balcony door and seen that view, your whole castle experience changes and now you want to see it all, from every angle.. and this castle obliges the more you wander round and explore..

The Pagan Castle on top of the Sea Cliff Stack..

When you buy your ticket at the little shop after the big entrance gate, the nice man tells you about a pagan castle, built around Roman times that was actually the first castle here and you kinda pay attention..

This is the best view you can get of the two cliff stacks from the upper balcony..

But bow wow wow, when you go up the stairs and step out of the lavishly decorated room through the doors onto the first floor balcony terrace you get to properly see what he was talking about!

Hidden a bit around the corner of the cliff, there are two huge rocks rising up out of the sea, jutting out from the main cliff, so they look a bit like cliff stacks.. 

Sensational view from the battlements to the old castle..

On top of the bigger one are the crumbled remains of the first castle.. Spectacular!

The closer stack is smaller and is completely eparated from the cliffs like a secret garden island with trees and green bursting out of it's top like a volcano..

From this elevated view, you can also now see the little private rock beach down there next to this island with an immaculate looking terracotta tiled roofed cottage nestled in the corner..

Now all this is starting to get very Agatha Christie indeed!

the swimming pool could do with a clean..

Fantastic Tower..

The views don't stop there.. Come downstairs again and go out to the lovely little open courtyard that is concelaed inside the castle and you can cross to go up the highest tower at the back of this courtyard..

You pop out near the top of the tower onto another much larger open terrace that has the lot.. views from every angle in every direction, some that that you have been admiring from lower down, but now you get to walk around and see them all from high above..

Fab view along the entire Duino to Sistiana Coastal cliff path walk.. Sistiana bay in the distance..

You get to see the long cliff promenade walk on top of the huge cliffs that leads off to Sistiana in the distance..

You get that same amazing endless vista straight out to sea combined with the lower tower and terracotta castle roof, looking like something that Game of Thrones missed out on filming..

Then walk over to drink in the views of those two little rock islands and you get another exclusive view over the castle gardens, with rectangular green pond and tropical plants & trees waiving in the mild Mediterranean breeze..

Majestic views from the top of the tower..

Amazing Garden..

Descending from the tower it is time to go fully explore the gardens and you can walk around the side of the castle with it's beautiful rustic yellow walls and step down to get more glimpses of the old castle on the rock and some teasing paths that are locked by metal gates, but surely lead down to that little cottage by the sea!

Green tower..

We were here in October and the garden still looked incredibly colourful, but imagine being here in the Spring or the summer in full Tropical bloom!

We are pretty sure you can walk along or over to the ruins of the old castle for more spectacular cliff top views, but we had already decided to walk the cliff top path from Duino to Sistiana and back as the other part of our action packed afternoon out, so we will check this out next time..

Garden view across to the crumbled castle on the cliff stack..

The gardens loop back round to that lovely pond and more views of this picture perfect castle and out towards the main castle entrance, or exit in this case..

We noticed a sign for the "bunker" and thought, ok let's have a quick look and then go, cos we need to start our cliff hike..

A few ways to get from the castle to the gardens..

Secret Bunker..

And you absolutely MUST go see this bunker, cos 20 mins later we popped back out into the daylight with a look of shock on our faces!

So far this castle has delivered bits of Roman, Medieval and Autrian Empire vibes, so this bunker totally takes you unaware.

Suddenly this 14th century castle develops a sinister side story..

As you step down into the cool entrance and go down the wet steps, it is like you are transported by a time machine into the end of WW2 and this is something you cannot really expect..

You go around a corner and see even more steps disappear into the depths of this bunker, that you now realise has been dug deep into the side of this high cliff.

You almost cannot believe that this huge bunker is hidden down here below the castle..

And then you enter a control room area with large boards that explain this concrete bunker was enlargened by the Nazis in 1943 to exploit the wide Adriatic views and resist the Aliied invasion whenever and wherever it might come.

We will not tell you any more, so you can read for yourselves, but if you are from New Zealand you will be very proud to know that it was the Kiwis who liberated this castle..

Lots of info about the history of this deceptively enormous bunker..

There are a surprising number of little rooms down here and one big side room, like a cave, with a door leading out to another balcony, that we just couldn't get over to, cos the floor was covered in water.

Yet another view to find for next time..

We almost risked getting our feet wet to paddle across and get the view from the bunker.. next time..

So you absolutely need to be prepared to go up and down these wet clammy bunker steps to see this amazing, gruesome bunker and round off your Duino Castello visit..

What a castle, what a lot of surprises.. Now you know why we love it so much!

Very pleasant castle grounds on top of a cliff overlooking the Adriatic sea..

This whole castello is completely and totally defined by it's many views, not just  out over the sea & across the cliffs, but you get to stare into the amazing history that is so thick all around you here and in this very special part of the world, that it feels like you can could it with a knife..

Yes, now you are in Italy, but the only real Italian influence here was ancient from the Romans & Venetians and this castello was shaped mainly by the Austro Hungarian middle European empires..

But then you also get to see what the last invaders did with the castle in the bunker and nowadays view it in an Italian style..

Do you also get a bit of deja vue for Game of Thrones here.. Maybe a dragon will swoop down and land on this roof..

Combine a Visit to Duino Castle with the Sistiana Cliff Top Walk..

And exactly in that spirit, it is now time for a capuccino and if this is indeed your one little soiret outside Green Slovenia to get a taste of the Italian coast, then this might be your one shot at having a coffee Italian style!

Well you won't be disappointed in the local cafe opposite the castle, with outside garden terrace and very friendly staff, so friendly, we made a note to give them a special mention here..

Stunning view from the cliff path walk back to the castle..

We wrote a whole other article on the spectacular hike that makes the perfect bedfellow with a Duino castle visit.. Hiking the cliff path from Duino to Sistiana.

Just so you know, there is a well trodden epic stone track along the cliff top from here directly to that little bay you can see from the Duino castle battlements and it takes about an hour there and an hour back..

Try to find a parking spot in this side street..

How to get to Duino Castle..

It is a very easy whizz down from the Lodge using the main Seaside A1 motorway towards Koper, but turning off onto another motorway that leaves Slovenia at Sezana and heads off to Trieste.

You have to exit the motorway, just after Duino on the map atually and kinda turn back to take the local road into Duino, but the whole journey takes just 45 mins!

It is so close that you do not even get far enough to enter the Italian motorway toll sytem, so the journey is also free!

But you could absoluteabubbly go on the LOCAL ROADS all the way too, also via SEZANA and crossing the border at OPCINA to take the local road to Duino.. and it doesn't take much longer!

Friendly cafe opposite the castle for maybe your one and only real Italian capuccino experience on your Slovenian hollibubbles..

We mentioned just some of the possible Italian combinations you could add into your day out at Duino and it is very possbile to do both the cliff top walk and the castle in a half day trip.

One thing to ALWAYS check here before you visit a smaller castle is that it is actually open today, Duino appears to be open every day from around 9.30 to 5.30pm, but still please double check!

You might not have intended to pop into Italy for a slice of Mediterranean culture, "Italian style" during your Slovenian adventures.. Even less likely to have known about Duino castle beforehand.. but now you do know what to expect and how crazy frog close it all is..

Cannot think of another castle we know that has such a beautiful rustic yellow, golden colour, to contrast so perfectly with nature..

We cannot imagine this castle ever being overcrowded, so that might put another tick in your box and if you like hiking too, then the cliff top path hike / castle combo might make this little Italian adventure difficult to resist!