Cafés in Barcola & Roiano

The Topolini and the seafront

The first semicircular bathing platform went up in 1934 and four more in 1935; destroyed in 1945, they were rebuilt in 1953 with Allied Military Government funds, and the rest followed in 1959.¹ These terraces, the Topolini, sit over structures that serve bathers. A storm in late October and early November 2023 damaged the quays, the steps into the sea and the Topolini.¹

Chiosco Alta Marea Cafe, at Viale Miramare 70, and Il Pane Quotidiano Lungomare, at 72, are the first stops from town. Il Pane Quotidiano serves breakfast with coffee and pastries, light lunches and aperitivo, and bakes its own bread.²

Barcolana and the lighthouse

On the second Sunday of October, the Barcolana regatta, held since 1969, starts off this shore between Miramare Castle and the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano; since 2014 it has finished off Piazza Unità.³ In February 2019 Guinness World Records named it the largest sailing race, with 2,689 boats and more than 16,000 sailors.³ The Victory Lighthouse above the shore was built in 1923–1927.⁴

Along the same road, Pipolo 1929 at Viale Miramare 127 opens at 07:00 every day except Tuesday, and bar CITY is at 143. Caffè Barcola is on Piazzale 11 Settembre 2001.

Out to Miramare

Miramare Castle was built in 1856–1860 for Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and Charlotte of Belgium to designs by Carl Junker, and stands in a 22-hectare park between Barcola and Grignano; it drew 254,265 visitors in 2022.⁵ Buses 6 and 36 serve Barcola.⁴ Caffe Miramare, at Viale Miramare 233, and Medusa Caffè Bistrot, at 279, are on the stretch toward the castle.

Roiano and Piazza tra i Rivi

Roiano fills a valley crossed by four streams, the Montorsino, Scalze, Molini and Carbonara, and Piazza tra i Rivi, named for them in 1903, holds the 19th-century parish church.⁶ The astrophysicist Margherita Hack lived in the neighborhood until her death in 2013.⁶

Kama Caffè, on the square at number 4, opens daily 07:00–02:00 with tables outside. Il Mio Bar is at Via di Roiano 1/e and Bar Maggio, also with outdoor seating, on Via Santa Teresa; Bar Lucio is up on Strada del Friuli.