The Trieste coast has lots of options for sleeping and eating. Look for agroturismi and B&B’s in every village. There are many campsites scattered around, namely Carso camp or Pineta near Sistiana. Or – stay in Slovenia, since everything is quite close.

We would definitely recommend staying in these climber-tested establishments:

VOVK CAMP

POD KOSTANJI 

OCIZLA HOSTEL 

BEST SEASON This is a crag for a nice sunny day – but not too sunny, or else you will slide down the vertical rock. The ideal season is spring and autumn, and partly also summer and winter.

SUN & SHADE When the temperatures get higher, you can try your luck in the evening shade – the main wall is shaded in the afternoon, which is bad in the winter and great in the summer and early autumn, when you can combine the visit with some swimming.

RAIN If it rains it‘s best to stay inside and drink your coffee. But the wall dries up fast.

STYLE & ROUTES Beginners are wise to bring an experienced co-climber, who can handle vertical wall and is not scared easily. Otherwise, sharpen your climbing shoes and prepare to climb vertical technical pieces. Some slabby routes are even without holds at times. You need multipitch knowledge to climb newer routes, that criss-cross the wall. But they are fresh and nicely bolted.

GEAR & SAFETY The rock was always considered extremely solid, but then recently a big chunk broke off, destroying the whole first route. The rest is still considered OK, but you never know. The bolts are a different story – they vary from new, freshly re-bolted (majority) to old and rusty (because of salt) chunks of metal. The walls around main sector are full of old routes, many of which are aid climbs.Some routes are laughably short while others are hellishly long – but you can re-tie in most of them in the middle (if you run out of rope). The quickdraws can be far apart, but still take at least a dozen for the long routes.

KIDS & COMFORT The base of the crag is perfect, especially if your nose is stuffed up. This is an ideal crag for kids, who can also swim or get some icecream.

BEGINNERS Under the condition, that you like vertical wall, this is extremely beginner friendly crag, it’s just bolted a bit apart at times. 4/5

ADVANCED There are not many routes – but do try some harder ones and you’ll be surprised, how many problems a blank wall can cause you. Or try some multipitches. 2/5

THE BEST  Nurture your ego on the beach, rather than breaking your teeth in some “warm-up”, like Pesce d’Aprile. 1/5

NOTES Negative remarks from the intro aside, it has to be said, that Sistiana is lately very lively, fueled by the enthusiasm of climbers from Monfalcone, who have been rebolting many old routes. Check out www.quartogrado.com for some more info, especially about some old multipitches, which this place is full of. If you‘re bored in the summer, try the Occhio del Diavolo DWS, to the big hole in the wall – it‘s just around the corner from Elefante. In older times you could climb above the sea all the way to Duino, but now this is forbidden.