Parco Nazionale del Gargano & Foresta Umbra
The Gargano peninsula juts into the Adriatic like a spur on the boot of Italy and contains a landscape so unlike the rest of Puglia — dramatic sea cliffs, hidden coves, medieval pilgrimage towns and a primeval beech forest — that it feels like a separate country. The Foresta Umbra at its heart is one of the oldest and most biodiverse forests in Italy.
Foresta Umbra: Italy's Ancient Canopy
The Foresta Umbra ('Forest of Shadows') covers 11,000 hectares of the Gargano plateau and contains beech, oak, yew and hornbeam trees that in some cases are over 500 years old. A network of well-marked trails winds through the canopy; the most accessible starting point is the visitor centre on the SP52 road between Vieste and Monte Sant'Angelo.
The forest is home to roe deer, wild boar, several rare orchid species and the white-backed woodpecker. Spring (April–May) is the most beautiful season, when the forest floor is carpeted with wildflowers and the beech leaves are a luminous fresh green.
The Coastal Cliffs and Baia delle Zagare
The northern Gargano coast between Mattinata and Vieste is one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in Italy: sheer white limestone cliffs plunging into water that shifts from turquoise to deep cobalt. The most photographed spot is the Baia delle Zagare, a cove accessible by boat or a steep path where two giant sea stacks rise from the water just offshore.
Vieste, the main resort town on the tip of the Gargano, has a beautiful old town on a promontory and a beach (Pizzomunno) named after a 25-metre-tall white monolith that stands in the surf — one of the most quietly surreal sights in Puglia.
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