Visitors flock to Venice year-round, and who can blame them?
09.02.2024 - 12:50 / lonelyplanet.com / emperor Augustus
Puglia embodies everything that is seductive about southern Italy: rolling countryside blanketed in almond and olive groves, luridly turquoise beaches, snug whitewashed villages, and long, lazy lunches washed down with prized local vino.
Lapped by two seas and stretching 432km (268 miles) from north to south, the region of Puglia delivers an array of diverse landscapes, from the light-dappled woods of the Gargano promontory to the Greek-speaking, pizzica-dancing towns of far-flung Salento. Should you cycle between bougainvillea-draped towns in the Valle d’Itria, snorkel the Tremiti Islands, or feast on pasticciotti (creamy pastry) in bombastically baroque Lecce?
The list of great things to do is as long as Puglia itself. If you’re not sure where to start, read on for these highlights bound to have you plotting your own Puglian sojourn.
You’re guaranteed a much better time on the Isole Tremiti (Tremiti Islands) than poor Julia the Younger, exiled here by her emperor uncle Augustus on a charge of adultery in the 1st century CE. Located some 20km (12 miles) off the Gargano Promontory, the compact archipelago of five islands – San Domingo, San Nicola, and uninhabited Capraia, Crettaccio and Pianosa – is a pristine wonderland of milk-white bluffs, Aleppo pines and crystalline waters littered with starfish, lobsters and rare black coral. Slumber on verdant, bustling San Domingo or time-warped San Nicola; the latter’s medieval abbey is worth a visit for its 11th-century floor mosaics. Boating and diving tours from San Domingo reach wild, tiny Capraia, its limpid inlets perfect for snorkeling.
Planning tip: For good beach weather without the July and August crowds, visit in June or September. Ferries to San Domingo sail from Vieste, Manfredonia and Peschici in summer, and from Termoli year-round. Most tourist facilities on the islands are closed in winter.
If northern Puglia’s Gargano promontory reminds you of the Dalmatian coast, it’s no coincidence. Millions of years ago, the “spur” of the Italian boot was connected to what is now Croatia. Today, much of this wild, mountainous nugget constitutes the 1181-sq-km (456-sq-mile) Parco Nazionale del Gargano, one of Italy’s most beautiful national parks.
Well-marked hiking trails traverse the park, from short and breezy to calf-toning and sweaty. Lace up your boots and hit one of the trails inside the silent Foresta Umbra (“Forest of Shadows”), a UNESCO World Heritage–listed ancient woodland harboring roe deer, wild boar, elusive wild cats and over 65 varieties of orchid. For lofty coastal panoramas, hike the trail connecting Vignanotica to Mergoli, a moderately difficult walk taking in the Gargano’s lush, precipitous coastline.
Planning tip: Not only is Vieste one of
Visitors flock to Venice year-round, and who can blame them?
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