World Images

The Gargano Coast of Italy sports some nice sea stacks (Faraglionis), one of which forms a splendid arch known as Baia delle Zagare

The Gargano peninsula is a mountainous promontory that juts into the Adriatic Sea on the east coast of Italy. The vast majority of the region is a huge National Park, the whole peninsula covering an area approximately 40 miles long by 25 miles wide.

The peninsula is composed almost entirely of limestone and rises to 3465 feet at its highest point, the summit of Monte Calvo. Much of the area is farmed as in ancient times, allowing the rich natural flora to flourish in springtime - Common and Yellow Asphodels carpet huge areas, while meadows and olive groves provide ideal conditions for a vast array of orchids to prosper.

Almost 70 species of orchid have been recorded from the region. The Umbra Forest, a mixture of oak and beech, bursts into life in early spring as the first flush of foliage appears and areas of the forest floor boast carpets of Pheasant's Eye Daffodil (Narcissus Poeticus), Blue Anemone (Anemone apennina) and Cyclamen Rapendum. In stark contrast the gentle rolling hills invoke a feeling of space and tranquillity, with a jumble of ancient white walled towns and villages clinging precariously to steep hillsides.

The more discerning head for the Gargano peninsula, the spur on the heel of Italy, a national park with long, sandy beaches, great forests of pine and a geographical location that tempers the summer heat with breezes blowing in from the sea on three sides.

Come in August and you’ll barely hear an accent other than Italian. You will also get a remarkable insight into Italian family life and its enduring conservatism….You enter the Gargano from the vast plains of Puglia - the bread basket of Italy - and the transformation in the landscape is immediate and striking. The long, straight autostrada is replaced by cramped roads that cling to the forests above the sea. The smell of pine is everywhere.

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