Monday, 23 September 2013
The Gargano peninsula is in northeast Puglia. It is about 3 hours’ drive from where we
live. We have always wanted to visit the
area which is both scenic and the site of ancient pilgrimage routes.
On our way up to Tuscany for a week of cycling and the UCI
World Championships in Florence, we decided to stop at Rodi Garganico, an old
port. During the summer, the Gargano is
very popular with tourists, the main towns being Peschicci and Vieste. Late September is a good time to visit. The weather was superb, not too hot and the
tourists had by and large left; it is a very short holiday season.
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| Peschicci |
We cycled around Lake Varano, to the west of Rodi
Garganico. It is a saltwater lake and a
sanctuary to many wetland birds. Leaving
Foce di Varano, we found ourselves on the Isole di Varano, a thin strip of land
of about 15km long. On one side is the
Adriatic sea, the other the lake. There
were quite a number of campsites along the way, but these are discreetly hidden
behind the native eucalyptus and pine forests and empty this time of the year.
Turning inland, we passed the peninsula of San Nicola di
Varano (a peninsula within a peninsula!).
There were abandoned remains of an 11th century Benedictine
monastery and an old military base from which seaplanes took off during WWI in
defending the Dalmatian coast.
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| San Nicola di Varano |
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| Views of Lake Varano |
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