Matt Munro
The coast surrounding this expansive promontory seems permanently bathed in a pink-hued, pearly light, providing a painterly contrast to the sea, which softens from intense to powder blue as the evening draws in. It's one of Italy's most beautiful corners, encompassing white limestone cliffs, fairy-tale grottoes, sparkling sea, ancient forests, rare orchids and tangled, fragrant maquis (dense scrub vegetation).
Once connected to what is now Dalmatia (in Croatia), the 'spur' of the Italian boot has more in common with the land mass across the sea than with the rest of Italy. Creeping urbanisation was halted in 1991 by the creation of the Parco Nazionale del Gargano. Aside from its magnificent national park, the Gargano is home to pilgrimage sites and the lovely seaside towns of Vieste and Peschici.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Promontorio del Gargano.
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Built by the Normans on the ruins of a Vesta temple, this 11th-century 'co-cathedral' (so called because its bishopric is shared with another) is in Pugliese-Romanesque style with a fanciful tower that resembles a cardinal's hat. Of note are its beautiful paintings, swirling interior columns and Latin-inscribed altar.
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Peschici's medieval hilltop castle stands sentinel over the town's port, and inside there is a fascinating Museum of Torture with life-sized replicas of some of history's most devious and chilling methods to extract information through extreme coercion.
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This palaeo-Christian graveyard dating from the 4th to 6th centuries AD is 9km out of town. Inside the cave, tier upon tier of narrow tombs are cut into the rock wall; others form shallow niches in the cave floor. Guided tours are mandatory.
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This esoteric shell museum has four rooms of fossils and molluscs, some enormous and all beautifully patterned and coloured. Note the seasonal opening hours.
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Vieste's most gruesome sight is this worn and polished stone where thousands were beheaded when Turks sacked Vieste in the 16th century.