Gargano

Who should base themselves on the Gargano, and who should look elsewhere?

Choose the Gargano for a sea holiday with a pool, children or a dog, and a hire car. The Gargano has 12 stays on The Puglia Edit, all with a confirmed pool and estimated prices in bands 1 and 2. Look elsewhere for a honeymoon-rule stay, which none of the 12 meets, or for trulli and baroque towns, which belong to other parts of Puglia.

Italia.it describes the promontory as a karst mass pushing out into the Adriatic, with a national park that takes in the Foresta Umbra, the Tremiti marine reserve and the lakes of Lesina and Varano. Decide whether you want the beach or the forest first. For the forest, the Foresta Umbra, described on Andiamo in Puglia (in Italian) is where to start.

The 12 are resorts, masserie (historic farm estates) and hotels. Five are four-star in the Regione Puglia register, Hotel Kyrie and Hotel Seggio are three-star, and La Locanda del Carrubo is the one the same register classes as five stars luxury.

Which towns on the Gargano have stays, and what is each known for?

Vieste has four of the 12. Italia.it names the Pizzomunno monolith and the trabucchi, old fishing structures, as symbols of the town.

Pugnochiuso Resort has a beach reached only by guests or from the sea, Gattarella Family Resort has a kids club and a private beach, and Hotel Seggio sits in the old town with a pool and a private beach reached by an internal lift. The Vieste page on Andiamo in Puglia (in Italian) lists what is on and what to see.

Peschici is a village on a cliff with a castle from the middle of the 13th century. Torre dei Preti is a masseria raised in the 16th century on an estate of more than 26 hectares, with family rooms, a pool and pets allowed.

Mattinata has a large sandy beach that italia.it calls easy to reach. La Locanda del Carrubo is a resort there with a heated indoor seawater pool and a spa of more than 500 square meters. Baia delle Zagare Resort has 108 rooms in villas on a cliff and two coves reserved for guests, and Hotel Residence Il Porto has 44 apartments with kitchens on the hill above the bay.

Monte Sant’Angelo sits in the hills. Its sanctuary of San Michele belongs to the Longobards in Italy UNESCO property, inscribed in 2011. Palace Hotel San Michele is a four-star hotel in an early 20th-century house, 840 meters above sea level, with a spa and weddings for up to 200 guests, and it says guests reach the beach by their own car.

Out at sea, Hotel Kyrie is a three-star hotel in the pine wood of San Domino, the largest of the Isole Tremiti, reached by boat.

What kinds of stay are on the Gargano, and what do they cost?

Five of the 12 are resorts, five are hotels and two are masserie. Nine sit in estimated price band 1, which runs under €250 a night for a double room in high season, and three in band 2, €250 to €450. How we select gives the thresholds.

Seven accept pets and are listed in the pet-friendly collection. The two with a spa are in the spa retreats collection.

Choosing a base here

When to go

The beach stays follow the summer. Pugnochiuso Resort lists bus connections in July and August, and Palace Hotel San Michele in Monte Sant'Angelo includes pool access from May 15 to September 15. Italia.it adds that Peschici's beaches are among the most Blue Flag awarded on the Gargano. Three of the 12 state their opening months: Baia delle Zagare Resort May to October, Hotel Kyrie April to October and Hotel Residence Il Porto March to December. Ask the others before you plan a spring or autumn trip.

Getting there

Fly into Bari (BRI) and collect a car there. The Gargano is a peninsula of separate coastal towns and mountain villages. La Chiusa delle More in Peschici lists a shuttle link from Bari airport to Vieste. Ferries to the Tremiti islands leave from ports including Rodi Garganico and Peschici, and italia.it says only residents' cars are allowed on the islands. Each stay page shows its distance to both airports when its position is precise.

Towns and villages

Vieste, Peschici, Mattinata, Monte Sant'Angelo, San Giovanni Rotondo, Rodi Garganico, Vico del Gargano, Ischitella, Cagnano Varano, Carpino, San Nicandro Garganico, Lesina, Manfredonia, Isole Tremiti, San Marco in Lamis, Rignano Garganico, Apricena, Siponto.