With its 120.000 hectares of biodiversity, its great variety of environments and all the nuances of landscapes that change with the changing of the seasons, each period is perfect to do trekking on the Gargano. Only by covering the trails by Trekking you will be able to fully appreciate all the sceneries and feelings that the Gargano National Park can offer.
Starting with the naturalistic excursions, you can go and search for the numerous species of Orchid that grow naturally in this perfect habitat, representing the 70% of the Orchid varieties of Europe. You can climb up to the Gargano mountains that part the plain “Tavoliere” from the inner part of the Promontory, where there are the Monte Calvo (the peak of Gargano), the Monte Spigno, considered the reign of the Apennine Wolf and many night birds of prey. This is also an area where there are many sinkholes, typical expression of surface karts, among these there is “sinkhole Pozzatina”, one of Italy’s biggest one and also the biggest of Apulia.
Very near there is also Bosco Quarto, a wide Turkey oak forest with great specimen of hornbeam, where it is possible to hear the typical drum of the Great spotted woodpecker. There is, then, the green heart of the Gargano, the Foresta Umbra, where beeches and Turkey oaks prevail with their height of 40 meters. But the Gargano is also an important spiritual destination: you can walk through the Via Sacra Langobardorum, which had been covered already at the end of the V century by numerous wayfarers and pilgrims, who reached Monte Sant'Angelo in order to pay tribute to the Archangel Michele, or visited the San Pio da Pietrelcina’s Shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, made religious excursions that allowed to have highly mystical experiences but also with a remarkable naturalistic interest.
If you are a history passionate, you can choose among many different cultural trails and walk through archeological sites as the ruins of Castel Pagano, ancient Frederician city, loved by Federico II because of the hunting, the Sfinale shelters under the rocks, dated back to the Paleolithic (12.000/11.000 years ago), the Paleochristian Necropolis "La Salata", built in the III/IV Century AD, the most ancient proof of the Christian presence on the Gargano, the ancient Benedictine site "Abbazia della SS. Trinità" in Monte Sacro, dated back to the year 1000, the Necropolis of Monte Civita, built in V/IV sec. BC, or the Necropolis of Monte Pucci built in IV/VII sec. AD... If you want to do a very fascinating experience, you can walk through the "Canyon", dug up from the ancient river, now dried up “Torrente Romandato”.
In addition, there are the sea excursions, that allow you to discover the extraordinary beauty of the Gargano seashore: high cliffs, charming bays, sea caves with odd shapes. By moving along the coast, you can observe the ancient fire towers, built to safeguard the land; the Trabucchi, ingenious platforms for fishing, hanging between land and sea. Still, at a distance of 10 miles from the coast of Gargano, you can visit the archipelago of Tremiti Islands, a marine protected area, favorite destination of many nature and diving lovers.
The evening is the perfect moment for visiting the peculiar towns of Gargano, by walking through the old town center, among the dazzling white of the houses and the surrounding landscape’s colors. You will feel enchanted by warm atmospheres, you will meet lively people, you will taste foods that preserve the flavors and smell of times gone. Those are feelings and experiences that can be fully understood only by foot.
