Puglia – Manfredonia and Gargona National Park

Manfredonia sits at the northern end of Puglia on the Adriatic Sea, nestled, south of the Gargona Promontory.

Its a lively town with a big fishing fleet and wonderful seafood restaurants.

It’s flanked by beaches.

And wet lands

The Gargona National Park is on a plateau with ancient forests, amazing motorcycling roads, and historic towns and villages.

Monte Sant’Angelo is a UNESCO World Heritage village perched up on the Gargona Escarpment. It is recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

The Sactuary of Saint Michael the Archangel is in a cave church dating back to the 9th century.

The village is indeed beautiful with views to the sea, beautiful old pedestrian walkways, and beautiful local food

Puglia – Alberobello

The ferry from Messina landed in Vill San Giovani, Calabria. An overnight stop before heading to Puglia on Italy’s east coast.

In the village, there was dancing in the streets.

From the toe of Italy, the route to the east winds along the coast and over the mountains of Calabria.with spectacular views.

Then past the southern beaches with castello on the headland

To Puglia on Italy’s heel.

Alberobello is in the region on Puglia and is famous for its unique trulli stone houses.

The special building have led to Alberobello being declared a UNESCO world heritage site.

Its is truly beautiful to walk the streets lined by Trulli!

Sicily- Ortigia and Etna

Having managed some sleep on the chaotic overnight ferry trip from Cagliari (Sardinia) to Palermo (Sicily), arriving at 5am, there was plenty of time to cross the Island to Syracuse.

While the heat wave conditions in Europe had eased, it was still summer, and at Syracuse, the Mediterranean called.

Ortigia is an ancient walled city on a little Islet in Syracuse. Its history dates back to 700bc. Its been Phonecean, Greek ,Roman,,, and now Italian.

Mount Etna looms over the east coast of Sicily, huffing and puffing steam and smoke.

The European and African push together in Sicily, and it’s at Etna that the steam of that collision is let off.

The road around Mount Etna is a fantastic ride up the mountain to the high village where there is a gondola and unimog bus to the volcano craters.

The steam coming from the Etna was impressive. Especially given that there had only recently had an eruption.

Sicily is close to northern Africa and is a frontline destination for people escaping was and issues of changing climate in Africa.

In Syracuse, a humanitarian rescue ship is replenishing.

At the harbour at Messina, there is a memorial to those who have died fleeing war and hunger.

Then, it was another ferry to Calabria on the Italian mainland.

Dorgali to Santa Maria Navarrese on the west of Sardinia.

Dorgali is a sprawling city in mountains on the west coast of Sardinia.

It has some beautiful street art and if you are prepared to walk up some steep steps wonderful views to be had.

But it’s the road south through the mountains on the western side of Sardinia that is the real reason for going to Dorgali.

This road is in perfect condition and the views sublime!

Santa Maria Navesse is a beautiful coastal village. There are a number of good quality camping grounds right on the clean beach.

Just a beautiful place to end an amazing ride.

For those considering the ferry from Cagliari to Palermo then it’s a nice ride to catch the evening overnight ferry.

The quiet of Santa Maria Navesse was in total contrast to the absolute chaos of the Grimaldi Lines ferry to Sicily. But that’s a story for another blog!

Alghero and the beautiful road south in Sardinia.

It’s funny how one chooses a place for one reason and find something wonderfully unexpected. Such is Alghero. The road south from Alghero is a classic ride well renowned across Europe. It’s also a beautiful seaside town with a Spanish old town.

This part of Sardinia saw themselves very much as Catalan, and the yellow and red striped colours of Catalonia were often seen. Even the beach umbrellas are in Catalan colours.

The old city is now has a seaside marina but is a beautiful example of a Spanish walled town.

A trattoria is a family run restaurant where the food is largely made by the family. At Trattoria da Mirko the family are also fisherman and make their of pasta. How could I resist the special of the day. Lobster on home made pasta!

The road south Alghero is just beautiful running over headlands and along the coast. The destination Dorgali in the mountains on the eastern side of the island for the next classic ride.

Enjoy some of the scenes of the road from Alghero to Dorgali and I’ll come back to Dorgali at the next blog.