Italy · Puglia · Sea and coast
the white town on the tip of the Gargano, between the Pizzomunno and the Punta di San Francesco, with the trabucchi on the coast, the caves to see by boat, the Foresta Umbra behind it and the sanctuary of San Michele on the mountain
Vieste stands on the eastern tip of the Gargano, the spur of Italy that juts out into the Adriatic. The old town is a promontory of white limestone, with the houses clinging to the edge of the cliff, the cathedral at the top, the Castello Svevo, the Swabian castle, on the edge towards the beach, and the Punta di San Francesco at the end, where a small church stands inside a sixteenth century tower and a trabucco stretches its arms out over the sea. On either side of the town there are two long sandy beaches: to the south the beach of the Castello, with the Pizzomunno, the white monolith about twenty-five metres high of the legend of Cristalda, and to the north the beach of San Lorenzo, where the coast of the trabucchi begins, towards Peschici. In summer Vieste is the sea of the Gargano: the Blue Flag beaches, the sea caves of the coast to the south, which you see by boat from the harbour, the bays as far as the sea stacks of the Zagare. Behind it is the Foresta Umbra, where in August people go looking for cool air under the beech trees, and a good hour's drive away, up on the mountain, the sanctuary of San Michele at Monte Sant'Angelo, in the cave where pilgrims have been going down for fifteen hundred years: they are the two experiences on this page. With a motorhome you sleep in the areas and the campsites along the two coasts, a few steps from the sea: you go into town on foot, by bicycle or on the Comune's bus.
Sleeping
In Vieste the stopovers for motorhomes are almost all campsites and private areas along the two coasts, to the south on the lungomare Enrico Mattei and to the north on the coast road to Peschici. The closest to the town are to the south, ten minutes on foot from the centre; there is no municipal area.
lungomare Enrico Mattei, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the campsite closest to the centre, at the entrance to the town, opposite the beach of the Castello, below the Pizzomunno, twenty metres from the sea. It is all in the shade of pines and poplars, and the operator writes that 10 amp electricity, hot showers and wifi are included. The old town can be reached on foot along the seafront; the bus stop is in front.
lungomare Enrico Mattei km 1, 71019 Vieste (FG)
a fenced campsite of thirteen thousand square metres on the beach of Scialara, ten metres from the sand, with water filling and emptying at the pitch, 10 amp electricity and a bathroom for people with a disability. In 2026 it stayed closed: the operator's page says it reopens in May 2027, and before counting on it, phone
lungomare Enrico Mattei 15/b, 71019 Vieste (FG)
an area by the sea along the southern seafront, with grass pitches and a pizzeria. Travellers describe the facilities as old but clean. The opening period and the prices are asked for by phone
about thirty motorhomes
lungomare Enrico Mattei 109, 71019 Vieste (FG)
a fenced area, lit and supervised, with grass pitches and direct access to the beach, two and a half kilometres from the town. Hot showers are free and a car space is included. The gate is open from 8:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 23:30, and when it is closed it is quiet time; charcoal barbecues are banned. The motorhome service point at the entrance, according to OpenStreetMap, can also be used by people just passing through
lungomare Enrico Mattei 119, 71019 Vieste (FG)
a campsite on the southern seafront, with part of it on the beach. The Comune's south line bus stops in front, and takes you into town and towards the Baia di Campi. Travellers describe it with clean facilities and rather narrow pitches
litoranea Vieste-Mattinata km 10, 71019 Vieste (FG)
a holiday village with a campsite on the Baia di Campi, the first shingle beach south of Vieste, with two islets in front and shallow water: it is the stopover for anyone who wants the sea of the caves on the doorstep, ten kilometres by road from the town along the coast road. The motorhome service point is for guests. The Comune's south line bus comes this far, in summer in the evening too
località Porticello, baia di Molinella, 71019 Vieste (FG)
an area to the north, on the coast road to Peschici, three hundred metres from the beach of Scialmarino, with thirty grass pitches, 6 or 16 amp electricity and free hot showers; animals are welcome, on the shuttle too. Travellers in summer 2026 describe it as quiet, with large pitches, and Vieste within reach by bicycle or by the shuttle
30 pitches
litoranea Vieste-Peschici km 5, 71019 Vieste (FG)
three motorhome areas inside a holiday village on the north coast, fifty metres from the sea: a simple stopover with shared water filling and emptying, one with electricity and a serviced area with filling and emptying at the pitch, the only one that can be booked. Hot showers are free, there is a swimming pool, and dogs go free. The Comune's N2 line bus stops in front. You leave by 9:30
località Baia di Peschici, 71010 Peschici (FG)
an area on the bay of Peschici, below the village, with the beach, a bar, a small supermarket and a pizzeria. Cold showers are free, hot ones cost 50 cents. It is the stopover for anyone who wants to sleep at Peschici and walk up to the village in the evening
Getting around
The old town can be explored on foot, and the motorhome stays in the area or the campsite. The two coasts are done by bicycle or on the Comune's bus, which in summer goes as far as the bays.
Seeing
The town takes a morning, and you come back in the evening, when the old town lights up. The beaches are on either side, the coast of the trabucchi to the north, and around about there are Peschici, the Foresta Umbra and Monte Sant'Angelo. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
Church · free entry · 41.88309, 16.18493
largo San Francesco, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the tip of the promontory, at the end of the old town, stretching out towards the harbour. On top is the church of San Francesco, which the Park describes as inside a sixteenth century tower, dedicated first to Saint Catherine of Alexandria; next to it, on the rock, is the trabucco, one of the oldest on the coast, more than a century old, which in summer is sometimes worked in front of visitors and is lit up in the evening. The trabucco is the fishing machine of the Gargano: Aleppo pine poles driven into the rock, the arms that hold the net over the sea and a hut with the winch. From the point you see the lighthouse and the beach of the Castello. Nobody publishes the church's opening hours
Walk · free entry · 41.88134, 16.18172
via Cimaglia, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the medieval quarter on the upper part of the promontory: narrow alleys and flights of steps, white houses with small, low doors, arches linking one house to the next. On the sea side runs the Ripa, the long terrace along the cliff, which goes down to the Punta di San Francesco. Via Cimaglia is a flight of steps named after a bishop; near the cathedral is via Judeca, the trace of the Jewish presence. On summer evenings the steps fill with restaurant tables: you walk up from the seafront or from the harbour
Monument · free entry
via Gregorio XIII, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the "bitter stone", in dialect: a slightly hollow boulder, between via Cimaglia and via Gregorio XIII, beneath a plaque. In July 1554 the Ottoman fleet of Dragut arrived off Vieste with seventy galleys; according to Wikipedia the town held out for seven days, then someone opened the gates. The Comune writes that more than seven thousand people were taken, and that about five thousand, women and children among them, were killed: on this stone, tradition says, the heads were cut off of those who could not be sold as slaves. After the sack the towers along the coast were built. OpenStreetMap does not have the exact coordinates of the stone: you find it by asking, a stone's throw from the cathedral
Church · free entry · 41.88160, 16.18050
via Vescovado, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the Romanesque cathedral at the top of the old town, built in the second half of the eleventh century and rebuilt after the sacks and the earthquakes. The bell tower collapsed in 1772, Wikipedia writes, and was rebuilt in Baroque style. Inside there are three naves on columns with capitals carved with animals, horses, cockerels, an ox and a dragon, and the painted wooden ceiling of the eighteenth century; here is the wooden statue of Santa Maria di Merino, the patron saint, which goes out in procession on 9 May. It has been a minor basilica since 1981. The Comune publishes only the times of the summer masses, in the evening at 19:00 and on Sundays in the morning too; the entrance, it writes, is not accessible to people with a disability
Castle · 41.88092, 16.17929
piazza Castello 11, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the Swabian castle on the rock above the beach of the Castello, triangular in plan with three spearhead bastions. The Comune dates it back to the Normans of the eleventh century and relates that Frederick II had it rebuilt in 1240; the Park writes that the present one was wanted by the Spanish in 1537. On 24 May 1915, Italy's first day of the war, an Austrian destroyer shelled it. It can only be seen from outside: it is an Italian Navy base. The best view is from the beach, with the Pizzomunno below
Beach · free entry · 41.87924, 16.17743
lungomare Enrico Mattei, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the white monolith at the start of the beach of the Castello, about twenty-five metres high and separated from the cliff by the sea. The legend tells of Pizzomunno, a fisherman in love with Cristalda: the sirens offered to keep him young for ever if he followed them, he refused, and out of jealousy they dragged Cristalda to the bottom of the sea; Pizzomunno turned to stone with grief, and every hundred years, on the night of 15 August, the two meet again. In 2018 Max Gazzè sang it at Sanremo, and the Comune has painted the lines on the steps of the scalinata dell'amore, the stairway of love, in the centre. The beach of the Castello, or of Scialara, is almost four kilometres long, of fine sand, with the seabed shelving gently: near the town there are the beach establishments, further away the free stretches. In 2026 it has the Blue Flag. The Park writes that according to some geologists the monolith is in danger of collapse: do not climb it
Museum · 41.88331, 16.18173
via Pola 8, 71019 Vieste (FG)
a private shell museum, born of the passion of a couple from Vieste: the Comune writes that the collection was begun in 1975 and that there are about thirteen thousand five hundred specimens, mostly from the Philippines and Asia, with fossils from Morocco and Madagascar. On summer evenings it is open until late, and it is a visit to make with children after the beach. The Comune relates that the owners have done away with the ticket and keep the museum going with the shop next door, but on the same page it refers you to the museum for the prices: ask at the entrance
Museum · 41.88417, 16.17696
piazzetta Cappuccini, lungomare Amerigo Vespucci, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the town's archaeological museum in the former Capuchin convent, on the seafront towards the harbour, with the collection left to the Comune by the doctor Michele Petrone: finds from the Metal Ages to Roman times, Greek votive inscriptions to Demeter, amphorae and anchors, and the rooms on the Neolithic flint mines, among them that of the Defensola, which the Comune calls the oldest mine in Europe. On the first floor, the grave goods of a tomb of the third to second century BC found in 2006 under the courtyard of the town hall. The opening hours are those published by the Comune in June 2026, and the Comune does not give the price
Point of interest · 41.88921, 16.18426
the lighthouse on the islet in front of the harbour, lit since 1868, with a twenty-seven metre tower and its three beams that turn at night. It belongs to the Italian Navy and cannot be visited. In the cave on the islet, rediscovered in 1987, there are more than two hundred inscriptions left in Greek and Latin by passing sailors, many to Venus Sosandra, and one by the doge of Venice Pietro II Orseolo, who passed by in 1002 on his way to Bari against the Saracens; the cave cannot be visited either. You look at it from the Punta di San Francesco or from the pier, and in the evening from the beach
Point of interest · free entry · 41.88708, 16.17942
lungomare Cristoforo Colombo, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the harbour, north of the old town, with the fishing boats, the marina and the south pier, from which the boats leave for the tour of the sea caves and the ship for the Tremiti. The boats' ticket offices are on the seafront, in front of the pier. The experience on this page tells the story of the cave tour. Next to it is piazzale Europa, where the buses leave from
Beach · free entry · 41.88671, 16.16990
litoranea Vieste-Peschici, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the beach north of the town, about two kilometres long, which the Park calls the deepest in Vieste, with an average of a hundred metres of sand between the road and the sea; there are beach establishments and still plenty of free beach, and in 2026 it has the Blue Flag. The coast towards Peschici begins here
Viewpoint · free entry · 41.89549, 16.16108
litoranea Vieste-Peschici, 71019 Vieste (FG)
along the coast road to Peschici, on the rocky points between one bay and the next, stand the trabucchi. The one at San Lorenzo, on the headland at the end of the beach, the Park describes as still in working order but no longer in use; nearby is a rock church of the tenth to twelfth century. Further on, on the small peninsula of the baia di Molinella, is the historic trabucco of Molinella, and inland the Defensola flint mine. You look at them from the road and from the beaches, in the evening at sunset
Church · free entry · 41.91465, 16.11158
via Santa Maria di Merino, 71019 Vieste (FG)
the sanctuary of the patron saint, seven and a half kilometres north on the coast road to Peschici. The Comune writes that the central part is from the eleventh to twelfth century and rests on the walls of a Roman villa, lived in from the first to the tenth century, and that the other chapels are nineteenth century; in the courtyard are the excavations of ancient Merinum. The legend says that the statue of the Madonna was found on the beach, disputed with Peschici, and stayed in Vieste because the horses that were to carry it away would not move. Today the statue is in the cathedral, and on 9 May the town carries it here in procession. In summer the masses are on Saturday evening and on Sunday
Monument · paid entry · 41.92233, 16.10950
litoranea Vieste-Peschici, 71019 Vieste (FG)
an early Christian necropolis cut into a rock face about thirty metres long, a little beyond Santa Maria di Merino: more than three hundred tombs, once closed by terracotta slabs, with the access corridor in front, and a rare example of a canopy tomb. The Comune calls it the oldest evidence of the arrival of Christianity on the Gargano; Wikipedia dates it between the fourth and the sixth century, the Park between the third and the fourth. It is fenced and looked after by the WWF. It is visited in the afternoon, and the Comune writes that it is not accessible to people with a disability
Village · 41.94984, 16.01179
recinto baronale, 71010 Peschici (FG)
the white village on a crag more than seventy metres above the sea, twenty-four kilometres from Vieste along the coast road, grown up around the castle inside the recinto baronale, the baronial enclosure: stepped streets, alleys of stairs, and below, the bay with the beach. Tradition has it founded in 970 by Slav mercenaries; the castle is private, and official opening hours and prices cannot be found. Along the coast there are trabucchi, many of them turned into restaurants; the largest is the one at Monte Pucci, still in use. The patron saint is Sant'Elia, celebrated on 20 July. In 2026 seven beaches of Peschici have the Blue Flag, among them the baia di Manaccora, with its trabucco. In the evening you walk up to the village from the motorhome area on the bay
Park · free entry · 41.81685, 15.99199
Villaggio Umbra, strada provinciale 52 bis, Vico del Gargano (FG)
the forest in the heart of the Gargano, about twenty kilometres inland from Vieste, at around eight hundred metres: beech at the top, Turkey oak lower down, holm oak at the bottom, and "Umbra", from the Italian for shade, because the sun struggles to get in. In summer it is the cool of the Gargano. Since 2017 one of its beech forests, that of Falascone, has been a UNESCO World Heritage site, and since 2021 that of Pavari-Sfilzi too. The Comune of Vieste says it is open day and night and free. At the Villaggio Umbra there are the visitor centre with the natural history museum, the enclosure of the fallow deer and the mouflons and, four hundred metres away, the laghetto d'Umbra, the small lake; about fifteen trails start from here. In 2023, according to the Park, the visitor centre was open every day from Palm Sunday to 4 October, from 9:00 to 19:00: these are old hours, and nobody gives the price. You get there from Vieste by the SP52bis provincial road, a mountain road with bends: no official source says anything about rules for motorhomes in the car park, and you go by day
Viewpoint · free entry · 41.82758, 16.19419
litoranea Vieste-Mattinata, 71019 Vieste (FG)
an arch of rock over the sea, nine kilometres south of Vieste along the coast road to Mattinata, which the Park describes as left standing after a cave collapsed; below it is a small sandy beach in the cove of San Felice. You look at it from above, next to the Torre San Felice, one of the towers built around 1568 after Dragut's sack, or from the sea, on the cave tour. The coordinates are those of the tower: the arch is just below
Church · free entry · 41.70816, 15.95463
via Reale Basilica 127, 71037 Monte Sant'Angelo (FG)
the town on the mountain, at almost eight hundred metres, a good hour's drive from Vieste, with the sanctuary in the cave where, tradition says, the Archangel appeared in 490. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2011, with the places of the Lombards in Italy. The experience on this page tells its story
When
Vieste's year has two big feasts in spring, San Giorgio in April and the Madonna di Merino in May. In summer there are the festivals, the book festival at Marina Piccola and the music festival named after the Pizzomunno, and in September the Madonna of the sea at the harbour. Up on the mountain, at Monte Sant'Angelo, the year is marked by Saint Michael, on 8 May and 29 September, and by the fires of San Giuseppe in March.
Next: Monte Sant'Angelo Christmas Festival · 8 Dec - 6 Jan
Christmas in Monte Sant'Angelo: craft markets, theatre, cinema, music, opera and gospel, street artists and workshops for children, in the town under the lights. For the winter of 2026-2027 the Comune set it from 8 December to 6 January
on the eve of San Giuseppe the streets of Monte Sant'Angelo fill with great stacks of burning wood, the fanoje, to greet the spring, with food trails and folk music; the Regione Puglia counts them among its fire rituals
the Holy Week of the town of the Archangel, which the Comune puts in its calendar: on Friday morning the rites of the Miserere and of the "terremoto", the earthquake, in the evening the procession through the streets of the centre, and on Easter Sunday the shooting of the Quarantana. The time of the procession comes out with the programme
the second patron saint of Vieste. After the novena in the cathedral, on the evening of 22 April the bands go round the town and there are the concert in the public gardens and the show at Marina Piccola. On the 23rd, in the morning, the statue of the saint is carried in procession on shoulders from the cathedral to the little church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, where the frittata di San Giorgio, Saint George's omelette, is offered, after the legend of a poor man who offered the saint the only thing he had; in the afternoon, at 18:00 in 2026, the horse race on the beach of the Castello, and at midnight the fireworks from the pier
the day of the feast of the Angel on the Gargano, the anniversary of the second apparition, the one of the victory, which tradition places in 492. Around it the Comune holds Michael, the festival of the town's heritage, which in 2026 was from 7 to 9 May. It is also the day before the Madonna di Merino in Vieste
the feast of the patron saint, which lasts from 7 to 10 May, with the novena from the end of April. On 9 May, in the morning, at 8:45 in 2026, the statue of the Madonna leaves the cathedral and the town accompanies it in procession to the sanctuary of Merino, seven and a half kilometres north along the coast, with the statues of the saints in front, San Giorgio first; halfway the Madonna changes case, from the town one to the country one, which is lighter. At the sanctuary the fields are blessed, and in the evening the procession comes back, with the torchlight stop on the hill of San Lorenzo and the fireworks at Marina Piccola at about 23:00. On 10 May there is the feast in the square, with bands, concerts and fireworks at midnight
the feast of the patron saint of Peschici, the saint who according to legend saved the village from the locusts. The Comune writes that the novena runs from 11 to 19 July, and that on the 20th there is the procession, with the feast in the village
the feast of Padre Pio at the sanctuary of the Capuchin friars in San Giovanni Rotondo, about seventy kilometres from Vieste, where he died on 23 September 1968: the novena, the great vigil on the evening of the 22nd until the midnight mass, and the procession of the statue through the town. These are the days when the town is at its fullest
the patronal feast, which lasts a few days around 29 September, from 26 to 30 in 2026: pilgrims arrive on foot from the nearby villages, there are concerts and markets, and on the 29th the procession of the Sacra Spada, the Holy Sword of Saint Michael. On the Sunday before, the historical parade of the Apparitions, with more than two hundred costumed performers, tells the miracles of the Archangel through the streets
a music festival in Vieste named after the legend of the Pizzomunno. In 2026 it was from 17 to 20 July
the book festival that after its stop at Polignano a Mare moves to Vieste: presentations and meetings with authors in the evening, at Marina Piccola. In 2026, the twenty-fifth edition, it was from 21 to 25 July
the feast of the Madonna of the sea and of sailors, at the harbour, over a weekend: games, music, the fish festival, and the procession that ends by boat in front of the lighthouse. In 2026 it was from 4 to 6 September
the Comune's week that closes the summer and makes Vieste the town of the love of Pizzomunno and Cristalda, with shows in the squares and in the evening the bus running until one in the morning. In 2026 it was from 7 to 13 September
Remember
Vieste · part two
and then?
What to do, what to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
What we did starting from here, ordered by driving time.
The Gargano is a land of shepherds and of citrus fruit. The cheese is caciocavallo podolico, from the milk of the Podolica cows that graze freely on the mountain and give little of it, aged even for years: it is a Slow Food Presidium. On the north coast, at Vico, Ischitella and Rodi, grow the Arancia del Gargano, the Gargano orange, and the Limone Femminello del Gargano, the lemon, both PGI. At Monte Sant'Angelo you buy ostie ripiene, two wafers filled with almonds toasted in honey, which tradition says were invented by the Poor Clares; in the bakeries of the promontory, paposcia, the long flat bread that is opened hot and filled. In a motorhome you make pancotto, the poor dish of the peasants of the Daunia: a single pot.
Looking
30 shots from our visit. Tap one to see it large.
