9 June 2023 - Vieste

The Umbra Forest is a protected area inside the National Park of Gargano, about 15 kilometres inland of Vieste. It is a dense natural unspoiled forest of about 10,000 hectares and is a UNESCO site because of remarkable biodiversity .

There are holm oaks, pine and beech trees, which grow here at very different altitudes to their normal habitat. It is home to 2000 plant species and is the largest Italian hardwood forest, where deer are seen easily from the paths.


Our visit was on a guided e-bike tour for 2.5 hours. We were driven to the meeting point, with excellent service and for a reasonable price, it was interesting to see the hinterland. We passed several large campsites on the way. 

The bikes were great. Our guide stopped at regular intervals to point out ancient and peculiar trees. The riding was relaxed and at a comfortable pace for us, along the forest tracks, in a group of 20 or so. Just as we were coming to the end, it started raining, accompanied by thunder. It was good to be back in the car before it was really heavy rain.





In Vieste there had been no rain and the sky was still blue.

Late afternoon a motorboat arrived on the next door pontoon and it was a couple we had met when we were on the island of Krement in Croatia. We joined them for sundowners. They had tracked round Istria, via Pula and Trieste, then transited down the Italian coast. Being of shallow draft, they can get into places that we can’t, but apparently we are not missing anything special and are avoiding a lot of hazards. The recent storms in northern Italy have brought down a lot of silt in the water, so it is murky, and there are huge trees floating in the water. They had been slaloming through various areas to avoid potential damage from all this debris. It was great to catch up with them and share experiences.

Miles today            0

Miles in 2023     692

Tricia (& Steve)

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