Gargano in September Mattinata Trip Report

Mattinata is not the best beach location in the Gargano. The whole north coast, practically, has miles of sandy beaches from wild and natural on the seaward side of Varano lake to the regimented umbrella land of Peschici. Vieste has its own long beaches, especially Scialara, and other beautiful bays. In comparison, the coast near Mattinata is difficult to reach, access is monopolised by private Lidos and expensive parking, all to get near a narrowish strip of something shingly between cliffs of various heights and. I admit, yes, transparent and clean sea.

We stayed 5 nights in Mattinata not for its beaches but as a base for visiting the very beautiful villages and historical religious sites in the area, also combining some hiking. The first day we visited Monte Sant'Angelo with its UNESCO sanctuary, Santa Maria church and Tumba dei Rotari and characteristic old Rione Junno quarter. Monte Sant'Angelo is just an easy half hour drive from Mattinata and well worth at least a half day, we stayed until early afternoon and we combined it with a quick visit to the San Pio Sanctuary in San Giovanni Rotondo, another half hour by car, more of a religious pilgrimage destination than anything else. We then drove back directly via the outskirts of Manfredonia.

Manfredonia itself is just 20 minutes through the tunnel on a good and straight road from Mattinata. It's worth a look at the castle and the Maddalena chapel (both free entry) as well as a walk along the sea front and round the centre. There's a very good local market every morning in the Monticchio area Via Santa Restituta with good prices for fish and very cheap fresh local fruit and vegetables. The rambling Tuesday market on a sort of wasteland surrounded by rubbish was instead disappointing, especially as at 11.30 many stalls were already packing things up and leaving. There's also a large Conad supermarket and shopping centre of the tangenziale - ring road, which is open all day and very convenient.

Mattinata is also good for hiking and I've prepared a more detailed post on that here.

There are actual trail running routes and there's a map and description available, also in English, in most tourist offices in the Gargano area but we just did some of the Sentieri Natura which are part of these longer routes. In particular the Sentiero Natura Mergoli - Vignanotica which is an easy walk along the coast with splendid views, Monte Saraceno to the Daunia necropolis and Monte Sacro, another easy walk high up in the woods to the ruins of a Benedictine monastery. 

The best day was undoubtedly when we hiked from the countryside above Manfredonia to the Abbey of Santa Maria di Pulsano, clambering up the rocks of the narrow valley where there are the ruined hermitages on rocky and sometimes inaccessible outposts.

It was a full five days, Mattinata in itself is a quiet and small town and apart from a mass in a tiny chapel on Sunday afternoon, the best thing about the town itself was the ice-cream and cappuccino one afternoon at the smart and family run Gelateria Gabrielino. All in all it was agood base for exploring the surrounding area.