“Show and Tell”: Charming places to discover in Abruzzo

On this week’s Italy “Show and Tell” it’s great to have Louisa share her experience in the lesser-known region of Abruzzo with us. I was recently in Abruzzo and plan to explore of the hidden gems in the region. I’ll let Louisa take it from here and hope this will inspire you to plan a visit to Abruzzo.

Ciao! My name is Louisa. I started my blog ‘My Family & Abruzzo’ in June last year, but have been holidaying in Abruzzo since 2003 as we have a holiday home there (the whole story is on my blog). Part of the aim of my blog is to entice more travellers to this wonderful part of Italy, which is still largely unheard of.

If you love Italy, but want something less touristy and unspoilt, Abruzzo is for you. My photos give a tiny glimpse into this beautiful place, but do not do it justice. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

1. Caramanico Terme:  A picturesque town that is very special to me. This was the first place I stayed in Abruzzo. A pretty spa town with friendly local residents, charming shops and cafes, right in the heart of the Majella National Park. I also got engaged and then married here!

2. Guardiagrele:  A historic, hilltop town, again with lovely shops, great deli’s and cafes.  We are fond of this town for all these things, but also because of this lovely park.  We all choose a gelato and then bring our little boys here to play in the children’s play area.

3. Costa dei Trabocchi:  The Abruzzen coastline is beautiful, especially this part, the ‘Costa dei Trabocchi’.  The trabocchi are traditional wooden fishing huts that are dotted along this stretch of coast.  The Adriatic is the prettiest shade of blue and calm.  The beaches are wonderful.  If you time it right, you can have lunch on a traboccho and eat the catch of the day, literally fresh from the sea!

4. Pretoro: A medieval town just off the Passo Lanciano, in the Majella National Park.  A sleepy, friendly town that is only 50% inhabited (lots of town houses for sale!).  One of our favourite cafes is here where they do a divine hot chocolate.  There is a wonderful restaurant ‘La Torre’ carved underground and out into the rock.  As a note of interest, a snake festival is held in Pretoro every year!

5. Majella National Park:  This is one of of our favourite places to visit, whatever the time of year.  In the winter, it is packed with people skiing, snowboarding and hiking.  In the summer, people are cycling, hiking and mountain-biking.  Depending on which direction you face, you can see the sea.  The views are magnificent, as is the clean air.

6. Pacentro: Prettiest town in Abruzzo where Madonna’s paternal grandparents came from. I visited this charming town in Autumn last year, for the first time. It really is wonderful. The residents clearly love their town, with good reason. Surrounded by beauty too. I visited when it was cloudy so you cannot see the mountains on my photograph.

Thank you Louisa for taking us around Abruzzo. Stay tuned as Louisa will again be revealing more gems in Abruzzo in the near future.