The Regional Park Riviera di Ulisse was our saviour in the south of Italy after the so many rainy days. Comprised from the protected areas of Monte Orlando, Gianola and Monte di Scauri, and the Natural Monument Villa di Tiberio and Costa Torre Capovento – Punta Cetarola, this regional park is a gem for the nature lovers.

Unlike the National Parks in Italy, here you can wonder around freely and discover things which otherwise would be nearly impossible due to all of the fences and the so famous “divieto di accesso” sign.

In this trip we only managed to discover the Monte Orlando and Monte di Scauri, but this was more than enough to impress us, especially since our time at Monte Orlando was one of the best from all the places we have seen in Italy.

First thing’s first, by chance after looking at the Atlas with Italy, we decided to visit Monte di Scauri. Here in very well organized trails, our steps were led through nature discoverings as well archeological findings. Beautiful orchids and the Cork oak (from which the wine bottle corks are made from) made my day quite interesting. A walk on the coast, with the waves crushing on the Roman remains takes you back in time. Here you can see the Blue Grotto, so called because the color of sea water is reflecting on the walls, the Roman Porticiollo, The Scauri Tower, the Gianolo tower and many others. You can check the official website for a bit more information.

After the wonderful experience we had at Monte di Scauri, it was obvious we would explore another part of the Riviera di Ulisse Regional Park, thus Monte Orlanda near Gaeta town was next. This place is amazing even before you actually reach the park, the beautiful bay and the Aurunci Mountains, putting their prints on the landscape.

The trails on this park lead us first to a monument for war soldiers, than to the St. Trinity Sanctuary, which is the entrance in the park. Here, our first natural stop, besides the wonderful souvenir shops at the entrance was the Grotta del Turko, The Turks Cave. After going down a bunch of steps we reached the bottom of the cave, even if the view is pretty amazing from above as well.

From here the trail led us to a few panoramic spots with Gaeta spreading beneath us and we continued our exploring to the Roman vestiges, with the Statue of Maria Ausiliatrice, the Lucio Munazio Planco Mausoleum  and a fantastic view over the Aragonese Castle. The lighthouse of Gaeta is up here as well, and in the roman ruins we had the wonderful chance to spot the adorable gecko’s. For more about the nature part of the Monte Orlando you should click here. Monte Orlando is a very good place for mountain climbers as well, a few place being marks on the map for this dangerous activity .

Unfortunately for us, we did not have enough time to explore Sperlonga as well, but for sure we will come back to the Riviera di Ullise Regional Park…