If you can’t wait to visit Italy when the lockdown is over, what I’m about to write might interest you: a real dive into nature.
Here are two Italian national parks to take into consideration for your next holiday in Italy if you want to dive into nature.
1. Pollino national park
One of the Italian national parks you can visit if you want to dive into nature is Pollino national park.
This park is in the South of Italy, in Basilicata and Calabria. It’s the largest national park in Italy – 192.565 hectares – and became a Unesco Heritage site in 2015.
This park includes two massifs that are part of the Apennine mountains: the massif of Pollino and the massif of Orsomarso.
The highest point you can visit in Pollino national park is Serra Dolcedorme, which is 2,267 meters high.
In the park there are many species like the Bosnian pine tree, holm oaks, silver firs, the common beech, maple trees, many medicinal herbs, orchids, violets, lilies, and the oldest European tree which is 1,230 years old.
In the park there’s also a good variety of wildlife: golden eagles, peregrine falcons, deer, Italian wolves, the red kite, the dormouse, the otter, and many others.
What can you do in Pollino national park apart from enjoying nature? If you don’t like walking or sports in general, you can simply go there and have a picnic.
Instead, if you like sports, there are many paths you can choose from if you want to hike. Moreover, you can ride a horse, biking, and even rafting on river Lao.
2. Circeo national park
The second national park you can visit if you want to dive into nature in Italy is Circeo national park.
Circeo national park was established in 1934 by order of Benito Mussolini to preserve the last remains of the Pontine marshes. It’s in the South of Italy, in Lazio. It includes the coast that goes from Anzio to Terracina, part of the forest of San Felice Circeo and the island of Zannone.
The forest includes several areas called piscine – swimming pools – which are marshy areas that form in autumn. In the forest you can also see many species like Fraxinus, different types of oak, bay laurel, wild apple, Erica, etc.
There’s also a wide variety of wildlife such as snakes, boars, hares, weasels, frogs, foxes, etc.
Circeo national park includes also many salt lakes and coastal caves. One of the most known caves is Grotta Guttari, where a Neanderthal skull was found in 1939.
Visiting Circeo national park can be a good choice if you want to spend some time on a beautiful Italian beach and have the chance to walk surrounded by vegetation.
Do you like visiting national parks? Write your experience in the comment section below.
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Original image by 272447
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