vasto
 
VASTO , further south, close to the border with Molise, is a fine old city, overlooking the resort of VASTO MARINA . There are boats in the summer to the Trémiti Islands, plenty of campsites, and a handful of reasonable hotels along the broad sandy beach - palm-lined and beach-hutted in the centre, wilder and rockier to the north.

Vasto is all about beach, though if you're here for a day or so you should definitely get a bus from the new train station on the seafront to the upper town (they run roughly every 30min, a 10min journey), whose rooftops and campaniles rise above palms and olive groves. The centre of town is Piazza Rossetti , its gardens dominated by the chunky Castello Calderesco . The piazza is named after Gabriele Rossetti, a local eighteenth-century poet who is better known as the father of the Pre-Raphaelite poet Dante Gabriele Rossetti.

Just off the piazza, next to the small Duomo, stands the splendid Renaissance Palazzo d'Avalos (Oct-June Tues & Wed 4.30-8.30pm, Thurs-Sun 9.30am-12.30pm & 4.30-8.30pm; June-Sept Tues-Sun 8am-11pm), both of which have been restored. This was once the home of the poet and friend of Michelangelo, Vittoria Colonna, who was famous in her time for the bleak sonnets she wrote after her husband's death; nowadays it houses the town's museum (same hours as palazzo; L7000/¬3.61 for the art gallery; L2000/¬1.03 for the archeological museum; L2000/¬1.03 for the costume museum; or L10,000/¬5.16 for the whole lot). The best of its exhibits are some bellicose second-century bronzes, a third-century warrior with an arm missing, a collection of Greek coins - evidence of Vasto's early importance as an international trading city, and the beautiful clothes and battered old hobby-horse in the costume museum.

Alongside the palazzo, Piazza del Popolo is home to the tourist office (summer: Mon-Sat 9am-1pm & 4-7pm; winter open mornings only; tel 0873.367.312) and opens onto a panoramic promenade that takes you to Vasto's most memorable sight, the door of the church of San Pietro , surrounded by Romanesque twists and zigzags, standing isolated against a backdrop of sky, sea and trees, the rest of the church having been destroyed in a landslide in 1956.

Pleasant as the upper town is, most of the action is down by the beach in Vasto Marina , and you're more likely to want to stay in the numerous campsites along the coast. Most of them are off the SS16 towards Foggia; Il Piopetto is right on the beach and has pine-trees for shade (tel 0873.801.466). The best of the cheaper hotels is La Bitta run by a lovely hospitable couple close to the free beach on Lungomare Cardella but open only in summer (tel 0873.801.979; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). It's a spacious airy hotel, with excellent food: fruit and veg come in fresh from the country every day. If you do want to stay in the upper town, try either Dei Sette , on Via San Michele, a ten-minute walk out of the centre past the stadium and the public gardens (tel 0873.362.819; L90,000-120,000/¬46.48-61.98), or the Palizzi, a ten-minute walk in the opposite direction on the busy Corso Mazzini (tel 0873.367.361; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). The most peaceful bolthole has got to be Villa Vignola (tel 0873.310.050; L200,000-250,000/¬103.29-129.11) a small white villa with 5 rooms, a tiny pebble beach, a garden for lounging in and a romantic terrace restaurant, serving such delicacies as marinaded prawns, stuffed baby squid, delectable home-made pasta and simple grilled fish. To find it, take the SS16 north out of Marina di Vasto, pass the turn-off for Vasto itself and keep going until you get to a sign pointing to the "Porto". Turn right here and then right again immediately after the railway line. As for eating and drinking , there are loads of pizzerias and "pubs" in Vasto Marina, although you might prefer to consider splashing out at Villa Vignola (no closing day) in Contrada Vignola .