Trabocchi Coast

A trabocco is a wooden platform built out from the rocks on long piles, with arms called antenne carrying a large square net that is lowered and raised by winch, developed on this coast to fish without going out in a boat. They are built and repaired with pine and oak, traditionally jointed rather than nailed so the structure flexes in storms. Gabriele D'Annunzio described them as looking like the skeleton of a great creature. Many have been converted into restaurants serving fish at tables on the platform. The disused coastal railway between Ortona and Vasto has been converted into a cycle path running past them.

What you'll find

• The trabocchi - stilted timber platforms with winch-lowered nets.
• The jointed construction - frames built to flex rather than resist storms.
• The platform restaurants - dining at tables over the water.
• The rail-trail - a cycle path along the old coastal railway.

When to go

May to September; restaurants on the platforms are seasonal and must be booked, often weeks ahead. Storms close them. The cycle path is open year-round.

Things to know

Platform restaurants are small, book out and cancel in bad weather. Menus are fixed in many. Access to some trabocchi is private.

Nearby

The Majella park lies inland; Vasto is south.

Key facts