Midnightsun

We will be spending about four days in Abruzzo at the beginning of July. We are hoping to explore Gran Sasso and visit a few small towns. We will probably steer clear of the larger seacoast towns. Although Teramo is closer to some of the places we are considering for visits (and has what appears to be a very fine B&B: La Grande Quercia), the town itself seems to be less charming than Sulmona. Sulmona is not as conveniently located for our current exploring plan, although it may be a better spot for a day trip into the Gran Sasso. It's a bit hard to tel, since I'm not sure the best access point for a day trip (short hikes, driving to interesting points) into the Gran Sassol. Anyway, we would appreciate any suggestions from folks who have been to one town or the other, and we'd also welcome hotel or B&B suggestions for Sulmona (if we decide to use that as our base). Thanks!

neckervd

What about Isola del Gran Sasso?

mama_mia

Long answer below, but I know there is not a lot of info on Abruzzo, so here goes.

I made a trip to the Abruzzo region 2 years ago but stayed in several bases. It was part of a longer trip that started near the town of Moscufo (Pescara, Abruzzo) and then moved to Lanciano (Chieti, Abruzzo).

I next moved to Sulmona and stayed in B&B Dimora one night. It was nice enough, although the owner was not on site. Her mother, I believe, let me in the room in the evening and then came and served breakfast in the AM. She spoke only Italian--which is okay with me since I know enough to be dangerous. (I then met up with my husband and we moved onto a small apartment in a very small commune outside of Bugnara.)

From the Sulmona area, we took trips to the Abbey di San Clemente a Casauria and picturesque hill towns around the Majella park like Pacentro, Scanno, and Anversa degli Abruzzi. Sulmona has some nice restaurants; we especially enjoyed lunch at La Locanda di Gino.

After travels outside Abruzzo, I returned and met up with other family members. We stayed outside of Penne (Pescara, Abruzzo)in Agriturismo Cignale (http://www.agricolacignale.eu/en/). It is a newer operation, but we chose it because of the onsite restaurant (did not have to drink and drive)and the availability and arrangement of rooms. We had excellent meals and the family that runs Cignale are marvelous hosts.

(I had looked at the B&B Quercia, which sounded wonderful, but did not work for our needs.)

We drove one day to Bisenti, the birthplace of our grandparents (Teramo province), to the attractive towns of Penne and Loreto Aprutino (the church of Santa Maria in Piano has wonderful frescoes).

We took a drive into the Gran Sasso and then stopped in the town of Castelli, known for its pottery.

So now to my points:

Driving times between places can be longer than expected. We did not drive from Sulmona to Gran Sasso points since I knew we would explore that later in the trip. If you are interested in exploring the towns of the Majella park and hiking there, Sulmona is definitely a nice base.

You might also consider staying at an agriturismo to enjoy some of the wonderful food of this region.

Midnightsun

Mama Mia: Thanks for the helpful information. We will have to consider the driving, since most of the places we want to see (some small towns near L'Aquila and the Gran Sasso) are closer to Teramo than Sulmona.

Redlandsneen

I am also doing a trip once the pandemic is under control and changing my entire itinerary from what was planned for 2020. From the Vasto coast I was going to head inland to Castel di Sangro for a night, then head via Sulmona to L'Aquila for two days. Now I'm thinking of heading further up the coast, bypassing Sulmona and staying in Isola del Gran Sasso. Does the latter compare in charm to Sulmona? From there, we want to head toward Siena, so we can take the autostrada across the pass from Isola del Gran Sasso. Any thoughts?