PALMAROLA ISLAND

Palmarola is the wildest of the Pontine Islands. Here there aren’t any house nor harbours. There is only a family run restaurant with a few rooms for whoever wishes to stay for the night and it is the only place open to the public. 

The restaurant has a very emotional story. Its founder was a man who, after spending his childhood on the island with his fisherman father, decided to move to France where he got married and had a family. After many years of living in France he wanted to return to his long missed land and in the 60s he returned with his wife on the island looking for a peacefull place where to spend the rest of their lives. One day a couple reached the island and were hosted by the “French man” who also cooked for them establishing a long lasting friendship. 

Nowadays the restaurant, “O Francese”, is run by the founder’s sons, who have made the structure a real hotel-restaurant and who have installed solar pannels respecting the unspoilt nature of the island. 

Palmarola coastline is beautiful, it is a natural reserve and the water offers a great variety of fish. There are many caves and coves which give the coast a wavy movement. One of the most beautiful areas, called the Cathedral, is a complex of caves forming pointed arches as if they were built by human hands or by a God