My first visit to stunning and beautiful Sardinia is dated to 2013. I must say it was love at first sight and that is why I decided to go back and also share some facts, tips, and stories with you, my friends.
GETTING TO THE ISLAND
You don´t need to be a billionaire and own your private jet to visit Sardinia. This “Caribic island in the Mediterranean ” is easily accessible by many European airlines. There are four international airports in Sardinia – Cagliari, Alghero, Olbia, and Arbatax. Before I travel somewhere I always check on the Ryanair website if there are any interesting destinations and if the price is on my budget. This is how I traveled to Marseille, Edinburgh, Dublin or Alghero. This airline is celebrating its 30th anniversary, it is the biggest airline in Europe and millions of people travel every year with them. To be honest, I like to plan my holiday as I like it, and do not prefer “all-inclusive” packages in overcrowded destinations such as Benidorm in Spain. That is also the reason why I love to travel with Ryanair. Of course, it depends on what is your initial position and so you have to check on your local airlines if there are any flights to this emerald island. You can find some flights on checkfelix.com, alitalia.com, airberlin.com or simply try google.
ACCOMMODATION
After you book the flight, there is time to book accommodation at a reasonable price. I usually search on booking.com, airbnb.com or tripadvisor.com to find the best rated and not expensive places to stay. It always depends on what kind of comfort and service is preferred.
CAR RENTAL
Afterward, you need to book a car rental and must say that I have a very good experience with Hertz.com. But you can try another one such as Sixt.com, or you can take a risk and rent a car right after arrival at one of the local rentals such as we did once. For most of the rentals, you need to possess a credit card on your name and if you do not have a driving license – that can be a problem. Normally if you book a car with your name on the credit card, YOU have to be the driver. That’s why to be careful and read all the details of the conditions before you order a car. The price for a 1-week rental varies and you pay between 150 – 250 EUR for the economy class car. I recommend renting a car while in Sardinia so you can be flexible and you can get most of the island. I don´t have experience with bus transfer but what I have heard if you want to stay in one place such as Alghero and you are happy to spend a whole week within one or two beaches, it is not that bad. I like to see as much as I can so I always travel by car while in Sardinia.
MANGIARE OR FOOD MADE IN HEAVEN
There are many restaurants in Alghero where you can taste the real flavor of Sardinia. Porchetta, Salsiccia, Pecorino Sardo, Seadas, wine Canonau or Vermentino – these all and many other specialties are waiting for you all over the beautiful old Catalan town. Don´t worry if you do not want to spend too much of your savings in restaurants, you can still find some of the delicacies in local supermarkets and shops where you can buy most of them for a good price and good quality too.
But if you have time and you fancy going to one very good restaurant, I warmly recommend the restaurant called La Saletta located on the Via Kennedy 27. The prices are reasonable for that kind of food and Cucina is made of strictly local ingredients. The boss of the place is two very nice people who always keep an eye on what’s happening in the kitchen and dining room. The staff was very friendly. We had a ‘Menu degustazione’ which consists of antipasti misti, 2 kinds of primi Piatti, secondi Piatti, a jug of wine, coffee and digestive and water. All for 25 Eur per person. Although double-check for the menu on their website because they change it now and then.
Outside of bigger towns or besides small villages, you might find restaurants which are so-called ‘Agroturismo’. They are usually small farms with a possibility to accommodate tourists and serve food. The word ‘Agroturismo’ is a combination of words ‘agriculture’ + ‘tourism’. They usually cook from ingredients produced at the farm or at least from local products. You can find such one on your way from Olbia to San Teodoro on the east coast. It is called ‘Agriturismo Li Mori’ and this one was the best I have ever visited so far. But for sure there are dozens of good ones all across this green island.
If you fancy tasting one of the Italian’s favourite dishes – pizza, you might try a small pick up place on the corner of Via Kennedy only a few steps far from La Saletta. The name of the pizzeria is Kennedy and the price range is from 3,5 eur for pizza Margherita to 8 eur for Frutti di Mare. Very tasty by the way. They also serve “Faine” which is a kind of pizza made of chickpea flour. I have never tasted it.
PLACES TO GO TO – WHERE I HAVE BEEN TO
When we visited Sardinia for the first time, we stayed in a camping area in Fertilia called Villagio Nurral, 5km away from Alghero. It was the end of September and we paid 100 euro for 6 nights, 2 guests. This price was a real bargain. We stayed in a little bungalow with our shower and toilet. Villagio Nurral has its bar and restaurant serving lunch and dinner.
Another option to stay in Alghero is to stay in one of the hotels on the seafront, but your budget has to be much more generous. Although, when we visited Sardinia for the second time and we stayed in such a hotel, we paid 25 euro per night at the beginning of September which is also not bad.
If you didn´t come to Sardinia to get only your sun tun and are interested a little bit about beautiful scenery, you should visit one of the most famous tourist attractions in Alghero. It is the Capo Caccia bay and Grotta Di Nettuno or Neptune´s Cave which is one of the most beautiful nature spectacles you can see in Sardinia. This cave is the largest one on the island and is 4 km long. The public can only access a part of the cave. The route by car from Alghero takes about 25 min. You can also take a bus that operates from different stops in Alghero 5 times a day and the price for a return ticket is about 6 euro. It depends on the season. But the most authentic way how to get there is by boat from Alghero.
On your way back is worth having a swim either on marvelous small secluded beach Mugoni or on the beautiful Spiaggia di Bombarde, which is a nice white sandy beach near Fertilia. Once you are on the Mugoni beach, you have to look for Davide´s Watersports bar where you can book your 3hour rubber boat trip to Grotta di Nettuno or you can just order one Aperol Spritz and admire beautiful Capo Caccia while lying on the beach.
Just a few miles away from Fertilia in direction to Capo Caccia you will find Spiaggia Delle Bombarde. You can also stay in a hotel right on the beach in the Hotel Dei Pini. Or you can simply enjoy a hot day with a glass of Aperol Spritz in beach bar Tam Tam.
Once you will be browsing many websites about Sardinia´s most beautiful beaches, you will find a link to Stintino and its La Pelosa beach. It is worth visiting, but be aware of the fact that this spot is really busy, either high season or end of September.
We loved one near Porto Torres, called Platamona on the north coast of Sardinia. Very long, sandy, wild beach partly covered with small gravel and little seashells.
If you fancy a little trip to discover some other places than Porto Torres, you should head to Isola Rossa which is a small fishing village further on the north of the island. Along this cute place spreads out very nice Longa beach with its typical pinky sand which is probably the reason why the place is called Isola ROSSA. To visit this place was warmly recommended by local people where we stayed.
On your way back to Porto Torres it is worth having a little snack on a Li Junchi Beach. Also a very interesting, long sandy beach near the stunning scenery of a village called Badesi.
After a short dinner on the beach, you should take the SP90 road to Roccia dell´ Elefante which is a rock formation caused by the wind and it grew up just beside the road.
After you finished admiring this beautiful natural piece of art, do not forget to visit the medieval village Castelsardo. One of the most breathtaking villages and spots by the sea I have ever seen. There is a castle just up at the hill and small museum inside where you can admire old handcrafted products such as baskets, ceramics, clothing, etc made of natural materials used in everyday life many centuries ago. If you want to bring some souvenirs back from Sardinia, you should think of buying typical hand-embroidered pillowcases. They look beautiful and unique on your sofa.
After a few days spent on the north coast, we moved to the north-east part of the island, small village La Caletta. This place got me by its white fine sandy beach, crystal clear sea, the best pizza around, totally friendly people, tranquility and many boats anquered in its small harbor.
When we first time visited the green island in 2013, we had to pick up my sister from the airport and drove down to the south, Cagliari, Sardinia´s capital. The drive took us about 4,5 hours because although it seems to be not that far, Sardinia’s roads are not in the best conditions and you cannot drive very fast. On this occasion, we decided to hit the very well known and favourite place of every holidaymaker and wild dunes lovers – CHIA. Concretely we went to the Spiaggia di Monte Cogoni. You could feel the temperature difference and the sand quality compared to the north part of the island. Water was much warmer and sand very fine and hot.
If you like to see my opinions on restaurants, accommodations, or places I have visited in Sardinia, please click on the button below and you will find all my reviews there.
