Hi! New here…so could be doing a lot of things wrong. Be gentle :) I’m planning a trip to Sardinia next summer for two weeks in June. Most likely flying into Olbia or Cagliari. I’m flying with a large group and don’t care so much to sit with everyone as long as I can be seated with my kids. I’ve never flown internationally before. What can I expect when flying internationally with kids, layovers in different countries, and possibly advice on which airlines to use from the San Francisco area to either Olbia or Cagliari. Thank you!

Hi fellow travelers and experts on Sardinia.

I've been staring at itineraries, watching you tube videos and going over Lonely Planet for more than a few weeks. Time for some outside help. I know I can't really go wrong wherever we end up but just want to make sure I'm not overstaying or just missing something completely. Everywhere looks amazing, making this a really tough decision point.

We have 10 days in September with flights in and out of Rome. Plan to take the o/n ferry to Cagliari arriving at 9am on the 5th, pick up the car and head to Pula. Not sure if we should do 2 or 3 nights exploring Nora, Chia and a day back in Cagliari. Looking at Villa Cavalieri Country House about a mile outside Pula and at least one meal at Agriturismo Su Lilloni. From there we can go to Oristano for a couple of nights and then spend the final 5 nights in Orosei. Other option is to go to Villasimius or Costa Rei for 3 nights and then finish in Orosei for 3 nights before flying out of Olbia. We definitely want to explore the beaches around Orosei and do some hiking. Not sure if we should trade out Villasimius for Oristano so we can see the museum in Cabras and also Tharros on Sinis. We've been to Italy several times and the islands of Ischia and Sicily. We love eating late, taking evening walks in the villages with everyone, hiking and of course the amazing beaches. We aren't looking for touristy, overly crowded places, that's why we weren't planning on hitting the north of the Island. Bosa and Alghero also look worth a visit, but I haven't been able to fit those in without feeling like we are packing and unpacking for 10 days. We are trying to stay in the 100USD to 200/night range for lodging and open to any suggestions for agriturismos, self-catering or other off-beat places. Want to experience some real local Sardinian food, we are adventurous eaters and love the wine. That's a lot, so thanks for making it this far and appreciate any suggestions.

Hello,

Me and my wife ar planning a 7-10 days holiday somewhere in Europe for next year and we would love to visit Sardinia. We already visited Roma and Napoli in Italy, but now we would like to just relax at the beach.

Can you please give us some tips about where to land with the plane, where to stay, what beaches to see?

We do not have a car and we can not rent either, as we are new to driving and without experience. So we would love to stay in a place that is close to a beach with normal sand and beautiful water. Or maybe there are “all inclusive” accommodations that offer local food and transportation to the beach everyday? For a fair cost?

Thank you very much!

Hello I am excited to explore Sardinia. As I have been planning I decided it's a good idea to narrow down to 1 region that way I am not driving all over the whole week. Currently I like SW Sardinia as I've heard its more wild, rugged, and real, and less touristy, busy, flashy, expensive as some other areas (Mainly NE)

I will be there for a week in mid September which should be an excellent time. I would like this communities help in confirming that SW Sardinia is the right pick for me.

I am late 20s solo traveling male from US

My ideal vacations are adventure and exploration focused. I would rather hike to a beach for 6 hours and stay for 1 hour for a swim and lunch, than to sit on the beach for 6 hours.

I like most water sports, like swimming, scuba or snorkeling, surfing, sailing, fishing or spearfishing

As above I also really like great hikes. I know Sardinia has amazing coasts, but the mountains look great too, I would love a nice mountain hike, and yes a hike to a secret beach sounds amazing

Lastly great food people and culture, the more real life and less catered to tourists the better. I love seafood too.

Do you think SW Sardinia is good for the above goals? Any recommendations on activities, people to see, restaurants towns, places to stay Etc.?

On my map there is 2 weird little red star things, those are the places I am leaning towards staying (cool agriturismo's) but all of that is subject to change based on learning more. I picked the one to the north, because I think there is good surfing in that area, but if you know somewhere better please let me know.

Thank you for the help and I look forward to experiencing your island.

Is La Pelosa beach a must while in Sardinia? We are planning to stay in the north east side (like orosei and San Teodoro as well santa di gallura), but trying to figure out how to squeeze in a day or two in Stintino to see this beach. Is it worth doing or just forego? If not worth, we would love to tack on those 2 days to our Sicily portion of the trip.

Heres my rough itinerary in case you think I’m nuts.

Orosei 3 days San Teodoro 3 days Stintino 2 days (?) Santa Teresa 4 days with day trip to Maddalena and Bonaficio

Thank you!

i don’t mean to be negative but i have a trip planned for the last week of august into sept and while doing research im starting to see a few reviews on travel that are basically saying beaches are more trouble than they’re worth/overrated, food is average and everything is just expensive. I’m starting to feel anxious like i made a mistake in booking this trip vs going back to Sicily or visiting Puglia for the first time. Are these people who are complaining exaggerating? I know nowhere is perfect but in my last trip to Italy I didn’t have one bad meal and left feeling like i really experienced that dolce vita. Currently we’re flying into Cagliari and staying just outside of Villiasimus for 3 days and then going to Orsei for 2 nights (we’ll rent a dingy for the day on this part of the trip) and i haven’t figured out where to stay up north next. I want to do a boat trip to la maddalena and also curious about Tavolara island but other than that these are our main reasons for going north. We want to avoid the expensive area so was thinking maybe Santa Teresa Gallura or Paula? Or even San Teodoro? This leg will be 3 nights and then we’ll go back to Cagliari / south for 2 nights so that we don’t have to worry about a long drive on our flight out. We just want good food, nice beaches and culture on this trip lol. Anything to avoid? Should we move around less? Can you pull off to explore beaches that aren’t on google maps or is that not allowed? Any feedback is appreciated- feeling stressed out 😅

Im going to Sardinia ( san Teodoro and then Cagliari) in August. And its hard to find a good place to rent. Or is super expensive , or the ratings are not good , or I cant drop off in different locations.

How would be the best place to rent , decent prices and good experience ? 😊

living in Italy has always been my dream. I plan on attending university in Sassari for my masters program, and wondering if anyone can tell me about the city?

There is barely ANY information on Sassari across social media, which is a little worrying. It looks like an adorable little city, what should I know before moving?

I am considering Sardinia to visit this July, the beaches seem to be really great, and thats my main reason to visit. But the food recommendations and the restaurant lists online seems to be all pizza and pasta places. I get it, its Italia afterall, but its an island also, and I was hoping to find really good fish restaurants that does proper grilled fish as you get in greek fish tavernas ( not farmed, not seafood pasta kind). Is it not common in Sardinia to find such restaurants? Or maybe I couldnt find good recommendations yet?

Hi everyone,

I'm planning a trip with my family across Sardinia, and we’re trying to travel from Alghero to Cagliari using public transportation. So far, I’ve figured out that we need to take a bus from Alghero to Sassari, and then head towards Cagliari. From what I see, the route goes by bus as far as Oristano, and from there we would continue by train.

Here’s my concern: according to the schedule I found, we only have about 10 minutes to make the connection in Oristano. We’ll have luggage and be traveling with a child (7mo), so I’m a bit worried this might be too tight.

Has anyone done this route recently?
Is the 10-minute connection in Oristano realistic or too risky?
Does the bus stop directly at the railway station in Oristano? Could this be a replacement bus for a train service?
Do buses and trains in Sardinia usually run on time?

Would you recommend building in a longer buffer (maybe exploring Oristano a bit and taking a later train)?

Any advice or tips would be really appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

Hello there

This Thursday (24/7) I fly to Cagliari, very early in the morning and flying back home Wednesday next week (30/7).

I am gonna rent a car at the airport in Cagliari, staying in Sarroch.

My question is: I want to visit and see the south of the island totally blind without any advice as to where I should go and what to see. Is that a good idea? I love exploring on my own and be surprised instead of looking up locations on Google Maps.

Thanks in advance , maybe it’s an unusual question.

hello, amici -

I am on your lovely island for the next 3-4 days, and I’m trying to get my hands on some cheese. specifically, it is my mission to find and purchase and taste some CASU MARZU. I know, I know, I know - it’s illegal, and quite possibly dangerous. I still want it it.

I know this is a long shot, but I figure it’s my best bet - if any of you knows a guy who knows a guy who might know where they might sell me some, please let me know!! I’m willing to travel to any part of the island.

thanks in advance for your help

Hey everyone! I’ve noticed this group is super active when it comes to all things Sardinia, so I was hoping someone here could give me some advice. I’ve been in Sardinia for about two weeks now, and sadly, I’ll have to head back home soon :(.

My family and I have been coming here for a couple of years now, and we’ve completely fallen in love with this amazing island. Since last year, my wife and I have been thinking about buying a place here to use for vacations, and maybe rent it out when we’re not using it. Being American, I’m not too familiar with how things work in Italy—whether it’s even possible (I assume it is, since the house we’ve been renting belongs to a local lady), what kind of taxes there are, and how the whole bureaucracy works (I’ve heard it can be pretty slow and complicated in Italy).

Do you know of any trustworthy real estate agencies in Sardinia or anywhere in Italy? Last year I checked with an agency in the States, but they only had insanely expensive options, and I figure an Italian agency would probably be better at navigating the local red tape.

Thanks a ton in advance! 😊

Visiting Sardinia in August and I found these villages that are listed as Most Beautiful Villages of Italy, by I Borghi Più Belli d'Italia. From their website, the villages sound and look fantastic.

I would love to hear real experiences of these villages. Are they as good as they make it out to be?

The villages we like to see are: • La Maddalena • Castelsardo • Tempio Pausania • Bosa • Posada

Planning a trip to Sardinia the last week of October. We’ll fly into Olbia and want to see some nice beaches (thinking Costa Smeralda is best for that).

Not sure where to base ourselves though. Olbia seems practical (restaurants/shops open, easy day trips), but we’re also looking at Porto Rotondo or Golfo Aranci.

Question is: end of October, are those towns basically dead? Like hard to find a restaurant, nowhere to walk around/grab a drink/etc.?

Anyone been there around that time and can share some advice?

My boyfriend and I are going to Sardinia from Sept 7-14.

A little bit about us - we’re going after a week in Rome/Florence and really looking to mostly relax and enjoy. We want to see some beautiful beaches (hikes and boat tour reccos welcome!), love good authentic food (restaurant recs welcome - we eat everything! - and would also like to find a couple farm to table restaurants), and exploring cute towns with cafes, shops, etc. For nightlife, we prefer late romantic dinners and live music over clubbing or bars.

We’re also not looking to spend a ton of money… our Airbnb/hotel budget is around $200-300/night. That said, definitely hoping to stay somewhere nice!

We will be flying into Olbia in the morning on 9/7. Our plan is to rent a car from the airport, and drive straight down to Orosei where we’ll be staying at Albergo Diffuso Mannois for 3 nights (leaving on 9/10).

From there, we’re thinking of staying in one other town further up north. We definitely want to take a day trip to La Maddalena (or should we plan to stay on the island?). Would love some town ideas or affordable hotel/resort ideas in the north.

We’re thinking of then maybe driving to Alghero to spend one day there before flying out on 9/14. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance! Xx

We are here in Cagliari for 4 days. Somehow none of my travelling group took the time think about what to do once we got here... So here we are! Interested in any advice you have about places to eat or things to do in or around Cagliari!

And any advice for bars over the weekend?

Thanks in advance! 🤜🤛

Hey you! My boyfriend and I are going to visit Alghero in Sardinia in august for a week. I’ve been before, in Tortoli, when i was younger. Loved it so much! Now i know Sardinia is known for their amazing seafood, but i’m a vegetarian now, and i’m a bit worried i will be living off of fries mostly.. Can you guys recommend any restaurants who are vegan/vegetarian friendly? Of course it doesn’t have to be completely vege restaurant, but if they have good options, then i’ll be so happy.

I know you can get a ticket for Cala Goloritze on the heart of Sardinia app. I found that one…. But there’s like 5 more beaches I wanted to visit either by hike or boat… and I swear I can not find anything about how to reserve a ticket, and I saw one absolutely has to make reservations (as far as I understood). I’m going in September and rlly meet to reconnect with nature and the ocean.

So if y’all know where to get tickets for Cala Mariolu, Luna,Brandinchi, Sisine, Piscine Di Venere and Spiaggia dei Gabbiani

If you could give any advice or know where to do it, I would rlly rlly appreciate you all🤝🏼❤️

Nothing but love, and hope you have a great day ! :)

Hi all - I’m looking for some advice.

My girlfriend and I are going on a trip around Sardinia, so we’ll need to rent a car. We’ll be there for seven days, arriving and departing from Cagliari airport. Since it’s just the two of us, we’re preferably looking for an economy class car.

I was digging through some older posts about car rentals, and it seems like the reviews are pretty mixed (I get that experiences differ and change over time). After reading through them, I landed on Sunny Cars. Has anyone here rented with them? Or would you recommend going with someone else?

Hello everyone!

Myself and 3 friends are coming to Sardinia at the end of September to enjoy your amazing climbing. We're only there a short amount of time so we'll likely spend our time near Cala Gonone. I was wondering if anyone here has suggestions on crags they love or any other sort of reccomendations.

I'd love to hear about any restaraunts people would reccomend in the area or other activities.

Thanks in advance!

am hoping someone in the know might be able to help me. i see there are two ways to get to the cave via boat - one from alghero and another via the pier of of cala dragunara in porto conte park. i found what seems to be an out of date website (navisarda) that used to run this route but i can't seem to find anything new. really just looking for a schedule. we could do the steps if needed but trying to avoid leaving from alghero so we can enjoy beaches in the area after the park.

Hi! We are planning our honeymoon in Sardinia. We'll be there end of August to early September. (Yes we are planning it very last minute)

The hotels we put on our list are mostly 4 or 5 star, rather luxurious hotels as this is our honeymoon and we want it to feel nice overall.

The top choice is Petra Segreta Resort and Spa which seems to be located in more inland but still has some sea view.

The other choices are Sulia House Porto Rotondo, 7Pines, Romazzino and Hotel Pitrizza. Of these, Sulia House has more reasonable price tag - it seems the property is new and clean, and it was recommensed by one of our friends who have stayed there. But, it's located more inland.

We are not both huge beach people - we are still planning to explore nice beaches, do a boat tour, etc but havinh a beachfront hotel is not our priority.

However, if we chose to stay at Petra Segreta and Sulia House, we are afraid that we would miss out enjoying some of the charms we could in Sardinia. So I wanted to ask those who had experience traveling Sardinia of your opinions on staying at relatively similar vibe hotels vs. giving a variety.

Im having my first time holiday next week staying just outside Olbia in Arxachena with my daughter.

Any recommendations for non private beaches and good places to visit and things to do.

Grazia :)