A week in Sardinia is too short to explore it fully, but enough to recharge your batteries with positive energy and relax by the sea.
Our first holiday in Sardinia: impressions
We’re back from holiday, and getting back into the daily routine is always hard, especially if you’re coming back from a dreamland like Sardinia. This year we decided to take our holiday in June, away from the craziness of August. And I think we made a good choice, as we enjoyed the tranquillity of deserted beaches and had the sea all to ourselves.
Sardegna had been on my list of destinations to visit in Italy for a few years, but for various reasons it kept getting cancelled …so this year we didn’t want to put it off. After spending several years in a row on Elba Island which I fell in love with, I became very curious to discover Sardegna, the second Italian island that many people wish to go to.
Sardinia – a little paradise in the heart of the Mediterranean
For those who don’t know, Sardinia is the second Italian island that many would do anything to get to. Enjoying around 300 sunny days a year, Sardinia is a combination of sharp cliff shores and hilly, flower-strewn coasts in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. White sandy beaches, clear waters, wooded valleys, characterful towns and a rich history make for a truly magical island.
In the past, Sardinia was considered a poor region because of its rocky soil and lack of natural resources. Nowadays, Sardinia has become a popular tourist destination, with a large part of its population employed in the tourism industry.
Some of the most notable features include:
- Beautiful beaches that have clear waters with shallow seabeds that you can walk for miles without getting your feet wet
- The magnificent granite pillar called “Su Nuraxi” which was once the watchtower of the Nuraghe civilization in 1000 BC.
- The regional capital of Sardinia is Cagliari. The region is subdivided into four provinces: Cagliari, Sassari, Nuoro and Oristano.
- The language spoken in Sardinia is Sardinian, a Romance language with obscure origins in Phoenician, Etruscan and other Near Eastern languages. While it has been pretty much replaced by Italian for official purposes, and while it is little known by the youth of Sardinia, especially in Cagliari, Sardinian is still the main national language (Sardinians identify themselves as a people and as a nation).
Island encompasses many extraordinary tourist areas including: Costa Smeralda, Costa Paradiso, Stintino (where we spent our holiday).
How to get to Sardinia?
As I said above, one of the best ways to discover the beauties of Sardinia is outside the summer season. July, August and early September are the busiest months of the year.
For a holiday in Sardinia there are basically two means of transport: by plane or by boat.
Certainly the most affordable means of transport is by boat. This way you can take your own car to the island and get from beach to beach more easily. Alternatively, once on the island you can hire a car or scooter right from the airport.
From the Italian mainland, there are several boat connections even several times a day throughout the year and they become more frequent in summer. Of the departure ports, the most important and popular are Genoa, Livorno, Piombino, Civitavecchia, Naples, Trapani and Palermo. Ports in Sardinia are Olbia, Golfo Aranci, Porto Torres, Santa Teresa di Gallura, Arbatax and Cagliari.
The shipping companies are Tirrenia, Moby, Sardinia and Corsica Ferries, GNV, Grimaldi and SNCM.
For our first experience in Sardinia we opted for our own car and therefore, we chose to go by boat, the Genoa-Olbia trip.
I have to confess that the boat experience was also interesting. It was the first time I slept on a boat. In short, adrenaline to the max. 😀
We took the shuttle at 9pm from the Port of Genoa, and at 8am we were in the Port of Olbia, and our final destination was Stintino, about 2 hours drive from Olbia.
I want to talk about Stintino in another post, in more detail. So, Next I want to show you some memorable photos of the Sardinian beaches from our holiday.
Sardinia has beaches of all shapes and sizes. From breathtakingly beautiful hidden bays on secluded islands to wide open stretches of sand with sheer cliffs offering enough privacy for nudists, there’s something for everyone in this island region off the west coast of Italy.
