Good morning everybody,

I'm planning a trip for the summer and I was wondering whether a week in Alghero would be too much. I don't like moving, specially because I won't have a car. I'd like to stay in a historic place with nearby beaches.

Any thoughts?

Castellanese.

A week would be much too long for me but if you don't like moving you can spend your days at the beach.
You'll miss a lot by not renting a car especially since public transportation is not well organized. However there is a bus service to Bosa and back and the road is one of the most beautiful in Sardinia.
The historical center in Alghero is quite small, the beaches are nice and it will be very crowded in summer...

An entire week in Alghero would be slightly too confining for me (unless my aim were simply to relax), but 5 days would certainly be doable. There is decent public transportation in and out of Alghero, so you won't need a car if you really prefer not to drive. The buses will take you to the most important sites around, including several very nice beaches.

If you were staying in Sardinia for 8-10 days, I would recommend you split your itinerary and spend several days in the south of the Island, perhaps at Cagliari or Pula or Villasimius (where there is also good public transportation)

Here are the major bus routes:

www.arst.sardegna.it (all buses)
www.ferroviesardegna.it (mainly buses)
www.ferroviemeridionalisarde.it (buses)
www.ferroviedellostato.it (Trenitalia trains)

We frequently spend weeks in Santa Teresa. The beaches good and it has a small town feel. You can get the ferry to Corsica and The Maddalena islands.

I am not sure about the public transport as we always hire a car. The Sardinian driving is by far the most gentile in Italy and we drove from Alghero to Santa Teresa (which is some way) one Saturday afternoon in May. We passed SEVEN cars going the other way and it must be 100 miles plus.

Avoid August and Sardinia is the best coastal destination in Europe.

Thanks guys,

I guess that I still need to do some thinking about this. I'm also visiting Lisbon (my main destination) and, depending on how easy it is to visit Italy, I'll make a decision.

Castellanese.

Castellanese : I wrote a trip report on Alghero and area which might interest you.

Thanks Pvoyageuse and thanks to GAC for all the links!

I think a week BASED in Alghero and moving round with public transport would be very interesting. Some more suggestions from Alghero (we have done all these things, now live in Sardinia):-
1. go W to Capo Caccia, great views
2. go to Stintino and Asinara, Asinara is a sort of Italian Alcatraz whose prison for years housed Toto Riina
3. get up onto the inland plain, a world away from the beaches

The best site in English is the Sardegna Regione's official tourism site, in English http://www.sardegnaturismo.it

ciao Peter

A couple of years ago we stayed in Alghero for a week without a car and thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't too long by any means. Public transport did leave something to be desired, but we took the bus and we also took the green train on a couple of occasions. We were there in June and the water although a little cool was crystal clear and deep, so swimming was wonderful. Alghero has lots of small inexpensive places to eat and I'd go back in a heartbeat.