Ionian Islands or Sardinia - which one should we go to ?
 

Dear all,

My wife and I are sick and tired of the house renovations, furniture hunting etc we embarked on recently after our marriage and we decided to take off for a relaxing vacation. Seems like our choices are down to two: Either going to Sardinia, Italy or the Ionian Islands, Greece.

Which one would you advise us to go to, given that:

1 - We are dead tired
2 - We plan to leave in a few days, so it will be a last minute get away (or rip off maybe I should say)
3 - We prefer to avoid the crowds and posh set-ups and prefer the true, natural feel of the Mediterranean
4 - My wife loves architecture, we both like collecting antiques
5 - We don't need sandy beaches but would definitely enjoy nice beaches
6 - All we need in our rooms is an ac and a fridge - no luxury needed
7 - we like driving around (both on motobikes and cars, yet my wife hates my passion for motorbikes)

All advice truly welcome, I cannot choose as I do not know which one will be good for us!

We were in Sardinia for about 10 days a year ago and really liked it. It was quieter than mainland Italy but still things to do. We flew into Olbia and out of Alghero and just travelled across the top bit of the island. A day trip to Bonifacio in Corsica, from Santa Teresa Gallura was a highlight of the trip. Bonifacio has to be seen to be believed. The ferry takes about 30-40 mins. The beaches up near Stintino have a good reputation as the sand is white and the water a clear aqua.

Greece is great but I don't know the Ionion islands, sorry.

Kay

Sardinia is a big island, speaking of the ionian islands you are speaking of 7 islands that are not very near to eachother...
Corfu would be the most northern island while Kythira is located in the south of the Peloponnese.
You could combine Corfu and Paxi islands, or Zakynthos, Kefalonia and Lefkada. This would be an island hopping.... not sure if that's what you are looking for.
From all the islands the biggest and less touristy one is Kefalonia followed by Lefkada, both have terrific beaches, one or two have been voted among the top 10 in the world.

Hi Medbird

I have been to Sardinia many times and usually in the area that Kay visited. She is absolutely right, it is a relatively undiscovered gem and there are not many left in the world.

We are there again in a month for 2 weeks. It is a lovely, fairly undeveloped area and in my view has the best seascapes in Europe and definitely the best beaches. The Sardinia government have put a very, very tight cap on coastal development and so there are no "Costa" style overdevelopments.

The only thing that is missing in terms of your spec is the architectural side. There is history in Cagliari and Alghero but basically Sardinia is not Tuscany. However, we have travelled much of Italy and I am sure that Sards are the warmest Italians we have encountered. It is painful at times (bit like Eire) you can't get anything done for chatting to friendly locals.

The food is generally pretty good and the area offer a good balance between lazy days walking/swimming on the beach and days for trips out.

I notice your aversion to ostentatious wealth. Avoid the area between Palau and Olbia it is one of the most ostentatious areas of Europe. I once saw a 12 year old? Arab driving a Lamborghini (badly).

Last year we sailed around the Ionian island on a bareboat yacht charter. They were beautiful but the beaches are pretty basic. Myrtos does usually make the top 20 in the world but it shouldn't be there. It is stunning to view from 5 miles but pretty awful to spend time there. It is very, very hot and only pebbles.

Again, the architecture fails (other than Fiskardo which is Tuscany by the sea) due to the huge earthquake in 1953 which raised most of the buidlings to the ground.

Corfu avoided the earthquake and has lots of impressive Venetian neo-classic buildings all over the island. It may be a good option but just beware of the lager lout resorts.

Finally, be very , very careful when renting a scooter. I am not sure about the current stats but some years back the British press researched the number of Brits being killed in the southern Med whilst using scooters on holiday. The results were shocking (nearly one of the highest killers of young Brits (full stop)). The EU does not collate figures and clearly the Spanish/Italian/ Greek authorities feel comfortable covering the issues up. Bascially, without good experience, protective clothing and local knowledge they can be lethal.

Let me know if you need any more information.

I'll have to dissagree with humptynumpty..
Kefalonia is a wonderful island with great beaches, and not "basic"..... and there are also islands like Lefkas, Kythira, Zakynthos or Ithaki and Paxi, all of them beautiful with terrific beaches ( with the exception of Paxi...)

clauser

We travelled most of northern Kefalonia by car and really struggled to find any sort of good beach. I had always wanted to visit Myrtos out of interest. From 5 miles away it looked amazing. Actually on the beach : it was all pebble, very hot due to the cliffs and the sea was pretty dirty. I think there are some better beaches further south but we couldn't find any in the north.

The beach at Lefkas town was downright awful. I accept that our access to some of the beaches was limited due to having a 40ft boat but the beaches are fairly poor compared to Sardinia.

I accept that all judgements are subjective but my benchmarks are based on the Out Islands of The Bahamas.

http://www.destination360.com/caribb...re-cay-beaches

You havent seen the beaches of south Kefalonia, as i understand you haven't seen the nice beaches of Lefkas either such as Kathisma or Porto katsiki, you seem not having seen the rest of the ionian islands... but anyway this isn't a beach competition....and certainly you cannot compare european beaches with the Maldives or the Bahamas...

Many thanks to all those who have responded, and especially to humptynumpty for the insightful comments. I have made my choice, and rather trying to catch ferries with stopovers between the Greek islands, I have decided to fly to Sardinia. However, now I need a recommendation for a town/place to stay. I am checking out holidaylettings.co.uk for villas, and the towns suggested are all all over the island, and I am wondering which town would be the best - given that I am to avoid the stretch between Palau and Olbia. I am to book within the next 12 hours so your instant replies are appreciated !

All the best.

Medbird

We have travelled most of the island (missed the south east corner).

I wouldn't look any further than the area between Palau and Santa Teresa. It is well placed for day trips to Corsica/ The Maddalena Islands and Santa Teresa town is a lovely little seaside town. There are day trips to the high end areas on The Costa Smeralda which has some beautiful coastline and it is worth a trip just to see how the "other 1%" live.

Alghero/Stintino and the cliffs at Capo Caccia are a long day trip but worth it. There are some pretty good restaurants in Alghero and the area produces very good cheese and wine.

Be very careful with the standard of villas. We have always found Italian coastal villas to be very variable.

This year we used Agenzia Nord Sardegna who seem middle market and good value. In the past we have used Immobilsarda who are middle market but are becoming more expensive and up market.

We stay in Conca Verde which is really just a sleepy collection of villas on a protected inlet overlooking the Maddalena islnds. The views are beautiful particularly at sunset. There is a new hotel which is 4 star and will be useful for meals and it is possible to rent speed boats to go out to the Maddalena islands.

What is your budget, when are you flying and from where?

Humptynumpty, you're my saviour. The apartments listed in Holidaylettings are in Porto San Paolo, Porto Cervo,Sant Antioco, Costa Smeralda, San Giovani-Castelsardo and Olbia... Budget is not the constraint, but my wife is anxious to see cute little Italian towns - can we find those in Sardignia ? I am really digressing, but we have also started thinking about staying in Tuscany and doing day trips to Florence/Siena, or Sicily... Things are getting worse here :(

I agree with HumptyNumpty (did you used to have a different screen name?) about staying in or near Santa Teresa. The town is nice though nothing to rave over but it's good for quite a few day trips. The ferry trip to Bonifacio is a must in our opinion. We spent all day there and bought a ticket to come back once we'd had enough. It was off season and there were about 4 ferries a day, each way. Don't forget your passport!

We also enjoyed walking around Capo Testa, there are massive rocks there for climbing, I was too chicken to climb right to the top of a pile of boulders like my husband but it's a very attractive natural area.

There's also a nice small beach with white sand at Santa Teresa, it's about 5 mins walk from the centre of town.

We stayed at the Hotel Marinaro which was fine.

Kay

Kay, yes I did!

I agree that Santa Teresa isn't anything to rave about and to us that is the attraction. There aren't many areas of the Southern Med left that are beautiful and not over-run with cruise parties or sun seekers (or indeed rows of apartment blocks). Ironically, the Ionian has lots of them (many towns only accessible by boat). We had really warm welcomes in places like Ithaca and Meganissi. Little old ladies dressed in black chasing my 3 year old round town for a hug, great fun.

People rave about Amalfi, Taormina and Portofino but when too many people rave about a place, the places attract too many people. Out of August, Santa Teresa is just a simple, laid back, friendly place in the midst of some stunning scenery.

Clearly, each and everyone is different. Everyone has different needs at different times. For us ST ticks the "have a quite, sleepy, relaxing break" box. At other times we probably want more.

Medbird

How about another option which we have really enjoyed in the past. The Tuscan hill towns can be hot and hard work in summer. Why not spend a few days in say Pienza/Montalcino then drive the 90 minutes down to Piombino and take the ferry over to Elba (1 hour) which has some lovely small resorts, stunning seascapes with beautiful cliff walks. We stayed here which was really relaxing.

http://www.scogliobianco.it/images/spiaggia-forno-g.jpg

This trip was a great mix of hot hill towns, followed by cool dips in the sea.

You must consider the north Sardinia Porto Pollo is a very beatiful place, but you have to go there in off season if you don't like the crowd these are the link of a sea residence

http://www.baiadeidelfini.it
http://www.windsurfvillage.it

I feel awfully bad about having betrayed all of you, as we chose to go to Sicily :) For the good or bad, the combination of beaches/towns/architecture/history was the main factor in our decision.

The main factor against the Ionian Islands was transportation,period. Olympic has awful schedules flying in and out of the islands, and the ferry schedules between the islands are just as bad. For example - to get to Kefalonia from Corfu you first need to take an 8 hour ferry ride down to Patras and then another ferry back up to Kefalonia. You cannot book the Kefalonia - Zakinthos ferries beforehand as it is all local. Unfortunately, the comparatively efficient ferry system in the Cyclades doesn't exist in the Ionian Islands.

What put us off from Sardinia, at least for this time around, was the fact that it's better to stay on the northern coast, and if you do that, it will take you 2 hours to get to Alghero and nearly four to get to Cagliari - which means you are secluded from the historical view on the Island, and the architecture.

I would like to thank all of for your help and support, and wish all of you happy vacations!

Dear Medbird
I am glad that you made your decision, main thing is that you will have a great time wherever you go !!
Sicily is an amazing destination, i am sure you will love it.
Hope to read a trip report when you come back !!

I agree with Clauser.

With hindsight and in terms of your requests it is probably the best choice. In terms of food, coast AND architecture it is the best destination in the Southern Med. For us, the logistics of travel on the island were just too demanding (drivers were nutters).

Enjoy yourself and never feel obliged just because we post. What is important is getting your best choice in the end and I think you have made that choice (without us!!!).

Post a report to help us all!

" In terms of food, coast AND architecture Sicily is the best destination in the Southern Med."
Certainly true compared to Sardinia.
Sicily 5 million people, Sardinia 1,6 You can't have architecture without people, much of Sardinia is uninhabited and you should come (t)here (I live there) if you want undeveloped places. I am on boat back to Sardinia from rome, Sardinia (at least our part, centre-east coast) has the most spectacular natural beauty and great walking/beaches etc but not much development...
...now off to eat dinner on ferry -;)
Peter

"You can't have architecture without people"

Well, we do a pretty good job in SW Scotland and have done so for around 800 years.

http://www.drumlanrig.com/

Indeed over the past 5 years some of the most cutting edge houses in Britain have been built here.

http://www.candwarch.co.uk/projects/...lingwood.shtml

It is usually wealth that dictates architecture rather than the size of population.

Over the past 2000 years Sicily's agriculture has attracted huge wealth. During the early 19th century lemons were a huge wealth creator which led to the construction of many of the Libertine/Baroque villas.

Generally, Sardinia has never had such concentrated wealth.