We are planning a trip in May 2009 and are having trouble finding a flight from Naples to Olbia in Sardinia. I have tried Eurofly, Alitalia, Air One, etc. and wondered if there are less flights at that time of year as some of the hotels don't seem to be open then. Thank you for your help.

Have you tried Meridiana? They have flights from Naples to Olbia.

Yes but they're only showing this months' dates so far.

Check www.slowtrav.com.

a man named GAC has a wealth of info especially on the ferrys.


we travelled by ferry from civitavecchia to sardinia in may of last year.

Did you try Ryan Air? I'm not really sure if they go from Naples to Olbia but I know they go from Rome to Alghero. I flew on Meridiana for a high price and found out that Ryan Air had just started service after the fact. May be worth checking out.

We were in Sardinia last month...it was fantastic...enjoy!

I don't think you'll find ANY nonstop flights in May between Naples and Olbia. You'll have to connect either in Rome or in Cagliari.

It will actually cost less if you take the train to Civitavecchia, and then one of the fast ferries to Olbia.

Moby Lines has a fast ferry from Civitavecchia to Olbia departing at 15:00, arriving at 20:00. Otherwise, Tirrenia Lines has an overnight ferry at 22:30, arriving at 5:30. You do NOT need to make reservations for the ferries to Sardinia in May, as this is low season. You can purchase the ferry ticket on the day of departure at the port.

www.ferroviedellostato.it
www.tirrenia.it
www.moby.it

Mhwhite-

omg, i had the same problem last year! It was really frustrating, and the flights from rome were really expensive, too. (thinking we might have to train back to rome to find a flight!)

we ended up on an overnight ferry, which was more cost-effective (family of 4) considering we would have spent money that night for a hotel. it was dimaio lines with a 4 bed cabin with a shower for about 200 euro.

the ferry schedules don't come out till the spring, so don't even stress out over it now. I looked at my records, and i booked on march 23rd.

good luck! a flight would have been much nicer!

and btw, we flew from olbia to milan on ryan air really cheaply...

Your best bet is always to google the airport itself. In this case, go to the Olbia airport site and see what flights come in from where, then click on the Naples marker on the network map. You'll find that Meridiana has a lock on Olbia.

www.geasar.it/eng/airport/network

Your best bet is to fly out of FCO to Olbia via Meridiana in May. Flights between Naples and Olbia via Meridiana are only available beginning in June through the summer months.

I would avoid an overnight ferry, if at all possible....my friends on Sardinia advise against it, and I trust them completely.

I'm having the same problem and thank you all for your contributions. I'm wondering why I should avoid an overnight ferry though.
I've travelled similar routes from Melbourne to Tasmania in Australia inasmuch as the times are almost identical and the accommodations (or not) were the same. Although it is a tad uncomfortable if you go on the cheap it isn't impossible.
Cheers all

I have taken several overnight ferries (Tirrenia and Siremar, which are considered the "worst" Italian operators), and I would RECOMMEND doing it. While some ferries are not exactly "state of the art", they do provide fairly reliable, efficient and inexpensive transportation to Sardinia. You also save the cost of one hotel night, so taking the overnight ferry makes sense from an economic perspective.

Between NAPLES and SARDINIA, most travellers take the train to Civitavecchia, then either the Tirrenia overnight ferry to Cagliari, or the overnight ferries operated by Tirrenia, Moby Lines or SNAV.

There is also a DIRECT overnight ferry between Naples and Cagliari once per week (doubling for several weeks during the peak of the summer season), operated by Tirrenia.

The one thing I would advise about the ferries to Sardinia is that they do get OVERCROWDED between July 1 and August 31. If you must travel during this period, you need to book your sleeping cabin in advance. But for most of the rest of the year (and certainly from October 1 through May 31), you don't need to worry about booking in advance. Indeed, during the "dead season", these ferry often depart with fewer than 200 passengers (out of a capacity of 3000).

Also, if you take the (summer only) DAYLIGHT ferry between Civitavecchia and Olbia (operated by Tirrenia and Moby), you can travel "dirt cheap", and the ride itself is usually quite cheerful and even entertaining. There are also daylight ferries (summer only) between Livorno and Olbia, operated by Moby, as well as between Genoa/Olbia and Genoa/Porto Torres. Unfortunately, there are no daylight ferries to Cagliari.

The "best" operators are considered GNV Lines, Moby Lines and Sardinia Ferries. Tirrenia is considered the "worst", in relative terms. SNAV is considered slightly better than Tirrenia (which doesn't say much).

www.tirrenia.it
www.mobylines.it
www.snav.it
www.gnv.it
www.sardiniaferries.it (only to Golfo Aranci)

Meridiana was the only airline that I found to fly Naples-Olbia. But be aware they cancel flights last minute. They told us that the plane had mechanical problems but this didn't make sense since it was approx 5-6 days before the flight was due to take off. Think it was more likely that the plane was not full so they condensed flights. We had to reaarange our plans on the fly, from an international phone I might add ($$$)