italy2005

Which city has a better night life in Sardigna -- Cagliari or Olbia? Thanks in advance.

GAC

While I've never been to Olbia, my distinct sense is that the night life in Cagliari is better. It is a much larger city, has a university, many good restaurants around the port area, classical music concerts, theatre and opera, and is a year-round city. Olbia is lacking in the above and lacks tourists from October to April. Moreover, while Olbia has virtually no cultural, architectural, musical or artistic attractions of note, Cagliari has a wonderful Cathedral, medieval quarter, Roman Theatre, and Archeological Museum. There's simply to comparison in this regard.

italy2005

GAC - thank you for responding. My friends and I are going in Sardigna on August 2005. I have looked for hotels and it seems like most of them are RESORT types. Is this typical in Sardinia? If you have any recommendations of hotels to stay in Cagliari it will be greatly appreciated. In addition, we will be coming in from Venice. Do you know which airline flies directly from venice to cagliari? also we would need to fly to Naples after cagliari. Thanks in advance.

AP6380

From your previous posts I gathered you were really interested in beaches, right? While I've heard Poetto near Cagliari is nice (I didn't go) it seemed that the most scenic beaches are about a 40 minute drive out of the city. GAC (I think)also advised me before my trip that the city is quiet in August because the University is out. I don't know what your budget is, this hotel was on a "beach" (very mediocre, but the views were really nice) and it was a quick drive into town, if you're going to have a car.

http://www.hotelcalamosca.it/

Very cheap, simple and pleasant. It seemed to me in Aug. people were fleeing Cagliari, so I'm not sure how much night life there will be???

italy2005

hi AP6380 - do you have any pictures from Cagliari? As I have asked GAC Do you know which airline flies directly from venice to cagliari? also we would need to fly to Naples after cagliari. Thanks in advance.

GAC

Italy2005: If you're specifically aiming for night life, your best bet by far is to stay in Alghero. Far more night life than either Cagliari or Olbia, particularly in August.

From Venice to Cagliari, check Volare Airlines.

From Cagliari to Naples, check Meridiana Airlines. There is also a Tirrenia overnight car ferry from Cagliari to Naples (16 hours) twice a week in August, operated by Tirrenia Lines.

For exhaustive information, you should also check the previous posting: how to get to Sardinia from Naples, on this website.

I'll be happy to recommend hotels in Cagliari, if you tell me your price range (they range from 60 to 200 Euros per night, bed and breakfast). I can also recommend hotels in Alghero, if you're interested.

italy2005

GAC - What are the beaches like in Alghero? Are there also flights from Venice to Alghero and Alghero - Naples?

Please do give me some recommendations for Hotels in Cagliari. We would prefer places that are close to the water. As far as price range we are willing to pay upto 200 EUROS (for a triple room).There's going to be 5 or 6 women on this trip. Thanks again.

GAC

There are no direct flights from Venice to Alghero or from Alghero to Naples.

It sounds to me that you're looking for a beach hotel, possibly with a pool and private beach. If this is so, your best bet is to stay close to Alghero or Cagliari, but not in town. Nightlife would be limited to the hotel itself, unless you took the bus or a cab into town (which is certainly possible).

Near Alghero, I suggest you look at the Hotel Porto Conte. The water is quite lovely here, much nicer than the water off of Alghero proper. The last bus back to the hotel leaves Alghero around 23:30, so it would be possible to "hit the town" at night if that were your preference. However, if you really want to stay in town, there are numerous hotels on the Lido of Alghero, but the water here is not nearly as clear and clean.

South of Cagliari, there are a couple of nice resort hotels, such as the moderately priced Hotel Mare Pineta/ Hotel Flamingo at Santa Margherita di Pula. I would not recommend any "beach" hotel in Cagliari proper.

italy2005

GAC: I tried to search for Santa Margherita di Pula on the web but I can not find their website. Do they have one?

AP6380

Here's the link to my pictures:

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.js...oid=1226977481
03&collid=911940848103&page=1&sort_ord er=0

italy2005

i tried the link but it didnt work

Eloise

Italy2005: Santa Margherita di Pula is the name of the town; the name of the hotel is Hotel Flamingo/Hotel Mare Pineta.

This is the hotel's Web site:

http://www.hotelflamingo.it/

AP6380

It works for me, but here's another one to try:

http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.js...dtrue&Ux=0

Hopefully this works for you!!!

italy2005

I checked out the website for hotelflamingo-- very nice. it seems like the nice beaches is outside of cagliari. We are planning to stay in Sardinia for a total of 3-4 days. Is it worth going for those few days?

AP6380

Your going to have 17 days, right? Why only 3 for Sardegna? If that's the plan I would just stay on the mainland.

GAC

It really seems like a great deal of cost and effort to fly to and from Sardinia for only 3 or 4 nights. If you are aiming for a truly exquisite beach experience, then perhaps you could (barely) justify the trip.

In that case, I would want to choose a really nice hotel, like the Meridien Chia Laguna (expensive), south of Santa Margherita di Pula, or the Is Morus Relais (expensive) or perhaps even the Flamingo (less expensive) both at Santa Margherita di Pula itself.

The beach at Chia is spectacular and the sand a very lovely white. It's fairly rustic, but there is (unfortunately) some new construction of holiday condominiums creeping in.

If you rent a car at the Cagliari airport (desirable), you would be able to drive into town after dinner and return to your hotel around midnight, if that is your desire.

Otherwise, the last bus from Cagliari back to Santa Margherita (1 hr.) and Chia Laguna (75 mins.) leaves (daily) at 20:35, which makes it impractical to hang out in Cagliari after dark, if relying on the bus. A taxi back to the hotel would be expensive (minimum 60 Euros)

Nevertheless, the Meridien Chia Laguna has good evening entertainment in the self-contained resort village, making it unnecessary to drive to Cagliari.

You could always visit Cagliari (and the Roman ruins at Nora) during the day by bus, when schedules are fairly frequent and very reliable.

All in all, it does seem wasteful to me to plan such a short trip to Sardinia, which is such a beautiful destination deserving of a full two weeks at a minimum.

italy2005

GAC - Thank you so much for the information. I will go ahead and discuss this with my friends. Do you think spending 3-4 nights in Taormina will be a waste as well?

GAC

3-4 nights in Taormina are not a waste! However, if you're going to Sicily ONLY for 3 nights in Taormina, once again, I question the cost and time involved for such a short stay.

On a comparative basis, in my opinion, it is a little easier to justify three nights in Taormina than three nights on a beach in Sardinia, but because the experiences are SO very different, everything depends on personal preferences.

italy2005

GAC - i didnt know that planning this trip can be a bit stressful i am thankful for you and the rest of the fodorites for helping me out. i did look for air travel from venice to taormina. there's 6 people going on this trip and one person prefers the other..so now we cant decide. there are beaches in taormina right? so far this is our planned itinerary (for the nth time)

venice (2 days)
capri (3 days)
sardinia or sicily (4 days)
positano (4 days)
naples (2 days)

Eloise

Two days in Venice and a combined seven days in Capri and Positano is incomprehensible to me.

If most of you just want to stay at beaches, you don't have to go all the way to Italy to do it.