Sardina fun with kids in the the hot and blazing summer heat
 

We are a family of four traveling to Sardinia this month. This is the first time I have not read a guide book before traveling. I am lightening my expectations and don't have to do anything in particular while away. Relaxing with family and friends is plenty for me. Leaving perfect 75 degree temps in Sweden for 95 and sunny in Sardinia. Two kids in tow and meeting another family there. Okay, it is hot as blazes there but we are staying at a nice resort on the beach and have a pool so we are covered in that dept. Any advice on sights to see in the North? We have a car so will travel.

Also, does Sardinia close for siesta in the afternoon?

Food recommendations?

Worth a trip to Corsica? What can we expect there?

Thank you!

Where are you staying?

In Sassari province.

Bit more specific - we have been four times over the past t5 years. Stayed once at Conca Verde near Santa Teresa, once near Capo Testa and twice on Cala Di Volpe.

Which town would help, so that I could suggest restaurants, etc.

Of course! We are staying in San Pietro del Mare near Valledoria and on the coast toward Castelsardo. I see Santa Teresa on the map but that is much further up the coast.

Thanks cheapboxofwine - it is at the far end of Sassari. We didn't eat out there but the following may help.

Beaches : by a long, long way the best in Europe. We have been to most (and I mean most) of the islands in Southern Europe. Sardinia's beaches are the best. I seem to remember driving through the area and the beach here is different from that in other areas - it is huge, sweeping in a large open bay. Many of the other seascapes have smaller coves. The swimming at Valledoria is very good.

General : if you are flying into Alghero don't be put off by the arrival trip up to Valledoria - the area around Porto Torres is industrial and probably the worst on the island. Once you are up to Castelsardo the beauty starts.

Trips : You are really well placed to cover most of the north of the islnd. Trips from Santa Teresa to Alghero can be hard work. The latest we have visited in the year is mid June and so I am not sure how much busier things are. I do know that August is very, very busy. To give you some idea of how easy travel can be in June - we drove from the Airport to Santa Teresa (look on the map) and passed less than 20 cars travelling the other way on a Friday night.

The interior is quite strange and we haven't been that often. All the money head for the coast and the parts of the interior we have visited seem to have just not progressed since the 1950s. It can be an experience but there isn't a lot to attract visitors just very rural, rugged and simple.

I would well and truely suggest :

Day trip to Corsica (we ahven't had chance but my parents did it and raved about it)

Trip out to the Maddelena Islands (abolutely stunning and unspoilt)

Trip to Alghero which is quite Spanish in its feel - many Spanish fisherman settled here and the food is good. The old toen gives good shopping. You could go on a side trip to Capo Caccia with its stunning cliffs and caves.

Having said all this it will be hot. Very hot - around 40oC. There is usally a good wind but it is not that cooling as it is coming straight up from Africa. The crossing to Corsica can be rough if the Africa winds hit the northern Europea winds. In short AC is a must with the car and lots of day trips out may be uncomfortable.

One thing to bear in mind (it may be obvious) but Sardinia is a big island and hopping over to certain areas is sometimes just a non starter. The Costa Smeralda is quite simply one of the most beautiful coasts in Europe which is why it attracts so much of the European wealthy set. It is too far to get to from Valledoria in one day.

In short, I would maybe plan a couple of days trips and the rest of the time just chill out and enjoy the coast.

ps the siesta thing is mixed in less touristy areas they do but where there are tourists business stay open to take as much money as possible due to their very short season.

Be careful all the petrol stations seemed to close on a Sunday (as did the Supermarkets). Do not run out as we nearly did!

Have a loevly time - it is our favourite place in Europe for beautiful seascapes, good food and the warmest people around.

Hey markrosy, thank you for your post! We left the choosing to the friends that we will be meeting so it is really encouraging to hear that we are staying in a nice location.

As I get seasick and a little frightened by choppy waters I am not sure if a Corsica trip is the right thing but we can check out the forecast and do that trip on a nice day.

Nice tip for the Sunday arrival. I hope to find some sort of supermarket open for essentials. Our resort has a restaurant but we will be renting an apartment there so a few breakfast items and coffee would be nice to pick up.

As for the rest. You mentioned some towns and islands to check out. That is a great start and I will be picking up a guide book this week to do some more sleuthing.

Thanks!

Zeppole has a recent post about getting to Sardinia before rick Steves' book about it comes out. She also talks about visiting the interior as it remains authentically Sardinian. Perhaps she will chime in to help.

I haven't been, so I can't help -- and even more unhelpfully than that, I just decided to swap my trip to Sardinia for a trip to Friuli-Venezia because even in September, I think it will be cooler there than in Sardinia!

Cheapboxofwine, I can give you this fantastically detailed website, in Italian and English, that is an interactive map where you can read about every town in Sardinia.

http://www.lamiasardegna.it/filen/201.htm

Stay cool, cheapboxofwine, and even Sardinia doesn't shut down for an afternoon 'pausa,' be sensible and do it yourself. I live in Liguria, and it is a HOT summer.

We do get a lot of Sardinian wine over here, and I really like some Sardinian rose that I've tried. It goes especially nice with the prized mussels from Olbia. All summer long, we eat pane carasau (or carta di musica, the huge frisbee-sized bread that is paper thin, like a music sheet) just drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, maybe with slices of Sardo pecorino cheese.

Have a great trip! I hear the beaches are beautiful.

"I haven't been, so I can't help -- and even more unhelpfully than that, I just decided to swap my trip to Sardinia for a trip to Friuli-Venezia because even in September, I think it will be cooler there than in Sardinia!"

....and you try to come on here giving travel advice - that's sweet.The temperatures in Sardinia in September are in the high 20s not 40. If you hadn't noticed it is an island where to climate is moderated by the sea.

Also what is the point on giving travel advice on places you haven't visited.

Sorry for that cheapboxofwine but the above is the most obnoxious poster around and there are campaigns to ban her from this site. Bascially we have all had enough of her.

wow.. I didn't realize that zeppole has become a target lately by everyone - been very helpful to me in the past. I didn't see anything that was said to be off-putting, not sure why you chose to go on the attack there markrosy?

"I didn't realize that zeppole has become a target lately by everyone"

You won't because everytime we complain the threads are deleted.

Nice as pie to travellers seeking advice, an unreasonable, caustic imbecile to any one offering other advice.

Zeppole, that Sardinia file is perfect. There is nothing more satisfying than a plate of mussels on a warm summer evening. Looking forward to trying the delicacies.

Hey, cheapboxofwine! Good thing I could pass it on to you before I get banned for passing out information, eh?

Chazzarelli,

Markrosy is trying to get me banned from Fodor's because I frequently quote from his own posts by way of warning other travelers to use other sources than his advice before they start committing their own travel dollars based on what he posts on Fodor's.

For example, in Markrosy's third post in this thread, he advised cheapboxofwine:

"Having said all this it will be hot. Very hot - around 40oC."

In his 4th post, Markrosy advised us all:

"The temperatures in Sardinia in September are in the high 20s not 40."

In reality --a place Markrosy gives no indication of having ever visited -- nobody can predict the weather -- which is the reason why nowhere in the thread did I predict the weather for Sardinia.

And nowhere in this thread did I offer cheapboxofwine any information that I haven't sampled myself. Where I live in Italy is lucky in that we have very easy access to a lot of authentic Sardinian food and wine, sold by Sardinian producers themselves in our weekly market. I have personally tasted the delicious rose wine, the mussels of Olbia, the pane carasau that I recommended.

That stands rather in stark contrast to Markrosy urging cheapboxofwine to a trip to Corsica which he's never personally taken, and on and on.

If this thread gets deleted because of Markrosy's "complaints," don't blame me.

Zeppole

that is a rant and most of it incorrect - I have been to Sardinia 6 times , four times recently and of those 3 in September - one else has a problem with me.

There are no other posters who have a problem with me on this website. Plenty do with you.

Stay away from my posts in future - you do not exist.

PS: Anybody can check the historic weather patterns for a travel destination using this website -- where you can see that, typically, in July, weather in Sassari (where cheapboxofwine is going) the maximum temperatures reached are in the high 20s, not the 40s.

http://www.climatetemp.info/italy/sassari-sardinia.html

In September, charts of historic weather patterns show Friuli-Venezia to be cooler than Sardinia:

http://www.climatetemp.info/italy/ud...ia-giulia.html

This summer is hotter than what we experienced last summer, and those of us who live on the Mediterranean are already tiring of it.

I stand by what I wrote in my first post, explaining why I couldn't help cheapboxwine with information about mountain destinations in Sardinia, as jubilida suggested I might:

"I just decided to swap my trip to Sardinia for a trip to Friuli-Venezia because even in September, I think it will be cooler there than in Sardinia!"

I wasn't advising cheapboxofwine to go to Friuli-Venezia, But I'm now thinking maybe I should go to Sweden!

markrosy,

I most certainly do exist! You really are reality-challenged!

Since you are so interested in majority opinion, I've not a doubt in the world that the majority of people reading this thread will think that your response to my first post was absolutely uncalled for and destructive of the traveler's request for help.

Although my first post had nothing at all to do with what you posted -- as anybody can see -- I will post in response to what you post any time I want. If you want to continue with a campaign to ban posters on Fodor's who are trying to help people -- as I was in entering this post to shrare with cheapboxofwine what I know -- I tend to think people are starting to have a problem with you.

The people who most have a problem with me on Fodor's are the ones who share your attitude about travel, and keep returning to the same places over and over out of fear of new information.

"I definitely realise that I have become an anglo saxon insular - our local environment isn't multi-cultural and probably think that our lack of diverse travel has left me certainly a little less tolerant ie don't think it has taught me much."

I don't disagree with you!

In case it wasn't obvious to others, the above in quotes is a quote from markrosy, describing himself to other Fodorites in the Fodor's Lounge, where he can usually be found when he isn't in Sardinia delivering anglo-saxon insular fulminations on the state of a world.

sorry - didn't mean to start or fuel the fire here. I just was wondering why markrosy felt the need to slam you. I agree, didn't see anything wrong with your post.

Its a shame that this site is becomming more and more a place of arguement rather than a site to share stories, info and read about places we all love to visit.

You know everyone is not going to agree with everything someone says - if you don't agree - ignore it, state your oppinon and move on. I've found plenty of info out here that I could use, others that I couldn't.

IMO - the only people who should be banned or have posts deleted are those who contiually solicit items or websites.

chazzarelli

You are absolutely right and I had no to place to do it.

The simple fact is that certain posters are seeming to claim this site by throwing their weight around, being initially agressive to those who offer simple advice. Clearly, now I look stupid as that is what I did above, I have fallen into the trap of others.

However, the poster above seems to spend an awful lot of time around here and seems to research other posters with the intention of waging war for the hearts of others.

Personally I just don't care, just love talking about the places we have visited and I agree with your comments regarding the negative aspects of this site.

What really annoyed me was the fact that the poster continually belittles others for "knowing nothing" and yet posts on threads about areas she hasn't visited.

As I said before, I apologise to others for "starting it" but "it" has ended.

no problem.. glad to know everyone has settled down now!

OK! I have read thru the postings again. Looking forward to a nice trip to Sardinia! Thanks everyone!

I suggested (unhelpfully, it turns out) that Zeppole might give input about the interior of Sardinia , which no one here seems to mention much. She only joined to say she had not been. Jeez, what a tempest in a teapot!