yorkshire

Hi all, I have used the search function--last result was 2014. I'm just starting research for a late May visit to Sardinia. Flying round-trip Olbia, 10 days with car. No interest in resorts. I am more interested in the west coast and interior, but flights will dictate some time on the east side, again just getting started on gathering ideas.
Ekscrunchy, did you ever make it? Thanks in advance for sharing--experiences, resources, etc. I have the Lonely Planet guide and the official turismo page.

ekscrunchy

Yorkshire, What a coincidence! I never did get to Sardinia but was just pondering the idea of going this fall.. I will be following along here as you firm up your trip. That island is a big mystery to me and sounds fascinating from the little I've read.

yorkshire

Will do--years ago, I cooked through Sweet Myrtle, Bitter Honey (the non-meat parts anyway) and I'm so excited about the pasta and bottarga!

lindatx

Following! Planning 1 week in the north with a car in late may as well!

yorkshire

My plans got thwarted by the Lufthansa, "let's cut 30,000 summer flights" snafu, but good luck!

KayF

We had a similar amount of time in Sardinia, also in May, but about ten years ago so some things will have changed. We stayed in Santa Teresa Gallura and really liked the town. It was small and walkable but enough places to eat. There was a lovely small beach close to the town (short walk). Our best memory was the day we caught the ferry to Bonifacio in Corsica. We walked from our hotel to the port, bought a ticket, got on the next ferry and about 40 mins later were in Corsica. We had a gorgeous sunny blue-sky day with wonderful views from the ferry. Bonifacio is drop dead gorgeous. Don't forget passports if you go. The ferry we caught was also a car ferry.

Next stop was Alghero, we only stayed in two places in Sardinia. Alghero was OK but not a must see in my opinion. We had a car for the whole trip, collected at Olbia airport, and liked Capo Testa which was a rocky picturesque area by the sea. Also liked Bosa, didn't have long there but it had character. We drove out to Stintino too which was pretty. Dropped our hire car back at Alghero airport when we left and had to stop and wait for a while as there was a man shepherding goats down the main road. Hope this helps in some small way. We thought Sardinia was like Italy but maybe fifty years ago.

lindatx

@yorkshire I'm so sorry! I am flying to and from London (denver to london was my first leg, with a couple nights in london) and just noticed today that all the routes I was watching on Luf disappeared!

lindatx

@kayf thanks so much, this is hugely helpful! You were on a very similar route to what we are planning.

BlueRidgeboots

What a timely thread; so happy to see this question posed with folks jumping in. Just yesterday, I was researching flights to the island to see which airport would be the most economical, as far as getting there with least amount of stops. So many variables – which airport to leave states from, which airline to use. I ran the gambit yesterday from one stop to FOUR. Going to start this next trip to Italy in Sardinia and end it on the mainland instead of the other way around. I also looked into catching a puddle jumper to the mainland instead of a ferry. Flights are cheap and fast. Will be watching to see what gems will surface from fellow travelers.

lindatx

Finally finalized our itinerary - 2 nights in Porto Cervo, 2 in Santa Teresa Gallarda, and 4 nights in Costa Paradiso. Car for the entire time. Decided to focus on just the north in the time we had - day trip to Corsica, day said to La Madd archipelago (based on weather). Some wineries and agriturismo meals. Hope to come back with lots of great ideas!

lindatx

Just returned from Sardinia last night - definitely my new fave place and already trying to figure out how to get back there in October! Summary:
Flew from Denver to LHR, then LGW to Olbia with a stop in Geneva. (Could've gone direct from LGW but waited to long and had some timing constraints). Also I learned how expensive a cab from LHR to LGW is these days (about $200, didn't have time for public transportation) and I would have picked a flight from LHR based on the total cost.
Friday (5/19): Arrived in Olbia late Friday night and stayed at Jazz Hotel by the airport - walked there and back. Really nice hotel with a very nice looking restaurant and bar (I was too tired to eat, but it looked really nice).
Saturday (5/20): Next morning I was back at the airport early to meet up with daughter (who arrived from Naples) and pick up the car. I booked through Discover cars and got a car from Felirent - it was a little confusing with the middleman, and we waited a bit for a ride to the rental car place, but it all worked out well and I didn't need anything beyond my CO drivers license. It was overcast day 1, so we decided to drive inland - we stopped in San Pantaleo, which was small but so charming. We ended up seeing a wedding and visited a few shops. Then headed to Porto Cervo to check in to our hotel. Stopped along the way at Belvedere Lounge for lunch - ate outside with amazing views, the food and service were wonderful. Got our first taste of Mirto, which became a fave for the week. Checked into Valesmeralda Boutique Hotel for 2 nights. Small, great location, wonderful full breakfast each morning. We wandered around the marina, had dinner at Hivaoa. Great food - we had pasta and pizza and great wine. Really attentive service. Being here late May was wonderful - at times felt like we were the only people there and always had super attentive service!
Sunday (5/21): Another overcast day - headed to Arzachena and just didn't see much - I wonder if we just didn't know where to go, but the town itself from what we saw was not super interesting, so we headed off to Lugosanto, which was a very cute town to wander. On the way, we stopped along the highway and hiked up (very straight up!) some ancient steps to see the remains of an old castle and church. Amazing views! Not much open in Lugosanto since it was early season and Sunday, so we went back to Arzachena and had a great lunch at La Terrazza Pizzeria. More great pizza, super casual and affordable, our first Seadas which became another favorite (think the best sopapilla you've ever had, with local honey, but stuffed with local sheep cheese!!). From there we headed to Surrau Winery which was BEAUTIFUL! Did a 2 wine tasting with snacks, they do a full dinner and broader tasting that I would go back to do. We bought some wine (we thought the tasting was overpriced but the wine was affordable). The weather had cleared (we had perfect weather the rest of the trip!), so we stopped at our first beach, hiked down and just enjoyed the natural beauty. Headed back to Porto Cervo to wander the super fancy shopping area. Didn't go to dinner as we were too full! I thought Porto Cervo was nice to see but I wouldn't go back - if you're into super high end shopping you might enjoy it.
Monday 5/22): Checked out and headed to Golfo Arancini - my son-in-law was arriving from Naples to Olbia so wanted to stay close by. Beautiful drive, walked around the port and had lunch on the deck at Gente di Mari. So much fresh seafood, such great service!! Did the airport pickup, headed to our next stop, Santa Teresa Gallura. We stayed at Hotel Corallaro for the next 2 nights - loved it, great location on one of the best beaches, another big full breakfast. We headed out to check out the beach (rena Bianca) and then had drinks at the beach bar. Wandered around the local town and ate someplace that I can't remember, but just a nice little restaurant and had another great pizza
Tuesday 5/23: We were going to go to Corsica for the day, but we hadn't booked ferry tickets in advance so they were pricey, and it was just such a great day, we headed to the Rena Bianca beach again - stunning beach. Water was chilly but still fun to wade in. We had lunch right on the beach at Ristorante Pizzaria Marlin - another great meal! Then we hiked around the trails that start right from the beach, great views, cool old tower. That night we had reservations at Ristorante da Thomas - really wonderful!!
Wednesday 5/24: Checked out and headed out to Lo Squalo Bianco to rent a boat for the day (about a 20. minute drive). Perfect day - my SIL (who is in the Navy) served as our captain for the day and we boated all around the La Maddalena archipelago, anchored and swam to a deserted beach, then went to the island of La Maddalena and moored up to wander the area by the marina and another great lunch at Le Maison. Turned in the boat and headed to our destination for the rest of the trip - 4 nights at Costa Paradiso Resorts. We rented the Granite Villa and it was amazing. Costa Paradiso is really just a community of homes, a few of which can be rented. There is also a hotel, Hotel Costa Paradiso. We rented our villa through CostaParadisoresort.com and highly recommend. Mr. Sagi (the manager) met us at the entrance of the area and then we followed him directly to the villa, we parked, unloaded and then he not only gave us a tour of the villa, but drove us around the entire area. This is one of the most beautiful areas you can imagine! The sunset from our patio every night was just fantastic! There was a path right from the patio to take you to the endless number of different small beaches and coves. You can also walk (15 min) to spectacular sandy beach. There's shops, restaurants, markets (we had a full kitchen), a boating center and dive shop. We absolutely loved it and would spend the whole week there next time. We had sunset cocktails but again, were too full to eat dinner! Note that there are roaming wild boar in Costa Paradiso, they are fairly domesticated and won't bother you (unless you feed them and that is a big no-no!). They are small and "cute" (for a boar) not the big scary ones I've seen in TX, and we loved seeing them (esp the mom with her 2 little ones), but just so you know!
Thursday 5/25: Wandered the to the different beaches and just enjoyed the natural beauty. Had lunch at Restaurant Maya which was yet another excellent meal, great views. Lazy by dinner time so we got wonderful freshly fried (right in front of you) super fresh seafood from the local Pescheria.
Friday 5/26: SIL is an avid surfer so we headed to Castelsardo for the day. No surf, but beautiful beaches and we rented stand up paddle boards for the day - really fun. Water was getting warmer by the day. Very good lunch at Ristorante Pizzeria Bar Ampurias. Back to Costa Verde for our sunset wine and back to Restaurant Maya for another wonderful dinner. This place only has a 3.6 on google but apparently is under new management - highly recommend.
Saturday (5/27): Our last full day . We rented a boat again and had another great day on the water. The coast line is amazing to see from the water. Lunch and swimming in a private cove, some island hiking. For our last dinner we went to Il Calice d'Oro - every meal in Sardinia was so damn good, but this place might have been the favorite! Ate outside, great cocktails, great wine, great views, great service (are you seeing a trend here??)
Sunday (5/28): Checked out, headed to the airport to drop daughter and SIL by 10:30. My flight wasn't until 9:30pm so I dropped off the car, stored my bags and took a quick cab ride to downtown Olbia, great day wandering this charming city.
Overall thoughts on Sardinia - WOW. The pics don't lie, the water is breathtaking, a million hidden beaches - and once you leave the coastline you have this staggering change in topography. Most of what we ate and drank was local and fabulous - and so affordable!! We were warned of the crowds and heat in July and August, so we'll avoid those times, but I will be back! You need a car for sure. We barely scratched the surface and I want to see more! The people are so warm and friendly. Many didn't speak much English but we did fine with the few words we knew and lots of pointing . Sardinia seems to be mainly undiscovered by Americans - we never ran into anyone else from the states, and I worry that once the "instagram influencers" discover it, it will be ruined. So let's keep it between us

janisj

If I might make a suggestion (or two actually )

1) Your Trip Report is stuck on the end of someone else's thread so sort of buried and not tagged as a TR. It would be better if you started a new thread and tag it as a Trip Report

and 2) when you do re-post -- add paragraph breaks. Its difficult to read as one loooooong entry.

lindatx

Thanks - will take your suggestions! I definitely had the post formatted with paragraphs but somehow they disappeared!

ekscrunchy

LInda thanks every so much for this informative report. I am a pretty good travel planner but I am a little stumped by Sardinia, which I am considering for a trip in September.
A few questions:

Swimming is a big passion of mine, but I do worry about the sea temperature in mid- to late-September. I hope anyone who has been there that time will chine in here about this....I like warm water..80F is on the chilly side for me. So I wonder about water temps during September. Ideally we would likek to go as late as possible in the month..but, the water temps? I am looking at a few water temp websites but rather hear from people who have been there in September.

As much as I love to swim, we are not types who want to lounge on a beach for more than hour or two a day, if that.....I usually swim, dry off, and move on to the next activity, even if it is a wwalk along the beach, followed by another swim. Could do that all day!

So, does Costa Paradiso Resort have pools large enough for lap swimming....preferably rectangular in shape of long enough at some points to swim laps?

You mentioned there is a hotel there....maybe that is better for us???? Can;t seem to find a link for the hotel, only the villas.

Most important question: Reading my 2 guidebooks, it looks like the beaches are THE thing on Sardinia. My favorite travel activity is just wandering around in a town, looking at people, and eating very good food. Restaurant can be a dive, or even Michelin-mentioned. Alghero sounds interesting and I have a hhotel picked out there. And we would want to stay in an agriturismo inland as well. (Any ideas for this?) I do not want to spend a few weeks on an issland dedicated to beach resorts; have to have something interesting, not speaking of museums or churches or the pre-historic sights, but just beautiful landscapes, good food, and very good hotels but not of the fancy Costa Smeralda type.

Ii was thinking of limiteing trip to Alghero a bit inland from there, Stintino beaches, and then to Maddalena island or Santa Teresa di Gallura.. That general area, mostly the SW quadrant and the northern coast.

For those who have been to Bonifacio, does it make sense to ferry there and spend a few nights (#????), I'm asking because I found a hotel ($$$$) that looks insanely beautiful, on a hill above Bonifacio: CALA DI GRECO. Acgtually looks a lot lovliier than many I've found on the Sardinian coast, outside Alghero. But it is outside the town, so not sure. I know you did not get there but just wondering. Need to start my own thread, but just thought I'd ask you, and others, do get a more coherent idea before I begin a new thread......

Thanks so much, and I will begin that new thread soon as I get unpacked from Sicily trip and can focus better on planning. Will begin a brief new thread now, abouot a related topic.