Tommmo

We are arriving in mid September, flying into Olbia , renting a car and driving around seeing the sights and departing start of October for Sicily . We'd like to base ourselves in three or four areas so we don't change beds every night. It seems a good idea perhaps to go from Olbia across the Costa Smeralda (without staying, we're budget tourists ) and head for the Alghero area, then down to Bosa and stay, then across to Golfo di Orosei area , maybe Cala Gonone where we hear there are festivals at this time , and make our way down to Cagliari, maybe Chia etc.
We are looking at getting a ferry from Cagliari to Sicily and would stay a few days exploring Cagliari as it sounds really nice. If it is not possible to return the car there because of high drop off charges, we're considering driving back up the west coast to Olbia , return the car and take the 3 1/2 hr. train trip back down to Cagliari.
We like B+B's and apartments where we can cook for ourselves sometimes, interesting ruins and coastlines, authentic villages and countryside and not so much hiking, diving etc.
Are there some good suggested bases we can use to relax in between drives on this route? Maybe good apartment and restaurant suggestions ?
Thank you for all advice....we're really looking forward to our visit having heard such good things about Sardinia....

Elizabeth_S

What is your nightly accommodation budget?

Tommmo

Hi. Around Eu50-70 usually.

denisea

Bookmarking

KayF

Hi, we had about 10 days on Sardinia and stayed in just two places. We don't like moving about too much either. We flew into Olbia and out of Alghero and stayed in Santa Teresa Gallura at a nice small hotel and in Alghero at an apartment. Santa Teresa was great, fairly small and walkable. I'd recommend the hotel and can find the name if you like but the apartment was just so-so, it had good points but I didn't like it much. Both would have been on the budget side as we usually don't spend a lot on accommodation.

We had a hire car and did day trips. Bosa was nice and we had a wonderful day in Bonifacio on Corsica. We walked from the hotel in Santa Teresa Gallura to the ferry port (10 mins I guess) the ferry took around 50 mins, don't forget your passports! We had great weather and the views around Bonifacio are spectacular.

Driving was generally slow due to traffic and narrow roads - we got caught up in a bunch of goats once which cracked us up - and the whole pace of life seemed a lot slower than on the mainland. We loved the trip.

Kay

Pvoyageuse

To avoid backtracking (Olbia/Alghero/Cala Gonone) I would base myself somewhere in Gallura - Palau or Santa Teresa as suggested above : the Maddalena archipelago, Isola Rossa, Castelsardo.
The Alghero/Bosa and Cala Gonone via Macomer and Nuoro.
If you are not afraid of winding roads, take the old road (Orientale Sarda) to drive back to Cagliari. Don't miss Villasimus east of Cagliari.
Ifd you click on my name, you'll find 3 trip reportson Sardinia.

Tommmo

Thank you...so helpful! Pvoyageuse I could only find one trip report from 2009....

Here's our plan , please feel free to comment and add any tips.

Arrive Olbia Sept 25 pick up car and stay Palau

2.Drive via Castelsardo and stay Alghero

3.Drive to Bosa and stay

4.Drive to Orosei and stay there or Cala Gonone

5.Drive to Oliena + stay Orgosolo

6. Drive to Villasimius

7.Cagliari drop off car, 3 days stay and fly to Trapani

Looks like we have 17 days in Sardinia - 14 with a car . We like to base for a few days rather than change beds each day.

Self catering is favourite accom, B+B second , budget hotel third. Long featureless windswept beaches need not apply, Interesting villages a favourite, also good ruins and historic towns, spectacular scenery.

Hope this gives an idea of our plans and inspires helpful assistance. Many thanks...

Pvoyageuse

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...t-sardinia.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ch-4-to-11.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...inia-again.cfm

Tommmo

Thank you Pv....learnt some valuable things.

Tommmo

Particularly would like to find a nice self-catering base around Golfo di Orosei to explore the whole area - including Barbagia and Ogliastra with our car for 4-5 days.
Anyone know of a apartment or small house ?

MyriamC

We had 16 nights for a tour around the island and stayed in four different locations, for 4 nights each: Cagliari, Cala Gonone, Arzachena and Alghero.
I didn't care much for Cagliari. Found Alghero, Bosa, Castelsarda much nicer.
Cala Gonone was very nice but it's in a remote location. You always need to drive at 20 min. to get back on the main road (SS 125). Santa Maria Navarrese or Arbatax might be the better choice here.

bruna64

Cagliari's area...

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Tommmo

Santa Maria Navarrese sounds good and has a few apartments with kitchen. Don't know how big it is though, for food shopping etc.? Thanks for the tip.
On arrival at Olbia we're thinking stays at Palau, Bosa, Santa Maria N. for the main stay , then back across to Oristano and make our way to Cagliari, where we plan to return the car and fly to Palermo .
How does that sound? We're not that into hiking , cycling and rock climbing ( a bit old ). Sardinia is shaping up as a very expensive place, even compared to Sicily, but self catering will help the budget a bit....

MyriamC

We found lodging to be much more expensive than in Sicily. In Sicily we stayed at some very nice B&B's for 50 euros a night. In Sardinia our least expensive B&B was almost double for a very small room without a view.

I cannot comment on food shopping because we always stay in hotels/B&B's and eat at restaurants. Eating out shouldn't be very expensive. We have always eaten well at good prices (like 50 euros for the two of us, incl. wine).

Tommmo

Seems to be right about hotel prices , for some reason, being so much more. So we find apartments and cook our own breakfast and dinner, so food and wine costs are brought back to reasonable levels.
If we can do a pasta dish well at home there's no need to pay Eu15 or whatever each in a restaurant - and a fish dinner bought from the market that day is so much more affordable ....

Tommmo

...anyway, would still love to hear from anybody who knows of a well-priced self catering apartment in the area around Cala Gonone?

MyriamC

Check https://www.homeaway.co.uk/ or https://www.holidaylettings.com/

Finecheapboxofwine

Good ideas above. And about those roads- I recommend taking a motion sickness pill the night before the drive/ride just in case! And our GPS did not work great on Sardinia. I'm happy my husband is a map reader!

Tommmo

Checked some House Rental sites and they do look promising, and are better prices than most hotels too.

Tommmo

So we have worked out to have some 3-4 day stops in apartments with kitchen and the rest 1-2 day hotel/B+B stops.
Still working on the 2 week itinerary and help would be appreciated but it looks like Arr. Olbia - Castelsardo - Alghero - Casa Gonone via Bosa - back to Oristano and along the coast to Cagliari for our 2 weeks.
Any advice such as unmissable stops etc. on the route would be welcome...