Sardinia: Where stay in Santa Teresa Gallura area?
Oct 16th, 2011, 01:06 PM
#41
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Barefoot: So you did stay there! It looks beautiful! I hope you will consider adding more detail once you get settled back home..
Frances: Please continue! And thanks so much for taking the time. How did they/you decide on Cala Gonone? There seem to be so many lovely areas on the island...it is difficult to know where to begin when thinking about planning a trip...
Frances: Please continue! And thanks so much for taking the time. How did they/you decide on Cala Gonone? There seem to be so many lovely areas on the island...it is difficult to know where to begin when thinking about planning a trip...
Oct 16th, 2011, 01:38 PM
#42
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Eks, cross Sardinia off your list and replace it with Corsica. Sardinia has suffered a severe downturn in tourism, we found the north of the island to be a desert bereft of customer service. Many businesses seemed to be under pressure to just survive. Frances' experience at Oblia airport was pretty similar to ours throughout our two week stay.
July was our sixth visit and it will be our last for some time. Just far too many other places to visit with a far warmer welcome.
The highlight our our trip was the day trip to Corsica which was exponentially more alive.
July was our sixth visit and it will be our last for some time. Just far too many other places to visit with a far warmer welcome.
The highlight our our trip was the day trip to Corsica which was exponentially more alive.
Oct 16th, 2011, 04:08 PM
#44
DickieG,
I have to agree with you about Corsica. We spent our first 2 weeks there, followed by one week on Sardinia and 2 on Sicily....and our preferences were in that exact order. Corsica scenically was the most beautiful and had the best food. But, I do think the beaches in Sardinia were stellar...so, if that's all you want, I'd do beach time in Sardinia....although Corsica's were also lovely. Can't say the same for Sicily. Yes, we ate at Saltara and it was a great experience...highly recommend.
I have to agree with you about Corsica. We spent our first 2 weeks there, followed by one week on Sardinia and 2 on Sicily....and our preferences were in that exact order. Corsica scenically was the most beautiful and had the best food. But, I do think the beaches in Sardinia were stellar...so, if that's all you want, I'd do beach time in Sardinia....although Corsica's were also lovely. Can't say the same for Sicily. Yes, we ate at Saltara and it was a great experience...highly recommend.
Oct 17th, 2011, 06:08 AM
#47
I promise I will publish a trip report on each when I catch up. But quickly, landed at Ajaccio 1 nt, drove to Piana for 3 nights, Algajola for 3 nights, Corte for 2 nights, Levie 1 night and Bonifacio for 3 nights. Sicily, Palermo 2 nts, La Foresteria at Planeta Winery (near Sellinute) for 1 nt, Agrigento for 2 nights, Modica 3 nights, Siracusa 2 nts, Taormina 3 nts. Sicily was a lot more frustrating, driving-wise, and not as beautiful (except for Taormina). We loved walking around the ruins at Agrigento, but not the surrounding area. The baroque towns were charming, but a nightmare to drive into. And, the food, which is so hyped as being the best in Italy, was a mixed bag. LOVED the Cerasualo wine, which is the only DOG wine in Sicily, and the Passito desert wine ( I normally don't like dessert wine but this was nectar from the gods). We were extremely lucky with warm and sunny weather for most of the five weeks, although of course, our worst days were in Sardinia when we wanted maximum beach time. And, we finished up with 3 nights in Rome...luckily just before the recent riots took place. Perhaps part of our lukewarm feelings toward Sicily were due to travel fatigue...5 weeks is really too long so we were really ready to leave Rome!
Oct 17th, 2011, 10:32 AM
#48
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THANK YOU barefoot. The king is indeed naked.
Sicily is not the best thing since sliced bread. We had a very mixed time there. The best of it (architecture, food etc) was about on a par with Tuscany. The worst of it was on a par with some out of the way backwater in Sao Paolo.
I have been to probably every place you visited...Bonifacio for me had to come out tops.
Taormina a long way down the distant bottom.
What did we not like about Sicily.
The over-hyped food
The driving
The disgraceful contemporary uncontrolled development
The bluntness of the people
The devastation of the coastline through industrialisation
The crime
We loved
Some of the food
Siracusa
Pure chocolate in Modica
Our hotel - Il Parco Sircacusa
I am still looking for a blade of grass which I don't love in Tuscany.
Sicily is not the best thing since sliced bread. We had a very mixed time there. The best of it (architecture, food etc) was about on a par with Tuscany. The worst of it was on a par with some out of the way backwater in Sao Paolo.
I have been to probably every place you visited...Bonifacio for me had to come out tops.
Taormina a long way down the distant bottom.
What did we not like about Sicily.
The over-hyped food
The driving
The disgraceful contemporary uncontrolled development
The bluntness of the people
The devastation of the coastline through industrialisation
The crime
We loved
Some of the food
Siracusa
Pure chocolate in Modica
Our hotel - Il Parco Sircacusa
I am still looking for a blade of grass which I don't love in Tuscany.
Oct 17th, 2011, 10:47 AM
#49
DickieG,
I'd agree with you on everything except for the Modica chocolate (and I'm a chocolate freak)...i didn't care for the grainy texture. (And, we did like Taormina...maybe because we were there at the beginning of Oct, it wasn't overrun with cruise ship passengers like it would be in the summer. To me, it looked like an operetta set and the views from out balcony (Hotel Villa Schuler) of the mountains down to the sea were stunning. It also was fun walking down from Castelmola, and the Greek Theater ruins were better than I'd thought. Also had two delicious meals there at A "Zammara and Viccolo Stretto, with ambience to match.
As for the driving, our worst nightmare was finding our B&B just 6 km outside Agrigento because of the road construction going on....we tried for 3 hours! bouncing between Agrigento and F......... Favara (as I nicknamed this horrendous town) armed with a GPS and map, until darkness descended, I melted down, and we pulled over at a bar near the Temple ruins and had the souvenier stand guy call our host and tell him to come get us! You would not believe the convoluted route we had to take back, including driving past the barricade of a closed road. We thought we would be fine for the next day since our GPS traced our route, until a new road was closed the next morning! I truly regretted my decision not to stay at Villa Athena right at the ruins (because of mixed TA reviews) I also would not advise staying in the town of Agrigento because of the driving mess....but obviously, my plans to stay nearby in the countryside also did not work out.
I'd agree with you on everything except for the Modica chocolate (and I'm a chocolate freak)...i didn't care for the grainy texture. (And, we did like Taormina...maybe because we were there at the beginning of Oct, it wasn't overrun with cruise ship passengers like it would be in the summer. To me, it looked like an operetta set and the views from out balcony (Hotel Villa Schuler) of the mountains down to the sea were stunning. It also was fun walking down from Castelmola, and the Greek Theater ruins were better than I'd thought. Also had two delicious meals there at A "Zammara and Viccolo Stretto, with ambience to match.
As for the driving, our worst nightmare was finding our B&B just 6 km outside Agrigento because of the road construction going on....we tried for 3 hours! bouncing between Agrigento and F......... Favara (as I nicknamed this horrendous town) armed with a GPS and map, until darkness descended, I melted down, and we pulled over at a bar near the Temple ruins and had the souvenier stand guy call our host and tell him to come get us! You would not believe the convoluted route we had to take back, including driving past the barricade of a closed road. We thought we would be fine for the next day since our GPS traced our route, until a new road was closed the next morning! I truly regretted my decision not to stay at Villa Athena right at the ruins (because of mixed TA reviews) I also would not advise staying in the town of Agrigento because of the driving mess....but obviously, my plans to stay nearby in the countryside also did not work out.
Oct 18th, 2011, 01:44 PM
#50
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Castelsardo.
Off to the airport after breakfast to collect our car. This morning there was no queue. A very pleasant and helpful employee of the car hire desk apologised for the night before and told us they would waive the fee for the extra drivers as a result. That was very welcome (although having returned we find it has nevertheless been debited from our credit card!). At the same time another couple arrived who had also hit the back of the queue after us the night before and left. Unfortunately there was no car for them as all the cars had been given out the night before. This was a little awkward but made me very glad we had checked and confirmed this before leaving the airport on Saturday night (which they hadn't done.)
The drive to Castelsardo was uneventful except that we got lost which often happens when I am map-reading- I want to look out of the window not at a map!
We passed through a village with a sign saying"Domus di Janas" without knowing what it meant and later passed the Elephant Rock which again meant nothing to me. I really was poorly prepared for this. Reading up on it I found that the particular type of rock meant that it readily formed caves and shapes when eroded thereby forming " fairy houses" and a rock which does a very good approximation of an elephant.
In Castelsardo we found our accomodation "Sa Duomo di Minnana" easily. It was just under the old citadel and we managed to park easily on the hill up to the top. This was because it was mid-afternoon. However by the time we lugged our cases to the B&B I was so hot that I just lay on the bed with the windows open for 20 minutes to cool off. This was the trademark of our stay here- we slept with the windows and the door open all night to create a draught and it was pretty comportable. Because we were on a dead-end road there was no traffic and so it was quiet- very necessary!
The B&B was perfect for what we wanted and every day we were able to park safely nearby.
In Castelsardo we visited the castle and walked out towards the marina. Every night we walked down to the new town to eat and had universally good food- sorry I don't have the details because I left the guidebook with my daughter when we came home.
There was the "usual" Rough Guide glitch where we searched high and low for a particular restaurant but were forced to conclude eventually that it must have closed. How often have you done that!
One afternoon we drove along the coast to the nearest beach which was very pleasant. When we had been trying to decide where to stay I saw a number of nice looking places along here but most of the reviews said that they were noisy with a busy road between them and the beach. A noisy place to stay ruins my holiday and so I was interested to check these out having chosen "Sa Duomo" in preference. The traffic in early September was not heavy but as there was none where we were staying we had made a wise choice!
Another day we drove to Sassari but didn't find much of interest here and so only stayed an hour or two.
Beer in Sardinia is offered as "Ichnusa" or something like that. I liked the way they promoted their own brand even to the extent that there was (in Castelsardo) no choice. Later in Alghero in particular you had the usual brands of European lagers brewed under licence but this was the first sign we had that Sardinia is very happy with how it is. Many times on this holiday we had the feeling that this is a living working island and holiday makers are very welcome but accept us as we are.
The temperature on a daily basis was about 30 degrees mid afternoon so that plus an Ichnusa usually meant a snooze in the sfternoon.
We were fairly enchanted by castelsardo when we arrived but the second night found that it was almost deserted after we ate. It was as if most of the tourists had gone home and it felt a little sad. I read afterwards that Castelsardo is generally a day trip destination and that is actually how it felt on the second and third night.
Off to the airport after breakfast to collect our car. This morning there was no queue. A very pleasant and helpful employee of the car hire desk apologised for the night before and told us they would waive the fee for the extra drivers as a result. That was very welcome (although having returned we find it has nevertheless been debited from our credit card!). At the same time another couple arrived who had also hit the back of the queue after us the night before and left. Unfortunately there was no car for them as all the cars had been given out the night before. This was a little awkward but made me very glad we had checked and confirmed this before leaving the airport on Saturday night (which they hadn't done.)
The drive to Castelsardo was uneventful except that we got lost which often happens when I am map-reading- I want to look out of the window not at a map!
We passed through a village with a sign saying"Domus di Janas" without knowing what it meant and later passed the Elephant Rock which again meant nothing to me. I really was poorly prepared for this. Reading up on it I found that the particular type of rock meant that it readily formed caves and shapes when eroded thereby forming " fairy houses" and a rock which does a very good approximation of an elephant.
In Castelsardo we found our accomodation "Sa Duomo di Minnana" easily. It was just under the old citadel and we managed to park easily on the hill up to the top. This was because it was mid-afternoon. However by the time we lugged our cases to the B&B I was so hot that I just lay on the bed with the windows open for 20 minutes to cool off. This was the trademark of our stay here- we slept with the windows and the door open all night to create a draught and it was pretty comportable. Because we were on a dead-end road there was no traffic and so it was quiet- very necessary!
The B&B was perfect for what we wanted and every day we were able to park safely nearby.
In Castelsardo we visited the castle and walked out towards the marina. Every night we walked down to the new town to eat and had universally good food- sorry I don't have the details because I left the guidebook with my daughter when we came home.
There was the "usual" Rough Guide glitch where we searched high and low for a particular restaurant but were forced to conclude eventually that it must have closed. How often have you done that!
One afternoon we drove along the coast to the nearest beach which was very pleasant. When we had been trying to decide where to stay I saw a number of nice looking places along here but most of the reviews said that they were noisy with a busy road between them and the beach. A noisy place to stay ruins my holiday and so I was interested to check these out having chosen "Sa Duomo" in preference. The traffic in early September was not heavy but as there was none where we were staying we had made a wise choice!
Another day we drove to Sassari but didn't find much of interest here and so only stayed an hour or two.
Beer in Sardinia is offered as "Ichnusa" or something like that. I liked the way they promoted their own brand even to the extent that there was (in Castelsardo) no choice. Later in Alghero in particular you had the usual brands of European lagers brewed under licence but this was the first sign we had that Sardinia is very happy with how it is. Many times on this holiday we had the feeling that this is a living working island and holiday makers are very welcome but accept us as we are.
The temperature on a daily basis was about 30 degrees mid afternoon so that plus an Ichnusa usually meant a snooze in the sfternoon.
We were fairly enchanted by castelsardo when we arrived but the second night found that it was almost deserted after we ate. It was as if most of the tourists had gone home and it felt a little sad. I read afterwards that Castelsardo is generally a day trip destination and that is actually how it felt on the second and third night.
