We are retired and looking for info on Sardinia..we were told about a great place to stay that's very reasonable called Porto Scuso (not sure of spelling?) . Couple questions-would you stay here for a month in the winter; what's weather like then; and has anyone got any idea about this place? I;m afraid I was eavesdropping and didn't get all the info/

Congratulations! You are the very first person in Fodor's to request information about Portoscuso (one word)!!!!! If you do a search under this name, you will read Vincenzo's recommendation dated 6/07/2002 of the Hotel/Restaurant La Ghinghetta in Portoscuso, one of Sardinia's best known restaurants. Unfortunately, this property (as many others on Sardinia) is closed during the winter. Portoscuso, and next-door Porto Vesme, are on Sardinia's southwest coast, directly opposite the pretty island of San Pietro, where locals speak the Genovese dialect. You can very easily reach Portoscuso by bus from the capital, Cagliari (although most tourists would want to rent a car at the Cagliari airport). Beware that Porto Vesme has ugly refineries. I personally have not visited this part of the island, although I did spend a fortnight on Sardinia last year, and cannot find enough words to express my exhilaration. I personally would not spend an entire month in or around Portoscuso, but would rather travel all around Sardinia, to experience its multitude of differing landscapes, archeological sites, beaches and towns. There is very little tourism on the island in Winter, so most of the tourist destinations will be desolate except for the locals. If this attracts you, I think your proposed trip makes a great deal of sense. I highly recommend two guidebooks: Cadogan's Sardinia, and the Rough Guide to Sardinia, both extremely detailed British publications available at most bookstores and many public libraries. If you are interested in other parts of Sardinia, I may be able to give you firsthand experience.

Many thanks gac - what great information! What would the weather be like in Jan or Feb in Sardinia? I had thought Portoscuso was a hotel! Didn't realize it was a town-reminds me what great info there is available on this board.

I would expect a mild winter: temperatures no lower than the mid-40s, and more likely in the low to mid-50s. Sometimes, the temperature at mid-day is warm enough to walk along the beach (full clothed). Of course, rain could happen at any time (but not likely a great deal of rain: the northern part of the island usually gets more rain than the south).

Temerature are high enough so tha ton the coast only the 20% of houses has heating. My sister in law is there with her 6 months daughter and she was worried abiout the cold, but two weeks ago she even swam a little, although it was too cold to sunbathe. Yet they are still able to walk in a sweather and jeans along the shore.

Gac I am sure is right. We were there in the last week of Sept and whole towns on the north were virtually totally closed (that week) even though a lot of Brit and German tourists still around. Some towns even then were as Gac states, desolate - could not be a better word. Frankly, I thought Sardinia was a rip off - at least on the north coast of the island, with a lot of the towns having little character as they are newly built (e.g Porto Cervo). Meal prices and value I thought were mainly bad and nothing special in term of food. Although there were a couple of exceptions. Example, Porto cervo ham roll Euro4 - nothing in it except one piece of ham, not even butter. POrto Cervo internet Euro 15 per hour. Yes, PC is the most expensive place, but we still came across very poor value in other towns as well - and I assure you, we looked thoroughly around some of these places for value. I thought the Greek Islands were more interesting with a greater range of restaurants and much better value. Downside, compared to Sardinia, Greek Islands are certainly not as clean. I think some of the Greek Islands may be a bit busier than the Sardinian north coast, but probably still pretty dead.

The southern coasts of Sardinia are much less commercialized, less expensive, and much better represent the "real" Sardinia. Some experienced travellers intentionally avoid the northeastern coast precisely because it is NOT "genuine".