I went to the Italian island of Sardinia for a four day break with 6 friends of mine a couple of months ago. We didn’t do much there but to chill on the beach, but since we had an awesome time its worth sharing anyway.
Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily. It is quite far away from Italian mainland but just a few miles south of the french island of Corsica. Sardinia is not as crowded as Sicily, and not as developed as a tourist destination as other Italian destinations. The capital is Cagliari which is to the south of the island.
We went to a place called Santa Teresa which is on the northern tip of Sardinia. The plan was to stay in a sea-facing apartment owned by parents of one of the group members. We flew to Olbia, which is a port in the north-east and serves as entry point to the posh resorts off the north-east coast, the likes of Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda (the Emerald coast), where the rich and famous of the world descend in their yatchs in the summer. We obviously had no plans whatsoever of celebrity-spotting, not even footballers and pop divas, so we headed straight to our less posh but much nicer destination a bit further north.
The apartment was wonderful with great views across the mediterranean (we could see the island of Corsica sitting in the balcony!) and the local harbour. We actually ended up spending quite a bit of time in the balcony enjoying long meals.
A whole day was spent taking a boat cruise from Santa Teresa to the islands of La Maddalena which turned out to be the highlight of the trip. The sea and the weather were amazing and the beaches were golden. The cruise was run by a local operator and charged 30-35 euros (can’t remember correctly) with lunch provided on-board. They stopped at a couple of beach resorts where we could disembark and explore the islands or get into the water.
The major stop was at the La Maddalena island where we had time to explore the market on the island, the main square and have the mandatory cappucino / gelato halt.
In fact during the trip we had so much ice cream that I probably would have had in the entire last year in London. Since we were in Italy, we dedicated most of our breakfasts and dinners to truly authentic Italian fare. Sardinia specialises in seafood which I enjoyed to my heart’s content, and we sampled (and brought home) the local Cannonau red wine.
In Santa Teresa itself, the beach was beautiful. It was crowded as expected, the Italians from the mainland had started visiting for their summer breaks. There were many families with kids and an equal number of couples and groups. It was really hot as well! The temperature was 35 degrees so spending the whole afternoon on the beach was actually a challenge, and all of us ended up getting deep tans. The time on the beach flew by very quickly as the water was cool (but not cold at all) and shallow so one could play around for ages, the sand was soft and there were beautiful people everywhere one looked. This density of so many beautiful people in a single stretch of land could be possible only in Italy.
The main piazza (square) in Santa Teresa town was very lively in the evenings, when everyone rose from their siestas and came out for a bit of chat with friends. There was dancing and music on the streets and the bars were lively. There wasn’t too much shopping to be done except for the usual souvenirs, so we focussed our expenditure towards food and drink. Also enjoyed a beautiful sunset into the sea to mark the end of our trip.
If one wants to explore the island, the key thing required is a car (best to hire right at the airport or even before you travel). The public transport on the island is nothing to be talked about. And it is not as easy to get around if you do not speak any Italian. This means that there are less English tourists (which is really a good thing, trust me…!) but also means that its best to plan the entire trip beforehand. Since the island is huge, it would be best to decide which part one wants to explore. Other areas worth visiting are around Alghero in the west and Cagliari in south. There is enough archaeology and nature-related sites on the island to keep the enthusiast interested, but from my viewpoint, it essentially beckons those on the lookout for sun, sand and lots of sizzle.