Superb weather, great beaches, dazzling blue Mediterranean, classic Italian food and wine, castles, towers and ancient remains all helped make our Sardinian holiday this September most enjoyable, relaxing and memorable.
For the first week, we rented an apartment in the old Castello area of Cagliari, overlooking the city. Cagliari itself is quite lively, with its wide quayside boulevard, busy shopping streets with designer and souvenir shops, narrow alleys, arcades of cafes, but with surprisingly fewer restaurants than we expected for a place of its size. However, we did find a couple of good eating places, frequented by locals, that provided excellent fish and pasta dishes.
Our 1 hour/10 Euros guided bus tour summed up the city, in that we listened to music through our headphones for most of the time, interrupted by about a dozen highlights, including the prison, the beach and the local football stadium.
Driving on the island is quite safe and civilised. Armed with a map that showed all the best beaches, we drove around the southern parts of the island, going from beach to beach. The island is surprisingly green with vegetation and many of the coast roads were on cliff edges. Flamingoes could be seen on the coastal marshes and lagoons and we spotted an eagle circling in the mountains. Su Nuraxi, a large Nuraghic fortress dating back to 1500BC, provided the holiday’s cultural interest.
For our second week, we drove 140 miles north in thunder, lightening and torrential rain to Alghero, on the north-west coast. There we had rented an apartment within the old walled town in Palazzo d’Albis, a 16th century palace (last photo below), once occupied by another Charles – Charles V in 1541. More of a friendly, holiday resort town than Cagliari, it had a great beach that stretched for miles. It was also a great base from which to explore the north-west corner of the island. Bosa had also been on our original list of places to stay but, having taken the cliff-side road south to it one day, we were glad to have chosen Alghero. Bosa (pictured above) has a picturesque river with boats and coloured houses, but that’s about all.
Footnote: Nine months after returning home from Sardinia, I received no fewer than 4 fines from the local police – one £80 fine for parking in the wrong place at the wrong time (which I knew about, from the ticket on my windscreen) but three £100 fines that I was totally unaware of, for driving down certain streets at the wrong time of day – once in Cagliari, twice in Alghero – and those last two were two minutes apart!!! – £380 in total!
So beware! If you plan to drive in Sardinia, brush up on your official Italian and pay attention to the signs!