Sardinia is well-known thanks to its enchanting sea, but it also offers other landscapes such as mountains, hills, lakes… every place you desire is close to you. In Sardinia distances have an inestimable value.
The beauty of the territory of Costa Smeralda (the “Emerald Coast”) is known all over the world. Likewise, there are other beautiful places to visit, such as: The Coasts of Ogliastra; Santa Teresa Gallura; The Archipelago of Maddalena; La Pelosa in Stintino; The Asinara-Porto Torres Island; Costa Paradiso; San Teodoro; Budoni; The Caletta-Siniscola; Santa Margherita di Pula; Tuerredda; Chia; Porto Pino; Villasimius; Costa Rey.Besides visiting the coasts and beaches as well as its mountains and hills, monuments and archaeological sites, Sardinia offers you enchanting views and the opportunity to participate in many events, such as festivals and shows, to fully visit towns and cities and to practice many sports:
- Golf: Is Molas – Pula (CA); Sa Tanca – Flumini di Quartu Sant’Elena (CA); Is Arenas – Narbolia (OR); Pevero Golf Club - Costa Smeralda Porto Cervo (OT), Località Cala di Volpe; Golf Club Puntaldia - San Teodoro (OT); Sassari Golf Club – Sassari; Golf Club Villasimius – Villasimius (CA);
- Horse-riding: it is practiced country-wide. We suggest you to check the information about the territories nearby the accommodating facilities (hotels, agritourism, B&B, holiday houses and flats);
- Surface water sports: sailing, surfing, windsurfing, kite-surfing, canoeing, in the whole territory all year round;
- Other sports: mountain bike, tennis, football and Five-a-side football, basketball, volleyball, swimming, paragliding, climbing, potholing/ spelaeology, in the whole region;Scuba diving, underwater tours around the unexplored and well-known seabeds, such as the protected areas.
For further information we suggest you to visit our pages regarding the location of the nearby accommodating facilities (hotel, agritourism, B&B, holiday houses and flats);
You can plan your trails:
- Photographic trail: archaeological and nature trails (beaches and dunes, hills, rivers, lakes, damp areas, mountains, cities, towns, dawns, sunsets), carnivals, Holy Week’s celebrations, folk festivals. For further information we suggest you to visit our pages regarding the location of the nearby accommodating facilities (hotel, agritourism, B&B, holiday houses and flats);
- Food and wine trails: restaurants, trattoria, agritourism;
- Religious trails: rural churches and churches located in the city
- Mountain trails: practiced in all the mountain areas, particularly in the following areas:Gennargentu, Monte Linas, Monte Acuto, Montalbo, Monti Mannu, Monte Arci, la Giara, Is Cannoneris, Monte Acrosu, Mont’è Cresia, Sette Fratelli;
- Literary trails: Deledda Park and Dessì Park;
You can visit and spend your holiday at the spa resorts: Santa Maria Acquas in Sardara, Fordongianus, Benetutti, Tempio Pausania.
Accessible beaches all year long. You can go to the beach in every season, and take long walks in every period of the year.From the end of April to the beginning of October you can go swimming. During the other months you can go for a walk or sunbathe on the shore, as well as go for a sail or diving.
Starting from Spring until the beginning of October you can take part in many events, folk festivals and much more:
- March: Sant’Antioco’s festival in the homonymous Island; Sa die de sa Sardigna in Cagliari and in many other Sardinian towns;
- April: the Cous Cous festival (Cascà, a traditional dish of the African Island Tabarka) in Carloforte in Saint Peter’s Island;
- May: Saint Ephysius festival in Cagliari, the Sardinian horse riding in Sassari, the traditional horse race in Porto Torres, “Sa Festa Manna de Mesu Maju" in honour of Saint Simplicius, the Patron Saint of Olbia and Gallura;
- June: Corpus Domini celebrations in many Sardinian towns and cities; Girotonno in Carloforte in Saint Peter’s Island; important art exhibitions in the most important Sardinian towns.
- July: The procession of the Candelieri in Sassari and S’Ardia in Sedilo; the Madonna del naufrago in Villasimius with the sea procession of decorated boats; on July 22nd in La Maddalena the great procession in honour of the Saint Patron Mary Magdalene is held;
- August: celebrations and seafront processions for the Assumption of Mary in many coastal centres; the procession of the Candelieri in Sassari; Sant’Ignazio festival in Laconi and the festival of the Redentore in Nuoro; in Santadi on the first Sunday in July a marriage is celebrated in respect of ancient traditions. The celebrations begin in the morning with the wedding procession, consisting in people dressed with the traditional Sardinian costumes who perform traditional chants and dances, followed by the “traccas”, the traditional and decorated carts of the bride and bridegroom with their respective witnesses.
- September: the running of the barefoot boys in Cabras and the festival in honour of the Patron Saint Helena held in Quartu Sant’Elena, with traccas, people dressed in the traditional Sardinian costumes, horses, dances and chants; every year in Selargius the ancient Selargino wedding is celebrated;
- October: Saint Francis Festival held in Lula; the chestnuts festival held in Aritzo; starting of “Autunno in Barbagia Festival” and “Cortes Apertas” in many towns of Barbagia di Nuoro.
You may visit archaeological sites, nuraghi, dolmen, Baetylus, menhir, domus de janas, giants’ graves, Phoenician-Punic and Roman archaeological sites without making any reservations.You have the chance to visit the nuraghi which can be found only in Sardinia. We suggest you to check the page Culture. Don’t miss Sardinian museums. Here is a list of the most important ones: Cagliari: National archaeological Museum; Cagliari: National picture gallery; Cagliari: Municipal art Gallery; Sassari: National ethnographic and archaeological Museum G.A. Sanna; Sassari: Diocesan Museum of the Duomo’s treasure; Porto Torres: Antiquarium turritano; Castelsardo: Mediterranean basket-weaving museum; Nuoro: National archaeological Museum; Nuoro: MAN, Art Museum in the province of Nuoro; Nuoro: Museum of Sardinian life and popular traditions; Orani: Nivola Museum; Oristano: Antiquarium arborense; Sant’Antioco: archaeological Museum “Ferruccio Barreca; Iglesias: Museum of mining art; Ales: Museum of the traditional Sardinian toys; Boroneddu: Museum of the Sardinian fairy-tales; Cala Gonne-Dorgali: Monk seal Museum; Mamoiada: Museum of Mediterranean Masks; Villanovaforru: Municipal archaeological museum “Genna Maria”; Tortolì: Contemporary art Museum “Su logu de s’Iscultura”; La Maddalena-Caprera: Garibaldi’s Compendium museum.
Don’t miss Sardinia’s sunrise and sunset, as well as its unique starry sky. You can contemplate the enchanting sunrise along the eastern, south-eastern and north-eastern coast, as well as from the mountains and hills.The sunset can be admired from the western, south-western and north-western coast. When the sky is clear, you can see both the western and the eastern sea from the Sanctuary of N.S. di Gonnare, at more than 1000 metres of altitude, reachable from Sarule (NU) and Onani (NU).Remember that in Sardinia everything is close to beaches and mountains, hills and flatlands, countryside and towns.