Looking forward to our Septmeber trip....
So far we are planning to arrive in Alghero for a 2 night stay, drive over to Punta Capo Cavallo for a week in a rental villeta close to San Teodoro...After that I am hoping to head to the fabulous coast out of Cala Gonone for 2 nights.

After that we have 4 nights to explore before we head back out of Alghero.
Would love to explore some Nuraghic Ruins and good food. (I'll even try the cheese with the maggots!)

Any special towns,villages to try to see...
Roads to drive ?

Thanks for the tips!!
Steven

[title spelling corrected to help with future searches]

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Colleen,

Are you going in early or late September?

Make sure to try a seada and the mirto. Best dessert and a really nice bitter liqueur. Both typical to Sardegna. The coastal drive from Alghero to Oristano is beautiful. Another can't miss spot that is mostly unknown is the Valle della Luna at Capo Testa.

We are going from Sept 14-28

From mid to late September, you should still have good boating weather...and the water will still be warm! We will be there at that time also.

I believe that in San Paolo, the the town just north of San Teodoro, you will find several places that offer boat charters.

I'm going to Sardinia next week for three weeks....I will check out several places and get some contact information from you. What size boat are you looking for...how many persons?

As for additions to your itinerary...I happen to love the northeast coast. Some people feel that it has been overdeveloped, but I don't think its beauty has been diminished. The coastal road from San Teodoro, past Pittulongu (SS82) through the Golfo Marinella, up through the Costa Smeralda (in September, the glitterati have all gone away leaving room for the rest of us), San Pantaleo and Palau is simply beautiful. From there, you could continue to travel the north coast (Costa Paradiso) and down to Alghero or you could drive to Palau and hop a ferry to Corsica for a few days. You could drive back to Alghero through the inland route also.

I'll post more information when I return in early June, but feel free to PM me or post here if you have any questions....and by the way, I second the suggestion about seadas and mirto....and don't forget the mallaredus and fregola, other delicious Sardinian delicacies.

I was thrilled to hear someone mention nuragic ruins, which I have been researching for over ten years ( and which provide the setting for my new novel in progress). At any rate, if you are into stone sanctuaries of a very ancient past, here are the places I recommend! The nuragic village of Barumini is a must...
then there is a sacred (nuragic) well located in an archaelogical park near Cabras, "Santa Cristina," positioned to catch lunar rays in certain moments of the year, along with other menhirs scattered in amid an ancient olive grove. There is also another nuragic well enclosed in a church from the year 1000, also near Cabras, in San Salvatore, one of Europe's most ancient holy sites. Contemporary legend
claims that there is a school of healing still connected to this site ( subject of a novel
called La Donna delle Sette Fonti, published by Corbaccio. don't remember the author's name). For an eerie atmosphere, visit Pranu Mutteddu, near Goni, another amazing Nuragic site where no one ever goes,
with menhir alignments and dolmens set in amid the rock rose bushes. An unforgettable place.
And near Sassari Sardinia's "ziggurat" Monte D'Accodi.
and not far from there the very strange circular tomb/dwelling ruins of Li Muri

And don't foget to drink some good Sardinian wine. May I suggest
Argiolas or Crabilis!

Thanks for those amazing tips...the information about the Nuraghic Ruins is better than I could have hoped for....The history of the ancient worship in Sardinia is so unique and the places you describe are on the top of our list now!!!

Which central towns are worth staying in...As I have heard that some are rather dusty and depressing.

Thanks again!!

There will only be 2 of us looking to spend some time cruising the Coast down by Cala Gonone.

As we will be spending a week on Capo Coda Cavallo I was hoping to spend a day up in La Magdelena and a drive by of the Costa Smerelda. I will PM you....

Have a great trip in June!!!

Steven

La Maddalena and the Costa Smeralda are easy day trips from the Capo Coda Cavallo...no advance planning needed.

I will watch for your PM when I return home the first week in June.

When visiting Sardinia, I often stay near
Oristano, in a little town called Cabras
at a hotel called Villa Canu, which is a lovely series of interconnected traditional Sardinian homes, restored, with inner courtyard, and functional airconditioning, which you don't always find elsewhere off the beaten track in Sardinia. The Cabras area is unique, because it is one of the few places where fishing has been the livelihood of area for centuries. The town itself is just a collection of small houses, but is located very near two of the places you'll want to see, Santa Cristina and San Salvatore, it's also near the archaeological park of Tharros. The peninsula where THarros is located is one of the most beautiful stretches of (undeveloped) beach areas in Sardinia, La penisola di san giovanni di sinis. Oristano is a bigger town, but with very lush with gardens and exotic trees, an atmosphere reminding me of Florida in the 60's.
A laid back little town, not at all stressful. As for major cities, I actually enjoy the port area of Cagliari.

One of the best guides in English to Sardinia, if you are interested in Nuragic ruins, is the most recent Cadogan guide. I don't remember the author's name, but he does devote quite a bit of space to Nuragic ruins, which many guides simply ignore. There's also a wonderful guide available in German and Italian, if you read either of those languages, which was recommended to me by the head the Director of Archaeological monumuments in the Cabras area...If you're interested, I can look at home and give you the author info.

One funny thing about nuragic sites in Sardinia.... they sometimes disappear. A couple of years ago, we read about an alignment of menhirs in the Cadogan guide, and so we went in search of it last year.
Impossible to find, as in the two years since the guide's publication, the site had been completely overgrown with cactus-like vegetation. What's worse
most of the menhirs had disappeared, and had been uprooted and stolen. Of twenty-odd menhirs only 2 were left. The local people were completely uninterested in the menhir alignment or in their disappearance, and the man who had been running a bar right next to the site for years didn't even know it existed. You won't have that problem with the other sites I mentioned. They are protected in archaeological parks.

On another note, La Maddalena, in my view, deserves a longer stay than just a day trip. After you have swum in those waters, you'll never want to swim anywhere else. Lovely little coves and bays forming natural pools with sparkling sand at the bottom. And what a color. Also fascinating to visit
are the remains of the pre WWI military installations on Caprera, beneath Becco di Vela. Hollowed out of the granite cliffs these strange watch towers look like something out of middle earth. If you read Italian, you could pick up a copy of Gin RAcheli's books La Sardegna Un Isola, Un Mondo, and La Maddalena e le Isole Minori. Gin Racheli was a wonderful writer and researcher who studied Italy's islands and their communities, history, and natural habitat for decades, and produced a series of splendid books published by Mursia in a series called Andar per Isole. Fascinating reading if you are interested in learning more.

Another Oristano fan. Cool I spent four weeks in Oristano, visiting all the beaches nearby (San Giovanni, Is Aruttas, Putzu Idu, S'Archittu, Su Riu) and loved it. Was there in August and was the only non-Italian on every one of those beaches. I'll never forget how delicious the Magnum Double Caramel ice cream bars were.

Well...the Oristano tips sounds great....I had been wondering if a stay in the interior would be warranted, but it sounds as if a day trip across with some stops is enough.

Usually food tips of the home grown or home made variety entice...but Double Caramel even if its Magnum sounds great!!