Sardinia is an Italian island south of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea that boasts nearly 2000 km of coastline with beautiful beaches and a mountainous interior. We spent a week in Sardinia in the summer of 2019.
4 things I enjoyed – A week in Sardinia:
1- Our beautiful home in Palau
One word to sum up the Airbnb we stayed at in Palau is – exceptional.
The sprawling well-kept garden that greeted us upon arrival was a favourite among the kids. They ran and played and rolled and skipped, and spent so much time outdoors while the adults watched them as we sipped coffee on the porch.
The boys particularly loved the giant rocks that was part of the house, leading the way towards our car below.
Have I mentioned the exceptional views we had? It was such a treat to watch the sunset whilst admiring the 360 views from the rooftop.
A night of clear skies had us spotting planets and constellations from our garden using the Pocket Universe App.
“Mama, I want to stay here forever,” said both boys to me on the morning we had to leave.
I guess that says it all. I would highly recommend Marta’s Airbnb if looking for a place in Palau.
2- Beautiful beaches
Spiaggia di Cala Corsara on Isola Spargi
Pros: So beautiful, there was also a rocky architecture area you can climb to on the left.
Cons: As we were there as part of one of many La Maddalena day trip island excursions, it meant that there were about a million other people there at the same time.
Spiaggia di Rena Majori
Pros: Wonderful, perfect sand and clear waters, nice drive up through the pine forest to get there.
Cons: Seaweed comes up later in the afternoon and the water changes.
Spiaggia di Lampianu
Pros: Beautiful landscape, boys loved finding shells to pick amongst the rocks, secluded, no people.
Cons: Very rocky, not a beach for toddlers.
Spiaggia di Ezzi Mannu in Stintino
Pros: Gorgeous clear waters and perfect sand.
Cons: A million people, seaweed later in the afternoon.
Calla dell’Argentiera
Pros: Great place to watch the sunset.
Cons: Rocky beach, a lot of locals.
Spiaggia di Mugoni
Pros: Clear waters, nice sandy beach.
Cons: A million people, very little sand area. (We stayed for less than an hour.)
Spiaggia Le Piscine
Pros: Nice place for swimming.
Cons: No shade (like all the others), pebble beach.
Spiaggia di Baia Saraceno
Pros: Purely for locals in the area, we almost felt like we were intruding.
Cons: Pebble beach, but the kids had a lot of fun.
Spiaggia di Santa Maria
Pros: White sandy beach, clear blue waters.
Cons: Not a lot of beach area for the millions of people that again come as apart of the La Maddalena island excursion.
3- Pretty towns
Alghero
It was so easy to fall in love with Alghero, one of Sardinia’s most beautiful medieval cities. The historic centre with cobbled stones had many shops and restaurants giving it a great vibe. We combined a trip to Alghero with the area of Capo Caccia.
La Maddalena
Surprisingly, the town which has the same name as the island, was large, lively and buzzing with shops, restaurants and the hordes of tourists that come to visit the famous La Maddalena archipelago that is suspended between Sardinia and Corsica. Don’t expect any of the gelaterias to be open before 11am though.
Castelsardo
Please google image the name of this town. I wish we had more time to explore the castle at the top. It was the perfect stopover for us driving from Palau to get to Ezzi Manu beach in Stintino for the afternoon. We then continued onwards to Spiaggia di Lampianu before spending the night in Argentiera.
Porto Rafael
I didn’t particularly care for the town of Palau. However on one of my mornings runs, I ran along the beach from Palau and climbed all the way up to La Fortezza di Monte Altura and then continued downwards to Porto Rafael.
4- Good food
Two restaurants I would like to recommend are:
Angedras in Alghero and Ristorante Pasta e Vino in Palau.
Angedras is Sardinia spelt backwards in Italian (Sardegna). After a great first lunch, we went back a second time and I had a lobster fregola. Sometimes called Sardinian couscous, fregola is a Sardinian pasta made from hard durum wheat flour.
What made Angedras special was also its location. You are enjoying delicious food, right on the sea walls with views of the sea and Barcelona lying somewhere in the far distance.
Ristorante Pasta e Vino in Palau had solid good food. Order anything, you can’t go wrong, especially their daily specials.
My Thoughts and Impressions
Although we enjoyed our time in Sardinia, I much preferred the time we spent in Sicily, which till this day is the best road trip I have ever done. Sicily had more to offer – architecture and scenery wise.
Relating to the beaches we encountered, I preferred the island getaway we did to Wisana Redang in Malaysia where I truly believe I had found paradise. There were just too many people in Sardinia for my liking.
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Have you been to Sardinia or Sicily? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Share this post if you liked it.
