The 11 Best Things to Do in Sardinia, Italy (2024)

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Drive Along Sardinia's Most Beautiful Highway

You'll need a car to explore the best parts of Sardinia fully, so make the most of your vehicle and take a drive along the scenic SP71. Italy designates its national scenic byways as strada panoramica, and the SP71 highway along the southernmost tip of Sardinia is a detour worth taking.

Drive about 45 minutes south of Cagliari's capital city, and you'll see a turnoff for the SP71 toward the town of Chia. The scenic road is only about 16 miles long, but you should set aside at least a couple of hours to complete it, giving yourself plenty of time to stop along the way. Stop at any one of the coves along the route for an intimate time at the beach, and follow signs for the Faro Capo Spartivento for a short hike to a lighthouse with breathtaking views of the Mediterranean.

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Discover the Colorful Town of Bosa

If you wish you could experience the beauty of Cinque Terre or the Amalfi Coast without the hoards of tourists, then Bosa is the place for you. This seaside town features colorful houses and rolling hills as the more well-known destinations on the mainland. Still, because of Bosa's relative remoteness, you won't see many non-Italians there. The pastel-colored houses against the water look like real-life postcards, and you can climb to the top of the Castle of Serravalle for a panoramic view of the whole town. It's about a two-hour drive north from Cagliari, but it brings you closer to all other gems in the island's northern part.

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Explore Cagliari’s Castello Neighborhood

You'll likely start your trip in Cagliari, Sardinia's capital and most populous city with over 5,000 years of history. The walls of its imposing hilltop citadel are narrow, winding medieval streets;a comprehensivearchaeological museum;defensive towers (some of which can be climbed for knockout viewsof the coast); and the ornate 13th-century SaintMariàsCathedral. Roman and Carthaginian ruins are a short walk outside the old city walls. Add in a few pit stops in the area's cozy bars, restaurants, and shops, andyou've gotan excellent way to spend an afternoon and evening.

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Get Posh on the Costa Smeralda

Sardinia’s “Emerald Coast”rivals the FrenchRivieraasan undisputed playground for Europe’s rich and famous,withalargenumber of Russian oligarchs and their mega-yachts thrown in for good measure.The summertime action centers around PortoCervo, home tobreathtakingly expensivewaterfront villas;bronzed, beautiful statues; all-night discos; and encamped paparazzi hoping tocatchthe latest peccadillo ofsome Italian politician or film star.This is the place to visit if you want to vacation like a celebrity.

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Plumb the Mysteries of Nuragic Culture at Barumini

From around 1500 BCE to thePunic Wars in the 3rdand 2ndcenturies BCE, theNuragicpeoples were the dominant culture on the island. They left behind more than 7,000nuraghi,beehive-shaped stone fortresses surrounded by smaller hive-shaped buildings and, often, a defensive wall. The best example of an extensiveNuragicvillage isSuNuraxiatBarumini, a UNESCO World Heritage siteabout one hour north of Cagliari.

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Ride a Gommone in the Golfo di Orosei

The “hidden” beaches, coves, and grottoes of theGolfodiOrosei on the island’s central-east coast are some of the most spectacular scenery in the Mediterranean.Thebestway to reach them isbygommone, or zodiac raft, whichcan be hiredat eitherCalaGononeor MarinadiOrosei. You might see dolphins frolicking in the raft’s wake, andyou’llstop at several different beaches toswim in watersso clear and blue theydefysuperlatives.

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Walk Alghero’s Seafront and Descend Into Neptune’s Grotto

On the northwest coast, Alghero’s 13th- to 16th-century seaside ramparts face Spain and speak to its past as vassalage of the Crown of Aragon—an ever-shrinking percent of the population still speaksAlghereseCatalan, a dialect more closely related to Spanish than Italian. Explore Alghero’s pretty, well-preservedcentrobefore heading toNeptune’s Grotto(Grotto diNettuno), a greatstalactite sea cavern reachable by boat or via a 654-step rock-cut staircase.

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Discover Sardo Traditions in Nuoro

In the rugged, mountainous interior, the city of Nuoroand its surrounding province preserve indigenous Sardinian folkways, from sheepherding to traditional costume, music, dance, and rituals.

Nuoro’sexcellentethnographic museumattempts to sort it all out, butit isbest experienced in smaller towns like Mamoiada, Oliena, orOrgosolo, which is famous for itscontemporarymurals. The region has some of the island’s best hiking withnuraghi, prehistoric tombs, springs, and caves dotting therockylandscape, plus plenty of random sheep, donkeys, and goats.

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Sample Cannonau, Bottarga and Carasau

Like every region of Italy, Sardinia is proud of its food and wine.Don’tleave without tryingcannonau, a hearty red wine made from grenache grapes, orvermentino, an acidic, citrusy white. Thin, crispycarasaubread is on every restauranttable,and some variation ofspaghettiallabottarga(made with mullet roe) is on every menu.If fish eggsaren’tfor you, tryculurgiones, pasta pockets stuffed with potato and ricotta. Sardinian cheeses swing heavilytowards sharp pecorinoor, for the daring,casumarzu, a sheep’s cheese with live maggots.Finish your meal witha glass of sweetmirto, a liqueur made from myrtle berries.

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Visit the Seaside Ruins of Nora or Tharros

The ancients valued waterfront property just as much as we donow, and the archaeological sites ofTharros, nearOristano, and Nora, near Cagliari, attest to this. The cities date to at least 1,000 BCE andwere inhabitedover time byNuragicpeoples, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans, all of whom left their marks. Both sites are partially underwater. You may see colonies of pink flamingos near Nora. Just outsideTharros, stop at the exquisite6th-centuryChurch of San Giovanni diSinis, one of the oldest on the island.

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Get Away From It all on Asinara

If the summer beachcrowds get to be too much, island-hop toAsinaraNational Park, northwest of Porto Torres. Therearea few accessible beaches, plus hiking, bike rentals, and bird watching.You can even arrange to sleep at the onebasic hotel within the park.Try to spot one of the albino donkeys indigenous to the island, as well as feral horses, goats, pigs, and maybe even the occasional mouflon, a wild, horned sheep. Access to the island and park is limited, soyou’llneed tobook passage with anauthorized boating company.