There were three things we wanted to
have out of a holiday... sun, sea and sand. Now there are a lot of places
in the world with those three things, but close to the UK and with great food
took some investigating!
Bosa
After much thought, we decided on Sardinia - I think the 100s of beaches, it being an Italian island and close to the UK sold it to us. We only had a week, but still wanted to travel a little bit, so narrowed the best beaches down to four areas - the north west, south west, south east and north east. Sardinia is known for its beaches and clear waters making them appear like emeralds.
We flew with Ryanair into Alghero and picked up a car, as we wanted total freedom to go to any of the beaches and tour the island.
After a few mishaps with driving on the wrong side of the road, we drove through the picturesque coastal town of Bosa, with its pastel coloured buildings, and onwards down the coast. The coastal drive showed off the beautifully clear waters surrounding the island - it was a spectacular drive. And with the sun blazing and the heat to go with it, we quickly got the aircon going!
We arrived at our first destination - the small Italian town of Pula, in the southernmost part of the Island a little later than planned. Our first accommodation was organised through Air B&B. For whatever reason I didn't take down the address, which resulted in a comical situation of trying to figure out which house we were staying at - trying to communicate with a 70 year old Italian who didn't speak a single word of English but luckily recognized the names of our lovely host ‘Susi’ and pointed us to the right gate. The room was great, with an excellent bathroom (fab shower!) and lovely little veranda. Being so central, we headed straight out to the town's central piazza for... guess what... PIZZA and a beer!
After driving for most of the day before, we were itching to get to the beach, but with so many beautiful choices in the south of the isle we took to testing out a few in a day, starting with the spectacular Spiaggia di Tuerredda - a small triangular beach with soft white sand that melted through your toes. The beach was relatively busy, but by walking a little way around the water’s edge we found a quieter spot right by the water so we could relax with the lapping water tickling and cooling our feet for the day. By late afternoon we made tracks back along the coast stopping at Cala Cipolla and Chia for a walk along their beaches too.
After a day of relaxing we were then
ready to see the cultural sites of the south. Our wonderful Air B&B hosts
had recommended via google translate (a great way of communicating when the
language gets the better of you!) the ancient roman archaeological site of Nora, which we joined
a tour of – it had nothing on Pompeii or Herculaneum, but was well worth a
visit before we headed on to explore the largest city in Sardinia – Cagliari.
Nora
The city’s Sardinian
name Casteddu literally means castle. It’s a helter-skelter
of golden-hued palazzi, domes and facades up to the rocky centrepiece, Il
Castello. We wandered up and down the walled city through the small cobbled
streets stopping by all of its three towers and their gates to the city.
After savouring the delights of the
local gelato (Kiwi ice cream is delicious!) we moved on to the south eastern
tip and the small beach side town of Villasimius. We’d booked into self-catered
apartment at Residences le Bouganville, and spent our
first evening after a dip in the pool drinking the local beer and home cooked
ravioli on our terrace.
Villasimius
We then began to head up north, stopping
for two nights in the small town of Cala Gohone which is hidden away at the
bottom of a long and winding road of a very steep cliff face.
This time we had learnt from our
previous Air B&B and written down the address to our apartment which wasn’t
hard to find as it was right on the beach!
Just like the town, the beaches along this stretch of coast are
hidden – small emerald coves that you can only reach by boat. We booked onto
one of the few speedboats heading out that morning (because of choppy waters) and
enjoying going from cove to cove – starting at UNESCO site Cala Gohoritze and
jumping off for a sun bathe and swim at Cala Mariola and Cala Luna. These beaches were
the hidden treasures of our holiday, made all the more stunning by the dramatic
cliff faces that surrounded them. We finished this spectacular day with drinks
overlooking the harbour and dinner by the beach.
Cala Gohoritze
Cala Mariola
Cala Luna
After
winding our way back up the cliffs to the main road we headed into the
mountains to our next stop the flashy Porto Cervo – the shopping stopover of
the rich in their spectacular super yachts, with a harbour side Harrods store!
Harrods in the harbour
Realising we were well out of our league we
continued onto the locally run hotel Hotel Villa
Gemella where we stopped to explore the beaches of
the Baia region and enjoyed spectacular evening of delicious food and cocktails
at the Punta
Baja before heading on to our favourite place on
the Island - Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park.
Arcipelago di La Maddalena
Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park is a geomarine national park located right in the north
east corner of Sardinia. The best way to explore this beautiful park is on a
sailing boat – as we did from Palau.
Sailing in the sun
Heading off early with the wind as our guide meant we could
explore the small beaches on the islands in the national park one by one
avoiding the ‘typical’ routes taken by the tour boats. Our captain and crew
took us to their favourite spots - the most beautiful and empty beaches we’d
come across all holiday. We swam ashore from the boat through the clearest,
warmest and most beautiful turquoise water – it was as if we were in a swimming
pool! If you ever go to Sardinia and don’t want to tour the island – this is
the area to come to - we could have stayed on that boat exploring all week!
A park of beaches
Having disembarked we headed onwards to
our final destination – Stintino on the opposite northern corner of the isle
and the spiaggia della Pelsoa - a picture postcard shallow inlet overlooking
the Torre della Pelosa. With crystal clear shallow waters running for hundreds
of meters it was no wonder that the beach was completely covered in an array of
brightly coloured beach umbrellas. Finding a spot to add one more was a
challenge in itself but we managed slot in by the water’s edge taking it in
turns to lounge in the pleasantly warm waters.
It was the perfect view to end on –
completely summing up our beach touring holiday of this wonderful Italian
Island.
Torre della Pelosa
If you love Italy, pizza and beaches then don’t forget to put Sardinia
on your holiday list!
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