We are spending 3 weeks exploring the island of Sardinia, mid September to early October. Sardinia is a part of Italy, lying about an hours flight east from mainland Italy and directly south of the French island of Corsica.
Sardinia and Corsica share the same geological formation and both display massive granite backbones that are super impressive. Sardinia seems to have more pink granite, but both show rough, tough terrains, with Sardinia through the centre of the island being also quite rugged and barren, apart from prickly pear cactus.
We will stay in 3 AirBNB locations, the first – Porto Frailis at Arbatax is just below half way down the east coast of Sardinia- see map above. Our second is at Nebida, just on the coast near Inglesia, down in the south west corner and then we head north east to Cannigione, just up from Arzachena in the Costa Smeralda.
But first it’s the east coast and beaches in and around Arbatax, warm seas, sandy beaches and a backdrop of mountains. These beaches were all very well kept, lots of rubbish bins for plastic, glass, general rubbish etc and collected first thing every day. NB These beaches were very hot at times and it was a bonus that our AirBNB provided some beach umbrellas, their shade was a blessing:-
From Arbatax we took a day boat trip north to view the coastline, caves and beaches of the Orosei Gulf which can really only be accessed by boat or by very serious hikers, with the Mayors permission to hike!!! . Stunning limestone towering cliffs and sea caves, Eleonora Falcons wheeling about overhead, all underpinned by white sandy beaches and azure blue seas. Beaches like Cala Luna, Cala Mariolu and Cala Goloritze were simply magnificent. We also did an excursion into the limestone cave complex at Grotta Del Fico, which was pretty good inside, novel accessing by sea!
Getting to and around Sardinia
We flew from Naples on mainland Italy to Olbia in the north east of Sardinia, one hour by EasyJet. Equally there are flights from the U.K. & Europe to Olbia and Cagliari – the islands capital in the south of the island. There are also car ferries from mainland Italy and from Corsica.
We arranged a rental car at Olbia airport and returned it at Cagliari airport subsequently. The roads in Sardinia are impressive, and the motorways – autostrada- are toll free. We drove the length and breadth of the island, motorways – amazing bridge work and tunnels – well done the EU budget – hinterland highways twisting hairpin bends and sandy tracks to the beach.
But you can also get around by train, actually from Arbatax a special train – The Green Train – and only on Saturdays and Sundays. We had read about this, but the research available was a bit old, anyway we decided to give it a go. On the Saturday we presented ourselves at 0800 hours at Arbatax Railway Station to await our train with about another 40 to 50 fellow passengers. It arrived and off we went on a 3.5 hour train ride up into the mountains above Arbatax .
This train ride was fun. Our little Green Train had a Driver, an Inspector on the train, an official lady in a uniform and red hat – who did not get onto the train at Arbatax but looked the part. Importantly we also had two guards with red/ green “ ping pong bats”, who stopped traffic imaginary or otherwise, at nearly every road, byroad and track we crossed. This was quite a performance as at each stop the train had to stop before the road, allow the guards to descent, wait for them to get into position – ping pong bats at the ready – train crosses the road and stops – guards return, and off we go.
So we rattled along pretty well, the scenery was great, whilst at the first stop the cafe was inexplicably closed, the toilets were open – even though the train had a clean toilet, but no loo paper!! NB1 Always carry some loo roll and “ wet wipes”, just in case. NB2 Not all toilets lock, or the locks do not always work, so going to the loo with a colleague to stand outside can be useful( in Italy). Equally calling in a loud voice, “ Momento, Momento”, if you are on your own, inside the loo, concentrating and someone tries to open your loo door!!
Well it worked for me!
The train line was established in the 1930s by Benito Mussolini when he visited the area, to provide easier access for the raw materials of the area. Interestingly he provided a “ family cash bonus” for any child born in the area and named after him – Benito that is.
On the trains arrival at Lanusei up in the hills, we boarded buses and headed off for a guided walking tour of a “ Ghost Village at Gairo Vecchio”. Best bit was the English guide lady who answered lots of our Sardinian questions. Next the bus to a lunch in a forest – a rather drawn out affair plus the cloud and mist had descended which spoilt the final event, the guided tour of a “ Nuraghe” – see historical comments, below. We returned by bus to Arbatax about 1800 hours, a long day , a good experience but ready for a cold beer or several. The sad thing is that the day trip, if better organised and coordinated could have been so much better, BUT this is Sardinia.
History and Sardinia 1500BC
Because of its location in the Meditarranean, Sardinia has been a target for pirates, invaders from Africa, the Levant and more. For that reason the older villages ended up being built up in the hills and mountains for defensive purposes. But much further back in time and 1500 years BC the people’s of Sardinia were creating Nuraghe – stone constructed living quarters and also burial chambers that are referred to as Giants Tombs. There are lots of Nuraghe and we were lucky to find one at Arbatax which we visited for free on European Heritage Day – thanks you EU. You can see from the size of the stones that this is impressive and apparently these people grew grain and other crops.
We chose Arbatax as a mid point east coast Sardinian base to explore from, and it worked out very well. There was lots to do and some superb restaurants that we enjoyed. I am still recovering from a Porto Frailis degustation meal where we chose our pasta and main fish course( amazing tuna steak cooked perfection rare) and instead of selecting one appetiser, we were presented with ALL of them!! Stunning actually and a waddle back to the AirBnB apartment!!
Next stop Nebida!!
Travels with My Wife 