Seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging – every time we arrive on a supposedly idyllic Island, the weather ( initially, at least ) is less than ideal. First in Sicily, and now in Sardinia it was a rocky start weatherwise, being cooler, cloudier, and rainier than one would like. Fortunately, just as it did in Sicily, things turned quickly for the better and the rest of our first week here proved to be ideal holiday/travelling weather. That was fortunate because it seemed that in the week leading up to our arrival, all we got on our Instagram feeds were stunning video clips of Sardinia‘s “must-see” towns, landscapes, and especially it’s legendary beaches. We had taken note of these and created both a list of places we wanted to visit and a crude itinerary for determining the order in which we would do so. The beaches featured prominently 🌞.
Sardinia’s capital, Cagliari, was our port of arrival and starting point for our exploring. It’s one of those places where excellent wild camping ( or rather, wild “parking” ) exists right by the port and so for the first couple of nights we based ourselves there, along with a half a dozen or so other European campers. Nice to go to sleep with the waves lapping at the shore and to wake up and start your day with a beautiful Italian cappuccino or hot chocolate from the excellent little coffee shop across the street. While Cagliari is a pleasant enough city to wander around, and conveniently small, apart from a few historic buildings and a famous church there was not a lot to see there. Most people don’t stay long and nor did we.
Heading immediately west took us thorough pleasant Pula, Chia and onto the quasi island city of San Antioch. Some great little coastal hikes and interesting lookouts along the way and it was here we began to see the nice beaches that the island is so famous for. Not its most stunning ( yet ) by a long shot, but pretty by any standards. The water is just so clean and clear here, which surprised us given that the Med is an enclosed sea surrounded by heavily populated countries, usually a recipe for at least some pollution. We saw no evidence of any.
From the southwest of Sardinia we changed course and headed back east across the rugged interior of the island – a different kind of scenery, with lots of small, remote villages when we went off the beaten track a few times. This part of the island just felt very different, but by the time we hit the east coast things looked familiar again.
A couple of nights were spent camped at pretty coastal towns ( Arbatax and Santa Maria Navarresse ), the latter from which we booked an all day boat excursion to take in some otherwise difficult to access Baunei coast beaches. One in particular, Cala Goloritze, had only last year been voted “The World’s # 1 Beach”. This, we decided (since we were so close) we had to see, however forecast high winds meant we had to cancel the boat access option. Not to give up, there was another possibility – hiking it, a 7.2km excursion with an almost 500m elevation gain/descent over pretty rough terrain. Probably something we should NOT have done, but we did and got to see ( and swim in ) the 2025 World’s Best Beach. It was, indeed, spectacularly beautiful, but I’m not sure I would rank it number one given we’ve seen a few others that would more than match it. The blisters and aches after the strenuous hike also diminished some of its beauty in our mind at least !
Till next week …
