Sardinia Italy is a stunning island off its west coast in the Mediterranean Sea that has no shortage of gorgeous beaches tucked between the rocky shoreline. Throughout the month we drove around the island visiting different beaches and going to the Autuno in Barbagia festivals.
What I really loved about the beaches here over those in comparable places like the Caribbean is that they are still wild and undeveloped requiring you to drive down dirt roads to get to the beach where you will not find large resorts or houses sprinkled along the coastline, there are a variety of different beaches to choose from, and the water has the same shades of turquoise, green and blue found in the Caribbean but it is crystal clear. Sardinia offers their own version of Italian hospitality and yummy food with stunning water alongside gorgeous, unique beaches. We took full advantage of devouring cheese, cured meat and Sardinian flat bread by eating this for lunch whenever we went to the beach or wanted an easy meal at home.
September 10-14 Oristano
We stayed in the city of Oristano as a base to explore. We rented a spacious apartment that had a chefs kitchen, large balcony and a friendly local bar next door where John made friends. We went to 2 beaches and unfortunately didn’t have enough time to really check out Oristano itself but it definitely seemed to have something to offer.
Spiaggia di Is Artuas is a beautiful unique beach in that it has small, soft, tiny quartz pebbles in a variety of colors instead of sand. I was surprised how much I loved the pebbles. They didn’t stick to you like sand and it felt like a gentle massage when you rubbed the pebbles against your skin. The landscape was beautiful too with a large ruin sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean.
Spiaggia di Sa Mesa Longa was a mix of sand and pebbles that had a small island in front of it with flat rocks next to it that you could stand on. It looked like you were walking on water from a distance! There was also smaller sections of rocks dotting along the beach that provided shelter for small fish but there was still enough space in between so that you could walk in the sand. I snorkeled around close to the shore and was pointing out fish to the baby.
September 17 – September 24 Assemini
we stayed in Assemini, just outside of Cagliari, the largest city on the island. Unfortunately we had a lot of rain during this week so we didn’t go to as many beaches as we wanted. However this allowed us to check out an awesome large produce, meat and seafood market inside the city and John made some delicious mussels, sausage, and the best tasting chicken. We also we went out for a tasty pizza dinner.
One day, we wanted to stay close by in case it rained so we went to the local city beach, Poetto Beach. Although it has all of the conveniences, it was not very pretty and there was a lot of broken glass on the beach. It was cool to see the flamingoes in the lake behind the beach and to get out for a little bit. For a city beach it was fine but I don’t have any pictures.
Spiaggia Sa Colonia
This beach was so shallow and fun to swim in with the baby. You could walk out quite a distance before it got deep. The water was a beautiful turquoise color with a white sand beach. There was a hill separating this beach from another which is where the aerial photos were taken from. I actually wanted to go to the other beach, Su Giudeu, but I didn’t pay attention to the directions and brought us to this beach instead.
John and John dug a huge hole and sand castle to play in. While we were playing in the sand we made friends with a little boy named Mario and his parents. They were from Cagliari. It’s days like this that I love traveling and hanging out with locals, enjoying our children playing together.
Spiaggia di Punta Molentis
What an amazing beach!! It is now one of my favorites. Yes it is busy with people that drive there or come from one of the many boats that stop but it is worth it. The color of the water is breathtaking alongside the small white sand beach and rocky shoreline with islands in front of it. The sea is different shades of deep blue and green. I have never seen such a magnificent deep clear blue. You can snorkel along the rocks, play in the small lagoon or swim at the beach. John was trying to catch the fish in the lagoon with his bucket. He did not catch fish but he did catch the bread we threw in to feed the fish and he was very happy with that!
September 24 – 27 Alghero
Our next base was Alghero where we stayed a little outside of the old town. We were just a block from the beach and had a balcony with sea views. Since this city is on the west coast we caught radiant sunsets on the water. We were fortunate to find an amazing farmers market offering local cheese, cured meat, produce and seafood. We also splurged on a fancy seafood dinner that didn’t disappoint and walked into the old town one night.
Spiaggia di Mugoni
This beach had a very natural feel to it. It was nestled in a bay with a narrow beach surrounded by trees. We found tons of tiny seashells and fish. It felt like we were miles away from civilization.
Porto Ferro
Although we knew it would be windy, we went to this beach anyway and it was windier than I expected! I am happy we went but our time was cut short because the sand was blowing all over. This beach felt even further away from civilization from the previous beach and it had ruins at each end of the bay. The color of the sand was a unique color. It was a beautiful deep reddish, brown.
September 27 – October 3 Palau
Our final stop was in Palau to visit the infamous Costa Smeralda. We could not check into our apartment until the late afternoon so we took our time driving there and stopped in the far north western corner. We went to the end of the road in the north west corner and found yet another picturesque sea and landscape with an old watch out tower called Torre della Pelosa. The position of the tower and lighting was perfect for pictures to highlight the clear, colorful water. We walked around a bit then drove away a little to have a picnic at a quieter beach.
Our 6 days went quick and unfortunately the last couple of days it rained and was windy so we did not get a chance to go to the gorgeous island La Maddalena. Luckily we had a large balcony overlooking the bay in Palau so we got to watch the daily ferries go back and forth to the island.
Spiaggia La Sciumara
Unsure of what beach to go to when we first got there and not necessarily wanting a long car ride, we decided to stay close and check out this beach. It was nice to have just a 5 minute drive! The beach was pretty but it was not as special as some others.
Spiaggia di Liscia Ruja
This stunning beach is technically part of Costa Smeralda. It has islands in front of it, orangish-pink rocks around, clear turquoise water with white sand. This is one of my favorite beaches and upholds all of the notoriety given to it. We were there in the off season so we were fortunate to see this area without it being full of yachts.
While playing in the sand we made friends with a little girl and her parents who were from Sardinia but living in the Canary Islands. We built a big hole for the kids to splash and climb in, shared toys, swam, and even shared lunch.
Spiaggia Mannena
Yet one more final beach. This beach was white sand and of course with rocks along the coastline. You could easily walk over the rocks or in the woods to get to numerous tiny beaches in the area. It was cool because you could find your own secluded beach if you kept walking. In our typical fashion, we played in the sand and made friends with a sweet little girl named Francesca (Franny), her Aunt and their friend. They lived there and went to the beach nearly every day. Although they spoke limited English it was enough to have small talk and have a really fun day. The kids loved playing, exploring and swimming together. John was so sad when we had to leave. Little did we know it was our last beach in Sardinia but I could not have asked for a better day. To end our trip by spending a wonderful day at the beach with a Sardinian family just topped off my memories of how friendly, beautiful and welcoming this island is.
Exploring all of these fantastic beaches and eating the plethora of scrumptious food would not have been accomplished and not enjoyed as much without my husband and son. I thank my husband very much for feeding us and safely driving us, especially when my navigation skills were totally off and we had to turn around on many trips. I thank my 3 year old son very much also. He was such an awesome, patient little traveler. He loved to watch out the window as we drove, excited to go through the numerous tunnels, and of course go to the beach.
Here is a picture of our diesel car that we put a lot of kilometers on.
I hope to return to Sardinia some day and encourage others to check it out too.