Had a fabulous time in Sardinia in mid June. I put in a lot of research before heading to this part of Italy (a country I’ve been to six times and have yet to see it all!) and glad all the research paid off!
I’ve been to the Amalfi Coast twice and while it’s lovely, the beaches of Sardinia excel over the Amalfi (sandy beaches vs. rocky beaches) and perhaps it’s still not as discovered? It wasn’t too busy at all compared to the Amalfi but I think it’s because I came right before true high season starts in July. In any event, I had a very relaxing 9 days here and hope to see more of it someday!
The main thing to know about me and my trip planning: I priority ease, comfort, beauty and costs. I have a really busy day job so when I plan a vacation, I plan it with a mix of options and must dos so when I show up, I don’t have to waste time researching and can just GO. I won’t do something if it might stress me out or waste my time (so I also pre look up parking convenience).
With that being said, I knew I would not be able to see all of Sardinia in less than two weeks. It’s a big island. So I researched what were the biggest highlights and La Maddelena Islands stood out to me.
I’m so glad I decided to stay here a few days and then I also picked out Santa Teresa Gallura as another base on the northern part of the island. I picked this town in part because there’s a direct ferry access to Bonifacio, Corsica which was another highlight of the trip.
So the overall itinerary was:
Day 1: Fly direct from Rome to Sardinia (I was planning to be in Rome for a week beforehand) to OLB, closest airport to La Maddelena Islands on the north side. Rented a car. From airport to Palau ferry it was about a hour drive. Take ferry to the island from Palau.
Day 1-4: Stay in La Maddalena. Chose Grand Ma & Ma Hotel for four nights.
Day 5: Head back across ferry to Palau and drive to Santa Teresa Gallura (about 30 minutes from Palau). Stayed at Hotel Corallaro the whole time. Highly recommend for the location of the hotel which is 5 minute walk to a gorgeous beach
Day 5-9: Stay in Santa Teresa and did a day trip to Corsica. Flew from Sardinia to Florence on last day. About an hour and 15 minutes drive to OLB from Santa Teresa.
I highly recommend renting a car—while there is public transit, if you’re short on time and can afford it, getting around with a car is way easier. I’ve rented cars in Europe before and it was pretty expensive to rent a car in Sardinia compared to other places I’ve rented but so worth it!!! A friend joined me on this trip so we split the costs. But I would say even if you’re solo, it’s better to rent a car.
We did not have to pre book the ferry from Palau to La Maddalena (at this time of year ferries are frequent). This might be different in July and August. Please note all my comments are based on visiting in June before it gets super busy. If you’re coming during busy busy season, adjust your expectations based on my comments!
We did pre book tickets to Corsica but based on when we visited, we probably could’ve done that while we were here.
If you can visit before end of June, that would be ideal. I can only imagine how crazy and less serene it is later in the summer. While it was busy, it was very manageable and relaxed and never had problems without dinner reservations either (though we had some).
A DEFINITE pre booking is needed for boat tours in La Maddelena! There is no point of visiting here if you do NOT do a boat tour! It’s the best way to see the islands and all the remarkable beaches! We loved it so much we booked another tour towards the end of our stay so we went twice but on two different boats. More on this later!
Another must: bring some cash if you want to visit other beaches and rent chairs/umbrellas. Usually it costs about 50 euros for two chairs and umbrella. The sun is scorching and you will need that shade! Due to the remoteness of some beaches, the attendant may only take cash. Also not all beaches have this option (so I always look for the ones that do because I need the comfort!).
One last “oh yeah and…”: Hotels here only will give out one beach towel a day to use. For example Grand Ma & Ma gave us one towel a day to use and if we wanted a fresh towel it costs 3 euros extra that day. hotel Corallaro gives you one beach towel to use for your entire stay!! And charged 5 euros for each new one. But if you book the beach rental (which they own) they give you a fresh towel to use. So just prep yourself or bring your own towel. For the boat tours, you will also need to bring your own towel (we took from the hotels).
I’ll recap the trip in more detail in other posts.
