After a fantastic four days around La Maddalena Islands, my friend and I packed up and headed out early on the 9:15 am ferry to Palau and then a 30 minute drive to Santa Teresa di Gallura.
I’m glad we stayed in this area as it was a good base to stay near Palau for our second boat trip later in the week but also the beach here (Spaggio Rena) was sooo pretty!
We booked a room with two beds at Hotel Corallaro, which has free parking and is literally a 5 minute walk to the beach. The hotel also offers sunbeds and umbrella for an additional charge of 50 euros every time but it was worth it for the convenience. We arrived around 10:30 am and just hung out at the beach most of the day and had lunch at a beach bar just above the actual beach. The views were beautiful. Corsica is literally just across from here.
For dinner, we went to a nearby restaurant called Da Thomas. We didn’t have a reservation but it wasn’t a problem. It’s a big place and the seafood here was excellent! The highlight for us here was the clam spaghetti (cooked with crab roe which gave the sauce that extra umami flavor) and sea bass baked in salt dough. We came back here twice. The hotel is located at the bottom of a steep hill but I didn’t mind the short walk up given all the food we were eating! The town is small but lots of places to eat and bigger than the main town in La Maddalena.
The next morning we wanted to see more beaches in the area so we hopped in the car and drove out to Capo Testa. We found a parking lot and paid planning to be here all day and wish we checked out the beach first before committing to the parking (about 14 euros for all day). When we arrived, the wind here was sooo strong and the beach had a ton of seaweed. There’s a beach bar and chairs you can rent but it didn’t seem comfortable with the strong wind and seaweed so we decided to just drive out to the lighthouse nearby for views and go to another beach place that I luckily had the foresight to research and reserve for (Conca Verde). On the other side of the coastal beach there is a quieter and less windy bay beach where lots of locals seem to go but there are no rentals here.
There is some parking by the lighthouse but it’s very limited. We were lucky and found a spot right away. It’s short walk from the street to the lighthouse and we spent only ten or so minutes here looking at the views before hopping back into the car to get to Conca Verde.
For the beach rental here, I reserved with Lo Squalo beach club. They manage rentals across three beaches in the area, including in Rena so if you don’t stay at the hotel you can still get a rental through them. However the hotel side was nicer than the Lo Squalo side at Rena!
Conca Verde was about a 15 min drive from Santa Teresa and very low key. It was super quiet and not as many people as Rena at all. I had made the rsvp thru What’s App weeks ago. The beach here was peaceful but not as pretty as Rena—the sand was a bit rockier and not as shallow too far out. So while it was a nice beach to visit that was different, I way preferred Rena. But it was still nice to spend the day here relaxing and reading and we had food at the beach bar. Through the beach club, you can also rent boats and other things. I’d also note the beach clubs in Sardinia in general are nothing like the beach clubs in Spain or France. Meaning there is no loud music and there may or may not be food services. It’s way more chill and relaxing (which I like!).
The next day we got up early to get to Bonifacio, Corsica! Since this is in France, you do need to bring your passport onto the ferry. We were checked for them but there is no formal customs process.
The ferry is a 20 minute walk from the hotel/center of town. We bought tickets from two different companies to accommodate our schedule. We took the 9 am ferry with Ichnusa and the 5 pm ferry back with Moby. The ferry ride is about an hour long each way. We probably could’ve taken the 3:30 ferry back—the town of Bonifacio is pretty small. But the 5 pm ferry meant we could have a leisurely day strolling.
Ichnusa was the superior ferry over Moby! The seats were nicer and the bathroom facilities were also nicer. Prices were about the same but I felt the morning boat was more comfy than the afternoon boat (and more organized to get onto).
Another hot tip if you go: wear comfortable shoes! And I mean sneakers, not sandals or flip flops. There is a steep walk up the hill from the port to the top of the town. In addition, if you want to climb the Aragon Staircase (189 high but doable steps) for beautiful coastal views (similar to Ireland’s Cliff of Mohers but you’re in the cliff!) you need to have shoes that wrap around your heels. Otherwise they make you walk down barefoot (which didn’t look comfortable and there were wet spots!).
If you come first thing in the morning, you should definitely get all the “physical” stuff out of the way before it gets too hot and even more sunny. We made a beeline for the coastal tip that overlooks the sea and lighthouse. Gorgeous views! And from there, you can spot where people go down to see the cliffs at Aragon’s Stairs. From the point, you need to walk back through town to get to the entrance (short 10 minute walk). The entrance to the stairs is from the top of the cliff and then it’s 200 steep steps down with helmet required (they provide and there is an admission fee of 5 euros).
We had such a great time here! The views were so pretty and though there were lots of other tourists, it wasn’t too bad. We managed to get some pics as if no one else was around.
By the time we finished all this, it was about noon. We had lunch RSVPs at U Castille which I highly recommend. They have a small patio of three two-seat tables with the best view of the coast! We were very lucky to snag these seats! Food here was also very good.
After lunch and a few drinks, we shopped in town and walked around. We were pretty tired though and were ready to leave earlier. We stopped for a rest and a drink somewhere else before going back down to the ferry. However, once we got down there I wish I knew there were more shops down by the marina! So we didn’t get to walk by the shopping area of the marina but that’s an option if you finish walking the shopping streets on top of the hill.
Heading back to Santa Teresa on Moby ferry line at 5 pm felt more disorganized. As I mentioned the ferry was not as nice as the morning one we took with the other ferry.
The next day we did our second boat tour with the same local operator when we stayed on La Maddalena island. However, since we were on the other side, we asked to get picked up from Palau. We drove to Palau ferry port to find parking and it was not easy to find!! The public parking lot was big but Google Maps wasn’t helpful to actually get us there. We instead tried to follow the posted parking signs on the streets near the ferry terminal. We circled the area a couple of times and by chance turned down a street and eventually found the parking area close to our pickup point. If you’re ever in this situation, the best I can describe is the parking is near the Pier 1 Bar in Palau. See screenshot below. I don’t remember what random street we turned down on to get here but hopefully this helps!
Anyway we were picked up in front of Pier 1 Bar in a dinghy at 9:45 am. This boat day was a sailboat with actual sails. However the wind was very calm so we didn’t use the sail much. I didn’t mind at all since no wind also means very calm water and smooth ride! We visited different beaches from the ones on the other tour and it was a very relaxing day. Loved that we got to see the area twice around La Maddalena!
Unfortunately in one spot there were some jelly fish in the water and someone in our group got stung! There wasn’t a school of them though. Just some random ones here and there. After that one particular area though (we left after they were spotted) we didn’t come across them again. But see pic above to see what it might look like! Thankfully the captain of the boat was able to find ointment from another boat to help alleviate the pain.
The food on this trip wasn’t as extravagant as the one from the week before (we thought perhaps we had special treatment in the first one since the operator’s family friends were on with us!) but the food was still good (pasta). In general it was another great time boating around these beautiful aquamarine waters.
On our last full day in Santa Teresa, we just wanted to relax so we chilled at Rena Beach again next to our hotel. It was a wonderful day of just staring out into the sea and enjoying the sun and calm waters. It was interesting that the day we were there (Friday) was actually less busy than our first day (Monday). We sat here from 9 am til 7 pm!
On Saturday we left to drive to the airport. Even though I was flying to Florence after this trip, I would recommend getting to the airport two hours early before departure time. I flew Volotea and my flight was at 12:30 pm and I didn’t get to the airport til 11:15 am. I meant to get there earlier but there was some traffic on the way to OLB from Santa Teresa (and we left the hotel at 9:45 am!). There was a very long line to check in (and it turns out everyone waiting were all on the same flight) and it felt like I wasn’t going to make it in time to check in (check in closed at 12 pm and I didn’t get to the front of the line until 11:50 am!).
The flight ended up being delayed by 30 minutes (my guess is because they couldn’t finish checking everyone in on time? No idea). But even to get boarded it took forever (half the flight bought priority passes). Anyway so you don’t need to get there two hours early unless you want some breathing room time to eat or use the toilet without worrying about missing your flight and getting through security. There is no priority check in at the desk at Volotea, only priority boarding.
I flew Aeroitalia from Rome to OLB and that was a nicer experience (but Rome FCO airport is also bigger and better staffed).
I’ll also comment I flew ITA Airways (formerly known as Alitalia) from the U.S. to Italy and I was pleasantly surprised. I flew premium economy there and business on the way back. The food was fantastic on both legs of the trip. I wasn’t able to check in and get a boarding pass to Italy thru the app (had to get it at the U.S. airport) but flying back to the U.S. I was able to get my boarding pass and check in with no issues on the app. I had read comments online about bad experiences with economy class fares though so not sure if it’s because I flew business back that I had a better experience .
All in all I had an amazing time and will definitely be back someday to Sardinia!
