Family-run
€€
Casa delle Due Palme
Alghero old town
Five rooms in a tall old-town house, with breakfast on a roof terrace above the sea wall.
Italy
Planning Sardinia
An island that is bigger and wilder than it looks from the beach: coast, granite, cork forests and villages with their own food and dialect.
Sketch a trip hereThe shape that works
Best as a road trip. The coast is the draw, but the island's heart is inland, and distances are longer than the map suggests.
When to go
May, June and September are the sweet spot. August is crowded and hot; many small places close from November to Easter.
Good to know
- You will want a car. Buses link towns but not beaches or villages.
- Mountain roads are slow: allow an hour for every 40 to 50 km inland.
- Alghero, Olbia and Cagliari have airports; ferries arrive at Olbia, Porto Torres and Cagliari.
Mistakes we see
- Trying to see the whole island in a week.
- Staying only on the coast and missing the interior.
- Assuming August is the best month.
Want more depth on the island itself? Go Sardinia covers it in detail.
Alghero
Stand-alone
€€
Coral Coast Kayak
Capo Caccia
Half-day sea kayaking under the cliffs of Capo Caccia, with a swim stop in a cove you can't reach by land.
Larger operator
€€€
Harbourline Alghero
Lido di Alghero
A large beachfront hotel with a pool, family rooms and on-site parking.
A larger operator. Not independent, but the easiest option here for bigger families who need connecting rooms and a pool.
Bosa
Stand-alone
€€
La Conceria
Bosa riverside
Four rooms in a converted riverside tannery, stone walls and linen, with bikes to borrow.
Family-run
€
Agriturismo Su Mannu
Hills above Bosa
Simple rooms on an olive and sheep farm, with a set dinner of whatever the farm produced that day.
Family-run
€
Malvasia Cellar Walk
Bosa Marina hills
A short vineyard walk and tasting of the local Malvasia with the family who grow it.
Oliena
Stand-alone
€€
Supramonte Shepherds' Walk
Supramonte
A day's walk through limestone country to a shepherds' hut, with lunch cooked over a fire.
Family-run
€
Casa del Supramonte
Oliena village
Rooms above the family bakery, with mountain views and bread still warm at breakfast.
Small group
€€€
Cork and Stone Lodge
Valley below Oliena
Stone cabins in a cork-oak valley, with a spring-fed pool and dinners on a long table.