Sea & Sardinia

Fly to Cagliari and transfer to the 4-star Unahotel Thotel for a two-night stay. Enjoy a welcome Drink.

Tour Cagliari’s Castello ‘old town’, its characterful cobbled streets leading to the Royal Palace, Santa Maria Cathedral, and 14th century Pisan towers; visit the Archaeological Museum, with exhibits from the Nuragic/Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine artefacts; and continue to the archaeological site of Nora, the pillars, theatre, and mosaics of its Roman ruins crowning the Cape of Pula.
(B)

Enjoy a short train ride before a journey by road to visit the Nuragic ‘Su Nuraxi’ fort at Barumini. Awarded UNESCO World Heritage status, its once-impregnable towers and ramparts soar above the circular stone dwellings at its feet. Travel through the mountains and the untamed natural beauty of Oliena district to Olbia, for two nights at the 4-star Grand Hotel President. Enjoy a typical Sardinian dinner at a local restaurant this evening.
(B, D)

A full day excursion takes you through the Costa Smeralda area, famed for its fabulous scenery, characterful villages and glitzy, jet-set resorts; to take the ferry from Pilau to the sprinkling of islands and islets of La Maddalena, a 20minute crossing to the main island and only town of the archipelago. Enjoy time at leisure to explore the colourful port / resort town, with pavement tables on pedestrian lanes, a choice of restaurants for an al fresco lunch, a palm-studded promenade, and fresh food market.
(B)

Travel to the Basilica della Santissima Trinità di Saccargia, on a wild hillside in Codrongianos. The Romanesque exterior is striped in white limestone and dark basalt, from its temple-like porch to the top of its tall belltower; Byzantine-style frescoes are the focus of the otherwise stark apse; and the relics of the monastery which once stood beside it are scattered in surrounding meadows. Visit the haunting tombs, caves and grottoes of Anghelu Ruju, the necropolis dating back five millennia, the walls and pillars carved with symbols of entry into the afterlife. Continue to Alghero for two nights at the 4-star Catalunya Hotel overlooking the sea, marina, and old town. Enjoy a welcome drink with a view!
(B)

Tour Alghero, the cobbled lanes and paved piazzas of its medieval Catalan core encircled by the golden stone seawalls of the 16th century port, viewing St. Mary’s Cathedral, Spanish strongholds, and the Civic Square. Enjoy a Sardinian wine tasting with appetisers. Visit the wonderfully wild Capo Caccia area, its promontory shaped like a sleeping giant, and carpeted in the 3000 hectares of a natural botanic reserve, its beautiful bay protected from the winds by high cliffs, its skies visited by birds of prey.
(B)

Take the scenic coast road to visit the beautiful village of Bosa, a river running through it, a cluster of pretty churches, and pastel-painted houses tiered into the hillside beneath its crowning Malaspina Castle. Continue to visit the ruins of ancient Tharros, spectacularly positioned on the Sinis peninsula. Founded in the 8th century BC, the Phoenician-Roman port city was destroyed by Saracen raiders and abandoned in the 11th century AD. Overnight at the 4-star Hotel Lido Beach.
(B)

Transfer to Cagliari airport for your return flight.
(B)