Find your
island.

From Bali to Bermuda — compare islands by vibe, season, language and cost.

Eco-luxury Sailing hubs French islands Low storm risk Off the grid

Photo byMassimo VirgilioonUnsplash

Sardinia

About 7,000 Bronze Age stone towers stand here — a density found nowhere else.

Western MediterraneanCapital: Cagliari

SailingLuxuryFoodieOff The Beaten Path

The nuraghe is a dry-stone tower built in a truncated cone, and roughly 7,000 of them are scattered across Sardinia — a concentration found nowhere else, though related towers stand in Corsica and the Balearics. The best-excavated, Su Nuraxi at Barumini, went onto the UNESCO list in 1997; most of the others sit unsigned in fields, which is the more useful thing to know before renting a car.

The coast reads younger by three thousand years. The Costa Smeralda was farmland and scrub until 1962, when a consortium led by the Aga Khan bought the northern shoreline and built resorts to a design code. Inland, in the Ogliastra and Barbagia, villages are known for an unusual concentration of people who live past a hundred.

Quick facts

Currency

EUR

Euro

Language

Italian

+ Sardinian

Power

—

Driving

Right

US-style

Airport

CAG

OLB · AHO

Emergency

—

Police · Fire

When to go

Monthly breakdown

Storm risk: None

Jan

Rain

Feb

Rain

Mar

—

Apr

—

May

Best

Jun

Best

Jul

Best

Aug

Best

Sep

Best

Oct

Best

Nov

Rain

Dec

Rain

Best monthsRainy season

Major events

Feb

Sartiglia

A masked equestrian tournament in Oristano dating to the medieval period, in which riders lance a hanging silver star at full gallop. The number caught is read as an omen for the harvest.

Cultural

May

Festa di Sant'Efisio

Four days in which a statue is carried from Cagliari to Nora and back, escorted by thousands in the traditional dress of their own villages. Held every year since 1657.

Religious

Oct

Autunno in Barbagia

Inland villages open their courtyards in rotation through autumn for bread, cheese, wine and craft, one village at a time from September into December.

Food

Hidden gems

Beach

Cala Goloritze

A cove under a limestone spire, reachable only on foot down 500 metres of descent or by boat; daily numbers are capped and booked in advance.

Historical

Tiscali

A nuragic village built inside a collapsed cave doline in the Supramonte, unknown to archaeologists until the late 19th century.

Village

Bosa

Ranked houses in faded colours along the Temo, the islands only navigable river, under a Malaspina castle.

Local food

Porceddu

Suckling pig on a spit over juniper or myrtle wood, then rested under myrtle branches so the smoke keeps working.

Pane carasau

dietary_tags.vegan

Sheet-thin bread baked twice so it keeps for months; made for shepherds who left home for the season.

Culurgiones

dietary_tags.vegetarian

Pasta parcels of potato, pecorino and mint, pleated along the top in a pattern that looks like a wheat ear.

Safety tips

General

Taking sand, pebbles or shells from Sardinian beaches is illegal and enforced with fines running to thousands of euros, including checks at Cagliari and Olbia airports.

Nature

La Pelosa and several other beaches cap daily visitor numbers and require booking online in advance. Turning up without a slot in August means being turned away at the walkway.

Water-Safety

The mistral wind can build heavy surf on the west coast within hours of a calm morning. Check the flags rather than the sky.