North East & Emerald Coast

Arzachena

Arzachena is a busy market town en route from Olbia to Santa Teresa with a good selection of shops, banks, supermarkets, weekly market, bars, cafés, restaurants and pizzerias. A short drive southwest of the town, towards Bassacutena, are two of the island’s best preserved Tombe dei Giganti archaeological sites dating back to about 3,000BC and also La Prisgiona, a good example of one of Sardinia’s Nuraghe.

Baia Sardinia

Baia Sardinia is a beautiful beach resort, looking out to Caprera Island, with a stunning white sandy beach and turquoise bay surrounded by villas, hotels and a lively piazza with shops, café bars and restaurants. There are watersports available on the beach and boat trips out to the islands to really appreciate the beauty of this coastline. Aquadream Water Park for children is located just out of the town. Phi Beach Club is an ideal venue for sundowners and the Ritual nightclub is nearby.

Bassacutena

Bassacutena is a small village situated in the heart of the natural Galluran countryside, in the middle of nowhere yet equidistant between Santa Teresa and Palau for beaches, Arzachena for shops, banks and weekly market, and Tempio up in the mountains. The village itself has a couple of  small shops for everyday supplies, a couple of café bars, an excellent restaurant at the petrol station and there are Agriturismo (farm) restaurants nearby.

Cala Capra

Cala Capra is a beautiful bay between Cannigione and Palau with coves and beaches nestled into the coastline and the stunning headland of Capo d’Orso above, with Bear Rock perched on top. There are wonderful views to Baia Sardinia with the Costa Smeralda beyond, and also to the island of Caprera. Boat trips leave from the small exclusive marina at Capo d’Orso and there is the excellent Il Paguro restaurant for lunch or dinner.

Cannigione

Cannigione is a popular holiday destination with a port and marina offering boat trips and boat hire to visit the nearby beaches and La Maddalena islands. The town has a good selection of shops, supermarkets, weekly market and night market (high season), plus a variety of  restaurants, pizzerias, café bars and gelaterias.

Costa Dorata & Porto San Paolo

12km south of Olbia and situated on the coast is Porto San Paolo which has a few shops, bars and restaurants. Costa Dorata is a quiet stretch of coastline with many beautiful coves and beaches to explore. There are ferries from Porto San Paolo to the island of Tavolara.

Isola Tavolara

The island of Tavolara is a limestone massif 5km long and 1km wide located just off the Costa Dorata. A cove and beach can be found at each end of the island, Spalmatore di Fuori at the northeast, and Spalmatore di Terra at the southwest. The water around the island is a popular spot for scuba diving as part of the Tavolara and Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Preserve created in 1997. In the 19th and 20th centuries, an imaginary state was set up on the island by the Bertoleoni family as the Kingdom of Tavolara. After Italian unification, King Paolo actively sought recognition from Italy. During his reign, in 1868 the Italian government began operating a lighthouse on the northeast end of the island. The present claimant is an Italian citizen named Tonino Bertoleoni, who runs 'Da Tonino', a restaurant on the island. There are ferries from Porto San Paolo to the island of Tavolara (May - Ocober).

Costa Smeralda

Costa Smeralda ‘The Emerald Coast’, a name inspired by the azure colour of the sea, nestles in the north east corner of the island. It was designed and developed by the Aga Khan in the 1960’s, to preserve and protect this earthly paradise. With Porto Cervo at its centre, the Costa Smeralda coastline stretches for 55km, with a harmonisation between the Mediterranean architecture, natural landscape and seascape encompassing more than 80 beautiful bays, coves and sandy beaches.

Golfo Aranci Peninsular

With magnificent views over the Gulf of Olbia to the dramatic Isola Tavolara beyond, the little town of Golfo Aranci has a few shops, gelaterias, restaurants and pizzerias. There are boat trips from here to go dolphin watching around Figarolo island. On the south of the peninsular are numerous coves and bays with white sand and electric turquoise sea, ideal for swimming and snorkelling. There is a long beach at Pittulongu with bar and pizzeria. To the north of the peninsular is the stylish Porto Rotondo yacht marina, with a selection of designer boutiques, stylish café bars and restaurants set around the pontoons. From here the beautiful Costa Smeralda coastline leads up to Porto Cervo, dotted with coves and beaches with clear turquoise sea.

Golfo di Marinella

Golfo di Marinella is situated on the Golfo Aranci peninsular, 3km from Porto Rotondo. It has a beautiful bay with a long sandy beach with clear turquoise sea, ideal for swimming, snorkelling and watersports. There is boat hire from the beach to explore the nearby coves and islands. Porto Marana, at one end of the bay, has a small boutique, gelateria, gift shop, dive centre and two restaurants.

La Maddalena

La Maddalena Island is the largest of the 7 that make up the Archipelago of La Maddalena and can be reached by regular daily ferries from Palau in approximately 15 minutes. There is a thriving port and yacht marina surrounded by café bars, restaurants and gelaterias and a wonderful place to stop to watch the boats and the world go by. The town has a good selection of shops and attractive side streets. There is a lovely circular coastal road with spectacular views and giving access to some superb beaches and Caprera Island via a bridge.

Olbia

Olbia is the gateway to the Costa Smeralda on the north east coast with an international airport, ferry port, marina and interesting old town. The town overlooks the Gulf of Olbia and the dramatic Tavolara Island. It has a good selection of shops, café bars, restaurants and in high season a night market with live music.

Palau

Palau is a vibrant town with a good selection of shops, weekly market, restaurants and harbour with boat hire and boat trips out to the islands that make up the Archipelago of La Maddalena. It is the gateway to the island of La Maddalena with regular daily ferries leaving from the port. For James Bond aficionados, some scenes from the Spy Who Loved Me were filmed in the port area here.

Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo is situated in the heart of the Costa Smeralda. Designed by the Aga Khan as a world class yacht marina, it is surrounded by exclusive hotels and villas set up on the hillside enjoying wonderful views. It is a holiday destination for the jet set with 5 star hotels and the Pevero Golf Club nearby. Designer boutiques and elegant restaurants surround the Piazzetta, an ideal spot to enjoy a drink overlooking the superyachts in the marina!

PORTO Pollo

Porto Pollo is a windsurfing and kitesurfing paradise between Palau and Porto Pozzo situated on a double bay with long beaches, sand dunes and clear blue sea. It is a popular spot for watersports and mountain biking, with equipment hire centres located on the beaches. There are boat trips and boat hire to visit the nearby islands.

Porto Pozzo

Porto Pozzo is a small village at the base of the estuary of the same name. There is a pretty port with a small beach and jetty to hire pedaloes and boats and from where boat trips go out to the nearby Maddalena islands. There is also an excellent family run restaurant, pizzeria & grill specialising in local fish and seafood. The village has a few shops, supermarket, café bar and pizzeria but for further needs the large town of Santa Teresa is approximately 7km away. There are lovely beaches nearby including Conca Verde, La Licciola at Valle dell’Erica, Marmorata and Capo Testa. For watersports, Porto Pollo is 5km away on the way to Palau.

Poltu Quatu

Poltu Quatu Marina dell’Orso is located on the Costa Smeralda in north east coast of Sardinia equi-distant between Porto Cervo and Baia Sardinia, 37km from Olbia airport. The marina is the ideal base for those wishing to visit the Archipelago of La Maddalena and the island of Caprera which can actually be seen from Poltu Quatu (‘Hidden Port’ in Sardinian dialect) and accessed via boat trip or boat hire. It was designed and founded in 1987 with the intention of creating a safe harbour to resemble an ancient fishing village with charming narrow alleyways and stone buildings which now has a hotel at the centre (built in 2002), a marina with both privately owned large motor boats and rental boats, tennis courts, shops, café bars and restaurants. 

Porto Rotondo

Porto Rotondo is an attractively designed world class yacht marina (second to Porto Cervo) surrounded by exclusive hotels and villas on the hillside. It has stunning views of the Costa Smeralda with azure blue sea, granite rocks, sun bleached beaches and hidden coves. There are stylish boutiques, restaurants and café bars to enjoy a drink and watch the world go by and the huge yachts moor up in the marina.

San Pantaleo

San Pantaleo is a village situated up on the hillside behind the Costa Smeralda. It is sheltered by rugged mountains that are clearly visible from all over the north east of Sardinia and are a distinctive feature of the island’s unique and diverse landscape. The village itself is typically Mediterranean with terracotta buildings and a few shops, café bars and restaurants. The old folk still sit on the steps around the small piazza watching the world go by.

San Teodoro

30km south of Olbia airport, San Teodoro is a buzzing holiday resort in high season with a good selection of shops, café bars, restaurants, pizzerias and gelaterias. On summer evenings there are market stalls in the town piazza to buy typical Sardinian handicrafts and Sardinian specialities are available, including local wines and cheeses, from the small food shops. There is a 9 hole golf course at Punta Aldia and horse riding, mountain biking and nature trails at Monti Nieddu, the hills behind San Teodoro.

Santa Teresa & Capo Testa

Santa Teresa di Gallura and Capo Testa are situated on the northern most tip of the island enjoying wonderful views over the Straits of Bonifacio to the island of Corsica. There are some beautiful beaches with clear turquoise sea, ideal for swimming and snorkelling, and fascinating rock formations carved by the wind on the headland and in the Valley of the Moon. The town offers a good selection of shops and restaurants and from the port, boat trips to the islands and daily ferries to Corsica. The town beach of Rena Bianca is lovely.

Sant’Antonio di Gallura and Lago di Liscia

The small village of Sant’Antonio di Gallura with a couple of shops, restaurants and café bars is 2km away from Lake Liscia, an artificial basin in the heart of the Galluran countryside, created in the sixties. It is possible to walk round and fish in the lake, which is surrounded by evergreen oaks, centuries-old wild olive trees, wind sculpted granite rocks, with native flora and fauna. There is a small railway station nearby where the scenic ‘Il Trenino Verde’ passes on its way between Palau and Tempio during the summer months. There is also the archaeological site of ‘Nuraghes’ at 340m above the sea level to visit.

Tempio Pausania

Tempio Pausania lies inland in the heart of Gallura at the foot of Monte Limbara (1,359m), 32km from Olbia and 69km from Sassari in the north east of Sardinia. The town has original cobble streets, shops, churches and restaurants yet is famous for its cork products, granite stone production and vineyards producing Muscat and Vermentino wines. The typical granite stone architecture of the historical centre has many similarities with southern Corsican towns and its granite plateau provided the materials for the 15th century Cathedral and Oratorio del Rosario, which with some 19th century reconstruction gives a combination of late Romanesque and Baroque architecture. In the surrounding countryside, there are several Nuraghic-period remains including the nuraghes of Monti Pinna, Tanca Manna Izzana, Culbinu, Agnu and Majori. The area is also known for thermal springs and the mineral water from the Rinaggiu springs at the foot of Monte Limbara has excellent curative properties. Hiking is popular in the Gallura mountains with trails and waterfalls to discover. Il Trenino Verde offers a scenic narrow gauge train route to Palau on the coast on some days in the summer months.