For this year’s autumn migration by car to the warmer and brighter climate of Malta, Sue and I decided to do part of it by car ferry to avoid the long drive through Italy. Our first plan was to sail straight to Palermo in Sicily from Genoa, in northern Italy, but then Sue suggested that we could visit Sardinia along the way. Excellent idea! We’d never been there, so we could make a holiday break out of it. Stop in northern Sardinia, explore the island for 5 days or so, then take another car ferry from southern Sardinia to Sicily before crossing over to Malta.
I booked the first boat to northern Sardinia for 9th October in the evening: an overnight trip with a cabin, arriving in Porto Torres early the following morning. First step done, we were going to Sardinia!
On to the next step: car ferry from Cagliari in the south to Sicily. Wait… uh, oh. The first boat to Palermo from Sardinia after the 10th was the following day, and then 18th October. Oh dear, I thought they sailed every day. It would have to be either just one night or a full 9 days in Sardinia. The first option was implausible, which meant that we would, technically, be stranded in Sardinia for nine days until the next boat left for Sicily. I was secretly delighted. I think we both were. Oh dear, oh dear, we have to stay in Sardinia for 9 days in October.
Northern Sardinia
We disembarked in Porto Torres early in the morning of 10th October. We stretched our legs with a brief walk along the waterfront, took a toast and a coffee, and drove off to the walled seaside town of Alghero.
On the way back to Sassari to check into our booked Airbnb, we stopped for a swim in the Spiaggia di Mugoni. It was an enjoyable, refreshing swim facing a peninsula with a natural park, which we never had the chance to visit. In Sardinia you have to be well prepared to counter the FOMO (fear of missing out) syndrome. You have to accept that it’s impossible to see everything, first of all because it has so much to offer but also because it’s a large island.
In the first five days we explored the northern coast of Sardinia. We wandered around on foot in the town of Olbia, where we visited the spendid basilica dedicated to San Simplicio, who was a proto-bishop and a martyr, thanks to the Roman emperor Diocletian. I mean, his being a martyr is thanks to Diocletian, not the fact that he was a proto-bishop. I’m not sure if “thanks” would be the appropriate word here, but the martyrdom did eventually give rise to a beautiful basilica.
You have to pay to get inside the basilica. One could say that, almost two thousand years after his death, Diocletian is still having a positive effect on the economy.
On to further exploration: the beaches, which are foremost among the main attractions of Sardinia.
There are so many of them. As evening approached we went to a beach in the north-east, close to another seaside town, Palau.
The good thing about October in the Mediterranean is that all children and teenagers are back in school and their parents go back to work, the beaches have been washed clean by the first autumn storms and the sea water is still comfortably warm.
Weekends still tend to be crowded though, as we found out when we went to La Pelosa, at the tip of the Stintino peninsula, without having booked beforehand. This turned out to be an advantage as we had to drive on beyond the edge of the sandy beach.
I swam out to the islet and made it a point to walk up to the tower and touch it. Pity I couldn’t carry my phone with me as the view from there of the rock formations just beyond the beach, not visible from the mainland, was absolutely stunning.
Both Sue and I agree that this was the most beautiful place we went to in Sardinia.
Feeling a bit homesick and missing Belgium, I had a beer and a plate of fries at this kiosk overlooking the islet.
The beauty-spot-hopping along the northern coast went on for the next couple of days.
Here’s Castelsardo, sea level, looking up …
… and the same beach, viewed from the castle on top of the hill:
It went on and on.
Fear of missing out struck as sunset was quickly approaching, but we managed to squeeze in Isola Rossa, the “red island” before it became too dark for any more sightseeing.
Isola Rossa is situated across a seaside resort which has the same name. Inevitably, as everywhere else in Sardinia, Isola Rossa has its own tower, or nuraghe as they are referred to locally. There are thousands of nuraghi in Sardinia, their origin and purpose being shrouded in mystery.
It was time to move south, closer to our escape route to Sicily from Cagliari.
Sant’Antioco
For our last three days we chose to stay in a small island connected to south-western Sardinia by a bridge. The island is called Sant’Antioco, and it’s a beautiful, fascinating place. In the first foray out of our Airbnb there, in late afternoon, we took a plunge into quiet and solitude. I’ll let the pictures of the Spiaggia di Is Pruinis speak for themselves.
I’ll add a few words of my own on this third picture. Our friendly host at the Airbnb explained to us that the heavy storm that we had had to drive through while moving south – lucky for us that the worst weather of our stay happened to strike on this day – did not hit Sant’Antioco. Given that the centre of Sardinia is quite mountainous, most storm clouds form there and fall down as rain on mainland Sardinia. From Sant’Antioco, they just watch the spectacle from across the water. I could almost believe him.
For such a small island, Sant’Antioco has its good share of spectacular beaches. Some we just had a look at. We dipped into the sea in some others.
There was still so much more to see, just in tiny Sant’Antioco, but it was time to leave. After an eventful three nights and two full days it was time to leave this magical island. We would sail away from Sardinia from its capital city, Cagliari. A late morning to mid-day stroll up the hill which is the historic centre yielded the Bastione di Saint Remy, from which we stepped up into the Terrazza Umberto I, with a panoramic view over the whole city.
So that was it. We were finally on our way, on to Sicily before crossing over to Malta.
Arrivederci Sardegna! Who knows, maybe next time we won’t bother about booking to leave at all.
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