Sardinia Round Tour

Day 1 - 13 September (15 km)

9 am: Meeting with the guide in Cagliari and start of the tour

This superb tour begins at Castello (Casteddu ‘e Susu in the Campidanese language), the main historic district of Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia. Located on a hill, it was fortified in the thirteenth century by the Pisans after they defeated the army of the Judicatus of Càlari and destroyed their capital Santa Igia. Since, the Castello district has hosted successive rulers of Sardinia, such as the Aragonese and Piedmontese.

Castello is defined by a system of perimeter walls, towers – which include the Tower of the Elephant and San Pancrazio Tower – and bastions. Saint Remy Bastion, a symbol of the city of Cagliari, is undoubtedly the most elegant and fascinating. Accessible via a monumental staircase and surmounted by a triumphal arch, it leads to a large panoramic terrace from where you can admire the city and its splendid gulf.

While walking along the picturesque streets of the Castello Quarter, we will stop by the Saint Mary Cathedral. Originally built in the Pisan Romanesque style, it was later renovated in the Baroque and the Neo-Romanesque styles.

Next, we will visit the National Archeological Museum, the most important archaeological museum in Sardinia. Spread across four floors, it displays a wide collection of archaeological findings that retrace the history of Sardinia from prehistoric times to the Byzantine period.

In the afternoon, we will head to Poetto beach, the quintessential beach of the citizens of Cagliari, where we will have the opportunity to swim and sunbathe for a couple of hours.

Finally, we will reach the Devil’s Saddle for a slow and easy 2-hour hike. Another city landmark located on the evocative promontory of Sant’Elia, it overlooks the entire gulf (Golfo degli Angeli), including Poetto beach, as well as the Molentargius lagoon, habitat of a large colony of flamingos.

Day 2 - 14 September (175 km)

Leaving Cagliari, our morning will start at the Sounding Stone Garden of the famous Sardinian artist Pinuccio Sciola, located in the lively town of San Sperate, which is famous, above all, for the murals that embellish the facades of houses.

We will then head to the historic landmark of Barumini to visit the prestigious Nuragic village of Su Nuraxi, a human settlement that dates from the 15th century BCE and lasted over a thousand years. Given its size and complexity, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. A complex nuraghe, it consists of 4 mighty corner towers joined by a wall, and contains a central tower with three overlapping chambers almost 20 meters high. During the Iron Age, the complex was enlarged and the initial structure was surrounded by a further curtain wall consisting of 5 towers.

The village, which arose around the nuraghe, is composed of about fifty huts built on a circular plan using large dry-walled boulders which would have been covered by conical wooden and branch roof. According to Giovanni Lilliu, the archaeologist who discovered the village, the number of huts might have reached 200 units and could have accommodated a population of almost 1000 inhabitants.

We will finish our day with a 2-hour hike in the lush Giara plateau to admire its hidden gems, including nuraghi and little wild horses.

Day 3 - 15 September (180 km)

After a leisurely breakfast we will be led around the the ancient and charming city of Tharros, before we head to the Nuragic Sanctuary of Santa Cristina, famous for its monumental holy well.

While similar to other holy wells, it is nonetheless remarkable due to its excellent state of conservation and accurate geometric shapes, as well as its majesty, featuring a staircase composed of 25 steps and a 7-meter high thòlos chamber containing the well.

We will then travel to Samugheo to visit the Murats Museum, dedicated to the ancient tradition of textile craftsmanship, and finally, before moving to the Barbagia region, stop in the countryside of Sorgono to explore one of Sardinia’s most extensive menhir parks, the Biru ‘e Concas.

Day 4 - 16 September (80 km)

In the morning we will enjoy a walking tour in the lively village of Orgosolo which, thanks to its murals, is an essential stop-over when in the Barbagia region.
In the afternoon, we will be free to see the Cortes Apertas at our leisure, strolling through crafts workshops and food stalls scattered throughout the streets of the historic centre of the village of Gavoi (or of another village of the Barbagia region).

Day 5 - 17 September (80 km)

No visit to Sardinia would be complete without experiencing the beauty of its sea. That’s way on our fifth day tour we will take an unforgettable cruise from Cala Gonone along the suggestive coast of the Gulf of Orosei. We will daydream between enchanting bays set among caves – including the Grotta del Bue Marino – and high cliffs covered with Mediterranean scrub, and we will take a chance to dive into the transparent sea, characterized by colors more intense than a swimming pool.

After the cruise, and on the way back to our hotel, we have time to visit the wonderful Tomb of the Giants of S’Ena ‘e Thomes, in the countryside near Dorgali, one of the largest and best preserved in Sardinia.

Day 6 - 18 September (85 km)

Our sixth day begins with a visit to the prestigious Sardinian Ethnographic Museum in Nuoro. Visiting the Museum is like travelling through time to an imaginary rural village in Sardinia, deeply devoted to its land and the cycles of nature, where scenes of everyday life like housewives making bread or shepherds making cheese, are suspended forever inside large glass dioramas.

We will also be drawn to the precious jewels, tapestries and carpets, as well as hundreds of different types of traditional bread.

The collection of archaic men’s clothes and the rich and diverse women’s clothes, both the ‘everyday’ and the ceremonial, is a strong point of the museum. They represent different clothing types from across the historical-geographical regions of the island.

We will then move to the foot of Supramonte, where we will make a challenging 6-hour hike up the extraordinary Gorropu Gorge.

Day 7 - 19 September (250 km)

After three days in Barbagia, we move to Santa Teresa di Gallura, in the north of Sardinia, and we will hike in the peaceful Valley of the Moon, between rocky walls of unusual shapes and hidden little bays where we could take a swim or simply relax.

In the afternoon we will reach the medieval village of Castelsardo to visit its fascinating old town.

Day 8 - 20 September (170 km)

As we approach the end of the tour, we embark on an exploration of the Meilogu region and our first visit is at the Romanesque church of Santa Maria del Regno in the charming village of Ardara.
In this church, which features the largest polyptych retable in Sardinia, the judges of Torres took oaths, married, and were buried.

From Ardara we will continue towards Torralba, another town in the Meilogu, to visit the nuraghe of Santu Antine, (nicknamed the king’s house), a masterpiece of Nuragic civilization. It is a three-lobed nuraghe, consisting of a wall of three towers and a central mastio, which initially rose between 22 and 24 meters. During the Bronze Age, the mastio, was the third tallest structure in the Mediterranean, after only the Pyramids of Giza and the Nuraghe Arrubiu.

After lunch, we will travel through the countryside of Bonorva to discover the Domus de Janas of Sant’Andrea Priu and admire its frescoed walls, painted after the Romans turned it into a rupestrian church.

In the evening we will reach the town of Alghero, final destination of our tour, where you will have time to take a walking tour at your leisure along the port’s bastions and its lively historical centre characterized by interesting architectural monuments such as medieval towers and old churches.

Day 9 - 21 September (60 km)

On the last day of our tour, we will enjoy two other gems of the north of Sardinia: the Domus de Janas of Anghelu Ruju, one of the largest pre-Nuragic necropolis in Sardinia, with 38 tombs discovered so far, and the promontory of Capo Caccia, located within the Porto Conte Regional Park, with its sheer cliffs and commanding breathtaking views.

Around 3 pm: end of tour