My wife and I are both artists, avid walkers, culture enthusiasts, looking to spend about three weeks in Sardinia in May. We've driven in Greece and Sicily before. Found the Greek islands easy going. Wonder how Sardinia will be? Our plan: begin in Alghero, four days, rent car, do some hiking near Capo Cacchio. Drive coastal route to Bosa. Stay three days. Drive to a town near Oristano, stay three days for a coastal walk, bird watching, Santa Cristina Nuraghe. Drive to Nuoro, three days. Then Dorgali five nights, which w hope is a good base to explore west coast sea and mountains. Any advice about driving and places on our itinerary would be appreciated.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16319 posts
Gave some info in the thread below in the past.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/sardinia-a4b6bf34-12f0-4f41-aa46-cc7c08ab1f7f
Most roads along the coast are two lane highways. There are 4 lane freeways but mostly connecting the major cities and they tend to be in the interior.
Learn the European signs
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Italy
They are mostly self explanatory symbols.
Just keep an eye on the ZTL sign (zona traffico limitato) in historical centers. Those areas are permitted only to residents with permit and service vehicles.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_traffic_zone
Other than that, not a big deal to drive in Sardinia. You will be largely on country roads with not heavy traffic unless you go there in July and August when lots of tourists are there, or near Cagliari, the largest city. There will be occasional speed cameras, so keep an eye on the speed limits too. Speed is enforced by cameras and just because you don’t see a cop, it doesn’t mean the cops can’t see you.
Use Waze navigator, which warns about upcoming speed cameras.
https://www.waze.com/wiki/UnitedKingdom/Speed_Cameras
Posted by
la rioja
631 posts
We spent a week in Sardinia last August. We stayed on the west coast, in a small village called Pistis. It was great for spending time on the beach.
We also liked Oristano and Bosa. What is the town near Oristano? San Salvatore or San Giovanni? Are you going to visit the Sinis penisula. There is a nice walk from San Giovanni to the lighthouse. Plus there is the Spanish Tower and the archeological site to walk around in.
As mentioned the driving is not too difficult. The road from Bosa to Alghero is a windy coast road, but very beautiful.
Just wondering, when you say you are going to spend time in Dorgali then explore the west coast, did you mean the east coast?
Here is the second part of my trip report. lt relates to the Oristano, Bosa and Porto Torres. You may find something use full there.
Posted by
OP
43 posts
Thanks, read your posts with interest. I DID mean Dorgali and east coast, NOT west coast!
Posted by
North Italy
423 posts
While you are based in Alghero it's worth visiting the coast in the Porto ferro and Argentiera area. From Argentiera beach you can walk north along the coast. It's quite wild so make sure you have water etc with you. This was our day there last year but a few years ago we did a longer hike in the same place.
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2025/02/madrid-in-january-day-4-botanical.html
When you are in Dorgali, a little to the north is the Bidderosa Oasi nature reserve - it's spectacular. There are limited daily accesses so you have to book in the summer - not sure now in May. When we went a few years ago we parked at the entrance and then hiked to the beach.... we were the only people around, maybe busier now but not many people in May definitely.
https://www.oasibiderosa.it/en/
Do you plan on hiking just along the coast or also in the mountains?