Poetto Beach

Poetto is Cagliari's city beach: 8 km of pale sand running east from the promontory of Sella del Diavolo (Devil's Saddle) to the mouth of the Molentargius lagoon. The beach is wide, clean, and thoroughly developed with beach clubs, bars, and restaurants in summer, but the scale of it — and the backdrop of the city and the Sella del Diavolo headland — give it a grandeur that more developed resort beaches lack.

In summer, Poetto is where the city lives. The beach clubs (stabilimenti) range from busy family operations to more stylish lounges, and the evening scene along the seafront road is lively. The Sella del Diavolo promontory at the western end is a nature reserve with walking paths and views back over the beach and the Gulf of Angels.

things to do sight
A story
The Molentargius lagoon behind Poetto is one of the largest flamingo habitats in Europe. The birds — thousands of them, from pale juvenile pink to the vivid coral of mature adults — have been a permanent presence here since the 1980s, when conservation measures allowed the colony to establish itself. You can see them from the beach itself, their silhouettes moving slowly in the shallow water behind the dunes, or more closely from the Molentargius-Saline Regional Park paths on the lagoon's northern edge.