Corso Umberto is the spine of Olbia's old centre — a broad pedestrian street that runs from the railway station end of town up toward the Basilica di San Simplicio. In the mornings it fills with locals heading to the market and bar; by evening it becomes the passeggiata strip, with families and groups moving slowly between the cafes and gelato shops.
The architecture along the corso is unpretentious 19th and early 20th century, with the occasional older building squeezed between the later facades. It is not a particularly grand street by Sardinian standards, but it functions exactly as an Italian main street should — as the social heart of the city, practical and lived-in.