The Piazzetta delle Chiacchiere — "the little square of chatter" — is the social centre of Porto Cervo. Designed by Luigi Vietti as part of the original Costa Smeralda plan in the early 1960s, it is an arcaded space of whitewashed walls, terracotta roofs, and granite paving stones that intentionally evokes a Sardinian village square. The shops underneath the arcade are all designer boutiques — Gucci, Cavalli, Hermès — but the square itself is open to anyone.
The piazzetta is best in the evening, when the bars and gelaterias around the edge fill up before dinner. Below it, the Sottopiazza is a warren of smaller shops and stairways down to the marina. People-watching here in August is a sport of its own; expect to see at least one yacht crew and at least one supercar idling at the kerb.