Porto Rotondo is a planned resort village just north of the Costa Smeralda on Sardinia's north-eastern coast, wrapped around a perfectly circular natural harbour that gave it its name ("round port"). Unlike most Sardinian settlements, it has no real history: the village was built from scratch in the 1960s by two Venetian brothers as a discreet rival to the Aga Khan's nearby Costa Smeralda, and designed in the same toned-down Mediterranean style — low pastel-washed houses, narrow lanes, umbrella pines, and a central piazza lined with cafés and designer boutiques. It is small, unashamedly upmarket, and at the height of summer is one of the most expensive villages in Italy.
The marina is the heart of the place — rows of gleaming yachts and a seafront promenade of bars, restaurants and gelato stands. The surrounding coves have some of the best beaches on this stretch of coast: Spiaggia di Ira, Punta Volpe, and further out the long sweeping arc of Marinella and the Spiaggia Bianca of Golfo Aranci. Inland, the hill above the port is crowned by the Church of San Lorenzo, an unusual modern building filled with sculpted olive wood by Mario Ceroli. Porto Rotondo is a place for sitting by the water, eating well, and yacht-watching; for more atmosphere and cheaper prices, the old port town of Olbia is 15 minutes to the south.