Sardinia rewards those who go beyond the beach. The island's interior holds Bronze Age fortresses, cork-oak forests, and mountain plateaus where small wild horses roam. The coastline offers world-class diving among caves and wrecks. And the food and wine culture — built on pecorino, bottarga, pane carasau, and Cannonau — is reason enough to travel here.
Archaeology
The island is dotted with nuraghi — mysterious Bronze Age stone towers built by the Nuragic people between 1800 and 1300 BC. There are an estimated 7,000 on the island. The finest is Su Nuraxi di Barumini, a UNESCO World Heritage Site south of Nuoro. The Tharros ruins on the Sinis Peninsula, an old Phoenician and Roman port on the west coast, are another highlight — set on a headland above the sea with views that make the ruins feel almost secondary.
Diving and water sports
The waters around Sardinia are among the clearest in the Mediterranean. The Capo Caccia promontory near Alghero is famous for the Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune's Grotto), a dramatic sea cave accessible by sea or down 654 steps. Wrecks off the southwest coast attract experienced divers. La Maddalena Archipelago National Park to the north offers snorkelling in marine-protected waters. Windsurfing is popular along the west coast, especially around Porto Pollo and the Gulf of Oristano.
Walking and hiking
The Gennargentu massif in central Sardinia reaches 1,834 metres at Punta La Marmora. The area around Orgosolo and the Supramonte plateau above Dorgali offers serious walking with spectacular gorges, including the Gola Su Gorropu — sometimes called Europe's deepest canyon. The Giara di Gesturi, an ancient basalt plateau south of Nuoro, is an easier walk where you can spot the indigenous wild ponies known as cavallini della Giara.
Beaches
Sardinia's beaches genuinely deserve their reputation. The Costa Smeralda's turquoise water is stunning. But the more interesting beaches are elsewhere: the white dunes of Piscinas on the Costa Verde (backed by 19th-century mining ruins), La Pelosa near Stintino in the north, and the pink-sand beach of Budelli in the La Maddalena Archipelago. See the beaches section for more.