Summer is almost here, which means that the Amalfi Coast is full. So we’re suggesting Sardinia instead – it’s just as amazing, but with a fraction of the crowds.
make Cagliarithe capital, your base, and spend your days in the narrow streets of the Castello district (don’t miss the sunset. the best view point of the city), relaxing on beautiful beaches, seeing pink flamingos Saline Molentargius Regional Natural Parkisland pattern”long life wine” (which may or may not explain Sardinia’s Blue Zone status) and covers the slow life over aperitifs in vibrant squares.
As for whether you are traveling to Costa Smeralda is ridiculously beautiful or small mountain town to “The best pasta in the worldWe leave it up to you.
🌊 Of course, Northern Sardinia takes the crown for the best beaches on the island – but the southern beaches are just as attractive and accessible. Case in point: Cagliari Poetto Beacha kilometer long stretch of white sand and turquoise water dotted with beach clubs and seafood restaurants. Want something less crowded? Cala Cipollawith its dramatic mountains, well worth the hour’s drive.
🍽️ Forget tagliatelle and bucatini – Sardinia has a special pasta book. In Cagliari, visit Trattoria Liliku to try fregola di mare, a couscous-like pasta cooked in tomato broth with mussels and shrimp. Or to Bread and Cheese for malloreddus alla campidanese (aka “a pasta dish from Sardinia”) and culurgiones, a potato-and-cheese-filled pasta that falls somewhere between ravioli and dumplings.
🎣 Spend the afternoon in the Marina quarter, a former fishing enclave full of bars, shops and restaurants. Snack on local cheese and small gold tabas-style taste. Get amazing animal shaped tiles from the husband and wife team Raku. And enter Durke Maurizia Pala Srla family-run bakery serving traditional desserts such as suspiro (the Sardinian equivalent of pasta) and papassinus (diamond-shaped raisin cookies).
🏰 History lovers, prepare to be very busy. Start in National Archaeological Museum of Cagliariwhere 4000 artifacts have a history of 7000 years. Then take a day trip there In Nuraxi di Barumini – an amazing Bronze Age fortress known as “Sardinia’s Stonehenge” – to explore the stone steps, towers and very well-preserved houses. Or go down to the beach Noraan ancient city with a Roman theater, thermal baths and temples – and this is what has been excavated so far.
