Sardinia, cove by turquoise cove.
Boat days out to the Maddalena islands, cruises into the sea caves of the Orosei gulf, sunset sails off Alghero and long lunches over Vermentino. What each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven that define a Sardinia trip.
Whether it is your first Sardinia summer or your fifth, these carry a trip: the full-day catamaran through the Maddalena islands, a swim stop under the white cliffs of Cala Goloritzè, an underground walk beneath Cagliari, a Vermentino tasting up in the Gallura hills.
La Maddalena Archipelago Full-Day Trip by Boat
Swim, snorkel, and cruise La Maddalena’s islands on a modern boat from Palau. Includes audio guide and onboard Sardinian food.
From $59 per person
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The Maddalena earns a whole day.
Seven main islands scattered off the Gallura coast, the water somewhere between jade and glass. A full day threads Budelli’s roped-off pink beach, the twin coves of Cala Coticcio on Caprera and a lunch stop where the anchor barely holds bottom you can see. Sail it slowly from Palau, or take the fast catamaran from Cannigione when the wind gets up.
Three coasts, three different days.
Sardinia is really three seas, and which one you sail decides your trip. Pick the stretch that sounds like you, and every boat behind it is already reviewed, timed and priced.
The northern isles
The Maddalena run
6 - 7 hours · from $59 · 4,980 reviews
Base yourself around Palau or Santa Teresa and give the archipelago a whole day. Jade shallows, a beach or two you reach only by tender, lunch swinging on the anchor. This is the north at its glossiest, and the reason most people come to the Gallura in the first place.
See the northern boat days →
The eastern gulf
The Orosei caves
from $67 · 2,243 reviews
From Cala Gonone the coast turns to white limestone and hidden beaches: Cala Luna, Cala Mariolu, the pinnacle cove of Cala Goloritzè you can only see from the sea. Dinghy in close, cruise the whole gulf, or swim the ones the big boats skip. The wildest water on the island.
See the Orosei cruises →
The southern sand
Villasimius & the south
4 hours · from $60 · 242 reviews
The south trades drama for pure colour: the marine reserve off Capo Carbonara, the flour-white sand of Chia and Tuerredda, snorkel stops in water that barely reaches your waist. Easy days out of Cagliari, and the warmest sea come September.
See the southern coast →
The island keeps its best for last light.
The heat eases, the granite turns amber, and the fleet points west. A catamaran off Alghero with a glass of Vermentino in hand, a kayak into a quiet cove for the aperitivo, the sun going down behind Capo Caccia. Book it for the evening you land, before the good boats fill.
Sardinia eats slowly, on purpose.
Culurgiones pinched shut by hand, pecorino a shepherd aged himself, a bottle of inky Cannonau on the table. Book a class and you leave able to make it; book a tasting and you learn why the island keeps the best bottles for itself.
The water is clearer than the photos.
Snorkel the marine reserve off Capo Carbonara, watch for dolphins out past Golfo Aranci, or paddle a kayak into a cave the swell has been carving for centuries. Mask, fins and a wetsuit are usually thrown in.
Older than Rome, and still standing.
Seven thousand stone towers are scattered across the interior, built by a people who left no writing at all. Climb the great nuraghe of Su Nuraxi at Barumini, read Orgosolo’s painted walls, sit down to lunch with a shepherd in the Barbagia. The coast is the postcard; this is where the island keeps its memory.
Every coast is a different island.
La Maddalena for the archipelago. Cala Gonone for the caves. Alghero for the Catalan old town. Cagliari for the capital and its city beach. Pick a base and the sea in front of it changes everything.
Set on a certain kind of day?
Twelve ways to spend a Sardinian day. Pick the one that sounds like you, and every trip behind it is already reviewed, timed and priced.
Where the island turns wild.
Sail to Asinara, the prison island turned national park where wild white donkeys still roam. Watch Tavolara rear straight out of the sea off Olbia. Walk the Baunei clifftops above the Supramonte, or head inland to the towers the coast forgets about.
A first Sardinia trip, in three days.
You can’t sail the whole island in a week; you can do the three days that show its range. This is the run we’d hand a friend landing at Olbia or Cagliari tomorrow.
Day 1
Cagliari and the capital coast
Start underground beneath the old city, climb to the Castello ramparts for the view over the gulf, then spend the afternoon on Poetto beach or out at Villasimius.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The Orosei gulf by boat
Head up the east coast to Cala Gonone and take a cruise into the gulf: caves, hidden beaches, a swim under the white spire of Cala Goloritzè, back by late afternoon.
Plan day two →
Day 3
The Maddalena archipelago
Finish in the north with a full day among the islands off the Gallura: jade shallows, a beach you reach only by boat, and lunch swinging at anchor.
Plan day three →
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