Sardinia Itinerary

1. ~9:00aAn Italian island breakfast

   Espresso and a sebada-adjacent pastry on a terrace over the emerald water that gives the coast its name.

2. ~10:30aThe emerald-water coves

   The Costa Smeralda's glory — a string of granite-framed coves of unreal turquoise-green water (Spiaggia del Principe, Cala di Volpe), best reached by boat.

3. ~1:00pA beach-club lunch

   Fresh fish and a seafood pasta — spaghetti ai ricci (sea urchin) is the island specialty — with a Vermentino at a chic beach club.

   
4. ~3:30pA boat to the coast's best beaches

   Continue by boat to the empty coves only reachable from the water — the Sardinian coast at its most pristine.

5. ~6:00pPorto Cervo at golden hour

   The yacht-glamorous village of Porto Cervo — designer boutiques, the marina full of superyachts, and an aperitivo as the sun drops.

   
6. 8:30pA Costa Smeralda fine table (Cala di Volpe)Anchor table

   Refined Sardinian-Mediterranean dining at a celebrated resort restaurant — local seafood and island produce, glamorous and beautiful. The marquee meal; book ahead.

The Costa Smeralda is Italy's most glamorous coast — its emerald coves are the draw, and many are best reached by boat. Vermentino di Gallura is the local white; sea-urchin pasta is the must-try.

Day 1 in photos

1. ~9:00aSail the Maddalena Archipelago

   A boat day among the protected granite islands off the northeast — some of the most beautiful beaches in the Mediterranean, in a national marine park.

   
2. ~11:00aThe pink beach & turquoise bays

   Budelli's famous (protected) Spiaggia Rosa, and the Caribbean-clear bays of Spargi and Santa Maria for swimming and snorkelling off the boat.

3. ~1:00pLunch on board

   A long lunch at anchor — Sardinian cheese and bottarga, fresh bread, and chilled Vermentino, with a swim between courses.

4. ~3:30pCaprera & Garibaldi

   A stop on Caprera — pine forests, hidden coves, and the house-museum of Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, who lived out his days here.

   
5. ~7:30pDinner in a harbour town

   Fresh seafood at a Palau or La Maddalena harbour restaurant, the boats bobbing alongside.

   

The Maddalena Archipelago is the highlight of northern Sardinia — a marine park of granite islands and pink-and-turquoise beaches, best by boat. Some beaches (the pink Budelli) are protected and can't be walked on.

Day 2 in photos

1. ~9:00aA nuraghe — Bronze Age Sardinia

   The island's mysterious 3,500-year-old stone towers — the UNESCO Su Nuraxi at Barumini or a closer nuraghe — built by a civilisation found nowhere else on earth.

   
2. ~11:30aInto the Gennargentu mountains

   The wild, rugged interior — mountain villages, cork-oak forests, and the fierce traditional culture of the Barbagia, the Sardinia tourists rarely see.

3. ~1:00pA shepherd's lunch

   The island's pastoral heart — porceddu (spit-roasted suckling pig), pane carasau (crisp shepherd's bread), pecorino sardo, and a robust Cannonau red.

4. ~3:30pVillage crafts & traditions

   A mountain village for the island's crafts — woven baskets, filigree jewellery, and the famous Sardinian textiles and masks.

5. ~7:30pDinner back on the coast

   A return to the coast for a seafood dinner, or stay inland for an agriturismo feast under the stars.

Sardinia's interior is a different world from the glamorous coast — ancient nuraghi, mountain villages, and a fierce pastoral culture. The Cannonau red and porceddu are the tastes of the real, inland island.

Day 3 in photos