Beaches of Sardinia

This year in summer, we spent a long weekend on the island of Sardinia in Italy. We hadn’t researched a lot before planning the trip, but just followed our general travel wisdom that it was a nice place. And so we just turned up.

Cagliari

And were we blown away - the island is the perfect getaway for having a great time. It has hidden beaches with the perfect sand, it has villages with cultural and historical significance, it has towns with great food - it has everything. We had a ball of a time there, and the only thought we all left with was a resolution that we would be back for longer!


Getting there

Our first day in Sardinia was spent mostly in travel. We were flying in to the town of Cagliari on the southern coast of the island. (Apparently it's a city, but to me it just felt like a small little town). We landed in the afternoon, when the weather was hot, really hot, as it was already July. We picked up our rental car from the airport, after a long inefficient wait and then were off to our airbnb, which took all of 10 mins! The joys of living in small towns.

Cagliari is an old historic place once the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia and a major medieval port. It has history, culture and beauty all around - which we slowly uncovered over the next few days.

As we were driving through the town, my first impression was a bit of ‘not impressed’. The town was lined with pastel coloured houses, but a lot of them felt like they needed a fresh coat of paint. Also most of the streets were completely empty. The host of our airbnb seemed a bit unorganised too, with a lot of things missing from the apartment. So as I said, we were not impressed.

Airbnb neighbourhood

Our airbnb was an apartment in the residential part of town. It had a terrace which was just perfect to sit outside, though the afternoons were too hot for that. But it was still nice to have that option. It was close to a fancy waterfront with many shops, a mall and some open-air restaurants, though the neighbourhood felt empty the whole time.

Cagliari city centre

After freshening up, we took a local bus to get to Cagliari city centre. And at least then we felt there was some activity in town. The city centre was all lighted up in the warm summer evening, with loads of restaurants all around, filled with people eating and drinking outside. We walked around a bit, checking out the restaurants, but most of them were either booked out or didn't have food we liked. So we finally went to Etamo for dinner, the food there was yum! Eating outside in the summer air felt so refreshing, we slowly got into the Italian holiday mood.

Cagliari at night

After dinner, we walked through the shopping street all the way to Constitution Square, and then walked up the Bastione Di St Remy monument, admiring its impressive arch and marble staircase. From the terrace, we got a birds eye view of the town and port around, it was twinkling all around. With the town lights surrounding it, and the sea and mountains visible by their faint outlines. We finally felt we had come to a good place. 

The place was quite deserted though, as the city centre was definitely small. We took an uber back to our airbnb and were shocked by how rash the driver was driving! We noticed that for the next few days too, people drove quite rashly and mostly above the speed limit. It’s something I have seen in all my drives in Italy, Italian driving is the same everywhere, even on a faraway island!


Beach days

We had got recommendations from my Italian friend, for the best beaches to visit near Cagliari. These were all lesser known places where the locals went, and therefore less crowded than the more touristy ones. So we spent the next two days visiting nearby Sardinian beaches, one day to the east of Cagliari and one day on the west side. The afternoons on the island were very hot. So we always got out a bit late, and then stayed out till much later in the night.

Coastal drive

On the first beach day we drove to Solanas beach, around 50 mins from our place. It was a relatively cloudy day and not too hot. The drive was stunning, along small mountains all along the Mediterranean. We passed by small villages on the sea. And many beaches and hidden coves - they were all so stunning. The deep blue of the Mediterranean was so inviting, so mesmerising, we stopped multiple times on the way to soak in the picturesque scenes all around.

Beach village

Getting to Solanas beach was a bit of a discovery. But once we got there, it was paradise. The beach had three beach bars on it, and we were to go to Vanity but ended up stopping at the first one itself - the Whitehouse. It had a place to eat and drink, and then sunbeds on the beach to relax on. The beach was white and sandy, and was surrounded by hills on both ends. It had a cute little village right next to it. And everywhere, there were rows and rows of oleander trees loaded with white, pink and red flowers. They added such a brightness to the beach, it was lovely. We also put some flowers in our hair for the beach vibe 😂. 

Solanas beach

We spent the whole afternoon on the beach, swimming most of the time, and sitting in the sun during the breaks. The sand was completely white, and so soft it did not stick at all - it made being on the beach less inconvenient than usual. The water was quite shallow for quite some distance. And the water was so warm and had a deep turquoise colour which shone every time the sun came out. We swam so much, it was just amazing to be there, so perfect. In between, we also ate food at the local restaurant. We could have spent a full day there, it was just so lovely - I loved this recommendation.

While driving back, we stopped at another beach suggested by the friend, Spiaggia di Cann’e Sisa, in the village of Torre delle Stelle. It was again a small hidden beach inside the village. We had to walk a bit to get there and passed by some huge holiday homes, all with private pools. And lots of oleander trees.

Cann'e Lisa beach at night

It was dark by then so we just stopped by the beach for a bit. It was empty by then but was lighted up by all the twinkling lights around. Then we had two rounds of dinner at the restaurants there, first seafood at the Anydycoc il moro and then typical Italian food at the Pizzeria da Palmira. Both places were fun to sit and eat. They were full of people on holidays, sitting outside and talking loudly. We got very late after the two dinners and drove back late via the highways this time. It was definitely faster though not as picturesque as the small roads we had driven by earlier. So I would definitely recommend the smaller roads to everyone.

The next day, we did not follow our friend’s beach suggestions on the west coast of the island and found something on Google Maps. So it was less perfect than the previous day. The drive today was also very different, a lot more built up. We first drove along a huge lake filled with flamingoes, and then a few towns and tourist centres, all of which looked richer and less rustic than yesterday. It also felt more crowded.

Is Molas beach club

We spent our day at the Is Molas beach club which though fancier and more expensive was not as much fun. The beach water wasn't as clear as the previous day, though we still enjoyed being in the water and sitting outside in the sun. It was also hotter today. We ate lunch at the restaurant there, the food was expensive, good looking but not very tasty. The service also left a lot to be desired. I guess, sometimes expensive doesn't mean better, just more exclusive.

Poetto at night

In the evening, we had planned a saree dinner on the beach, so we drove to Poetto beach, the local Cagliari town beach. It was a long stretch of yellow sand, fully lined with bars and restaurants. In the evening, it was full of people, loud and active, with beach parties happening all along the waterfront. This was definitely the place where all the action happened, not the city centre. (The photo doesn't show that as we didn't take any photos of the parties somehow 😂).

And so, all the restaurants turned out to be fully booked 😂, something we hadn't expected. We kept walking till we found one which had availability. We went to Jinny beach and had a lovely dinner sitting on the beach, under the full moon, in a saree. The location was perfect, with palm trees all around, a sea breeze blowing, and great food. It was a leisurely evening, and yet again we all decided, that we have to come back to Sardinia and explore it more the next time.

After dinner, we went for a midnight drive around the island, just putting some random destinations and then whizzing across bridges and next to the sea for some time. The island looked so quiet, so serene and so alive. Its after such a long time I have done a midnight drive like this, it was exhilarating.


Towns

The last day we had half a day before our flight, so explored a village nearby and then spent time in Cagliari town finally. We first drove inland towards the village of San Sperate, and the landscape was very different than the beach roads we had been on till now. There were peach and olive trees all around. And the road was lined again with bright oleander trees, which added colour to the brown grass around.

Street art

San Sperate is a small village known as an open air museum. There is a lot of art painted on the walls across the village. There are even tours in the village to showcase that. When we reached, we weren't sure what to expect. The houses were as usual pastel coloured, and the village was empty. It was also so hot, we were again not impressed.

Street art

So we just started walking around a bit, looking for restaurants and on the way we came across so many gorgeous murals, everywhere on the streets. Every fifth wall was painted! Bright paintings, on different themes - social, political, historical, abstract or just every day themes. Some were artistic. Some realistic. And some just like that. They were interesting to see. But it was very hot and we were exhausted very soon. So we walked into one shop which was open, and ate ice cream there. It looked like the local pub where the locals were hanging around when it was too hot to be outside. And they kept looking at us like aliens 😆, we were definitely not locals.

We decided to ditch the whole tour as it was too hot to explore, but while driving back, we saw so many other stunning art on the streets, it felt like we at least got to see some of what the place is famous for. I do wish we had more time to walk and explore the street art.

Cagliari streets

Then we drove back to Cagliari. My friends went shopping and I went for a walk around town. And I loved it! I think I took more photos that day than the entire last three days 😀. I found a historical walk online and followed it. I walked past old historic churches and brightly painted residential areas. Through narrow alleys with a history to tell. Past art shops which called you in to check out local art. Past the local university, and terraces from where we could get a panoramic view around.

Cagliari panorama

Inside the cathedral

I saw a gate from 700 AD. I saw someone selling wine on a stall for €1! I ate ice cream at a local gelataria. There were tourist toy trains passing by the narrow streets. The Cagliari cathedral was grand from the outside and had delicately painted frescoes on the inside. And my favourite was the view of Cagliari from the top of St Remys monument. I could fall in love with that view, the lake and inland waters on one side, the city sprawl on the other; the hills all around, and the Mediterranean blue on the other side, I loved it. Surprisingly, Cagliari had a lot of history, and was built with a lot of beauty and grace. It was one of the most enjoyable city walks I have done. Though as we were flying out that evening, we were short of time and I had to cut short my walk by then.

St Remys monument

Cagliari streets

Then I met my friends on the market street and was impressed with the stylish clothes sold in the shops - we were definitely in Italy! We had a quick takeaway pizzetta lunch and then hurried back to the airport. And just like that the holiday was over - too soon.

We had a long list of beaches we could have visited, in case you ever need it. On the east of Cagliari, the beaches of Spiaggia di Sant'Andrea, Spiaggia di Mari Pintau (a rocky beach with reports of thefts around the parking lot), Porto Sa Ruxi, Spiaggia di Piscadeddus, and then any beach in and around the town of Villasimius are all worth visiting. Past Villasimius, you can go to Cala Sinzias or Cala Marina in Castiadas. On the west of Cagliari, you can visit the towns of Pula and Chia, with Pula Beach and Chia Beach, and the islands of Sant’Antioco and San Pietro further beyond.


I loved Sardinia. There is culture, there is art, there is beauty, there is good food, there is nature, there are stunning beaches, Sardinia has everything. Overall, we loved this vacation. Though our stay felt too short, with so much more to explore and experience and we barely able to scratch the surface. We all decided we will be back longer on the island. It's the best compliment to a place you visit, isn’t it?