Sardinia
This was out first visit to Sardinia. We enjoyed our time there, but acknowledge it is different than mainland Italy.
We left from Civitavecchia. This was the first time that we were in Civitavecchia. It was was pleasant. We had a hotel down on the water.
From Civitavecchia it is a five hour ferry trip to Olbia, Sardinia. We never spent any time on Olbia, but drove off the ferry and up to the town of Golfo Aranci, about a half-hour drive.
Golfo Aranci is at the start of what is called the Costa Smeralda. A stretch of 55 km of coast with rock, sand, blue-green water and the playground of the jet-set. Our first impression was not good. We were expecting the S. Tropez of Sardinia, no nothing that seasoned. But later, we started to like it a bit better.
While in Golfo Aranci we stayed in the beautiful Hotel Gabbiano Azzuro, which will be added to our Great Places to Stay. We had our wedding anniversary there and returned on the way out for another three wonderful days.
We toured some of the towns such as Porto Servo and they are good places is you want to look at big yachts, but offer little of interest otherwise.
We drove to Alghero on the west coast and enjoyed that area of Sardinia much more. We stayed at the Hotel Florida, right on the beach, with a great pool. It was about a 25 minute walk from the hotel to the old historic center of town. Alghero was interesting.
The drive down the coast from Alghero to Oristano is very scenic and one of the most pleasant mornings that we spent in Sardinia. The small town of Santa Caterinia di Pittinuri made the day. In a small rock cove, we found a great restaurant. Had a great meal sitting on th outdoor patio.
Sardinia has some areas of stunning beauty. If you want a beach holiday, then one of the towns along the coastline is a sure bet. But it is a large island, with a small population, and driving around the island you can find periods of nothing.