In the nothern part of Sardinia, between Santa Teresa di Gallura and Sassari, you can find one of the most beautiful and picturesque coastline in the island – Costa Paradiso (which means Paradise Coast) with its sandy beaches.
One of the most popular beach is called Li Cossi and is situated around 10 minutes by walk from the little harbour (where you can leave your car). Like every bigger beach in Sardinia, also in here during the season you can rent an umbrella or a seat.
If you are planning your next holidays you should definitely consider Costa Paradiso with its fantastic coastal landscape full of pink granite stones.
Within the resort there is a supermarket, grocery, bakery, fish shop, bars, take away and a number of restaurants where you can try Italian or Sardinian cuisine.
In today’s post we would like to show you the advantage of having the car while being in here.
Who comes from Sardinia or has been here many times already knows that the best way to travel around the island is to have a car. This mean of transportation gives you the freedom and allows you to discover Sardinia. And trust me, here is much to discover!
Sardinia is an island where you can experience everything: from beautiful sandy beaches and sunsets that takes your breath away to the mountains where the lovers of trekking will find their paradise, from carnival to various kinds of festivals and sagras, from restaurants and 5*hotels to B & B and vans where panini are served (local street food), from luxury boutiques to local little markets, from old towns in the granit to the touristic little cities. Sardinia is an island rich in smells, colors and flavours!
Unfortunately the public transportation in Sardinia leaves much to be desired. What is more, to many places you can not get with the local bus.
That is why if you want to experience all that what I have mentioned above you will need a car. You might ask, what about taxis? Yes, there are, but it is much more profitable to rent a car.
Many Christmas traditions differs from one country to another and today we would like to talk about Italian one – La Befana.
In Italian folklore, Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5). She flies around the world on a broomstick and comes down chimneys to visit all the children and fill their shoes or stockings with candy and presents if they were good, or a lump of coal or dark candy if they were bad during the year. Often the children prepare a small glass of wine and
a plate with a few morsels of food, regional or local, and the next day in the morning, on January 6, they go for check what she left for them!
The Befana has been an Italian tradition since the XIII century and is much more popular than the legend of St Nicolaus, who, in many countries, leaves the gifts on 6th December (although Italian children await him aswell!).
According to one of the leggends, Befana was approached by the Three Wise Man. They have asked her to lead them to the stable where Jesus was born but she didn’t help them and didn’t go with them. After a while she realised that she should have been gone with the three bibical magi. She gathered up a basket full of sweets and decided to search the baby Jesus on her own. She left her house and started looking for the newborn King. Leggend says, that she never found Jesus and that is why she is looking for Him(and visiting houses) every year.
The arrival of la Befana is celebrated with traditional Italian foods such as panettone (a Christmas cake) and marks the end of the long and festive holiday season in Italy. On that day in every city people gather on the markets and celebrate the holiday by attending organised events.
If you are staying in Italy right now, and hopefully you are in Sardinia, we wish you Buona Befana!
Sardinia is all about the beaches! The beaches of Sardinia are so many and so different as to choose one is almost imposible. When it comes to natural beauty, the Sardinian beaches can compete with those of the coasts of the French Riviera or the Caribbean.
2016 has just started and it is a perfect moment to plan your summer holidays. Why not visiting Sardinia this year? Toay we would like to present you “The 10 most beautiful beaches” according to sardinian people because in our opinion they are the most realiable guides:)
First place goes to Cala Mariolu, followed by Chia. The last on podium, but not least is Turreda beach.
Mariolu
Chia
Turredda
The whole ranking you can find bellow*:
Cala Mariolu– Baunei (Ogliastra) – 18,99% dei voti
Isola di Spargi– La Maddalena (Olbia-Tempio) – 3,82%
Porto Pino– Sant’Anna Arresi – (Carbonia-Iglesias) 3,70%
This ranking should be just a suggestion, an idea where to go because the lists of the island’s best beaches run into the hundreds, and there are many more unnamed coves and wedges of white, silver or golden sand.
Let’s sum up this short post with words of Fabrizio De Andre, an Italian singer and songwriter: « Life in Sardinia is maybe the best a man can hope for: twenty-four thousand miles of forests, of countryside, of coasts surrounded by a miraculous sea should coincide with what I would recommend the good God to give us as paradise. »
*The ranking was carried out by the journalists from website http://www.unionesarda.it/ All the photos used in this post were taken from the Internet.
Italian cousine is not only pizza and pasta. Every region of Italy has many traditional dish and products, that every traveler should try. Sardinia is not an exception!
Our trip around Sardinia and its savours we start from the spirits. As you can see, we have listed alcohols that you really should try while travelling or at least take with you as a souvenir.
1) Mirto
Mirto is a very original and very Sardinian in taste sweet liqueur. It is obtained from the myrtle plant, which grows freely in Sardinia, through the alcoholic maceration of the berries. There are two varieties of mirto: mirto rosso – made with the berries, sweet in taste, and mirto bianco– made from the leaves. We recommend you trying this liqueur cool, with an ice cube…and drink till the last drop. This liqueur is very unique in taste and because of that you will love it or hate it. Regardless of the reaction, try it. It can be the only occasion that you will have to taste the savour of the island…
The price of mirto depends on the producer, size of the bottle etc. Where to buy?
While staying on holidays in Sardinia don’t forget to visit the nearest grocery shop where you can find a wide selection of different spirits. Price of mirto: around 10€ per bottle. You can also buy a mirto during different local festivals or picnics (we were writing about them in the post called “What is sagra?), but the price there is going to be much higher.
2)Vermentino, delicate typical white wine The most popular is Vermentino di Gallura produced in the north part of the island, wchich you can enjoy during the dinner or take with you back home as a souvenir. It costs around 2 € per bottle (in the small shops with local foods you can often find occasion and buy 3 bottles in price of one!). 3) Cannonaudi Sardegna is a red wine, made from Cannonau, the local name for the Grenache grape. It is not very popular outside of Italy, but recently it has been located in the rarating: “The World’s Best Wine Under $25“.
And last but not least:
4) Ichnusa – a popular Sardinian-made beer.
There are few things that you shouldn’t comment while staying in Sardinia – one is Sardinian beer. Don’t try to criticize it as inhabitants are really attached to this beer. Birra Ichnusa is a lager (4.7% ABV) with a hoppy taste, now owned by Heineken International. It is named after the Latinized ancient name Sardinia, Hyknusa. Try it and keep your thoughts for you.
Above we have listed few spirits that, in our opinion, you should try while staying in Sardinia. In the next post we are going to talk about the local foods so… don’t miss it and follow us in here or in facebook and let’s meet in Sardinia!
August in Italy is the hottest and the busiest month of the year. Temperatures vary depending on where you are in Italy, but the average is 70-90°F (21-32°C). This year temperatures in many places arrived up to 102°F(40°C) and it looks like the whole month will be so hot.
Because of the heat Italian cities “wake up” in the evening. Summer evenings are very lively and many Italians pass their evenings with friends in bars and restaurants, walking, eating ice creams (italian gelato) and enjoying the cooler temperatures (around 70°F/ 21°C). Keep in mind that August is often when Italians take their long (often 1 month) holidays called ferie and anyone who has the means escapes the heat and humidity of the cities for cooler climes. During the summer months, the majority of Italians tend to head for seaside areas, rather than to Italy’s mountainous or hilly areas. In fact, visitors to Italian cities in August may sometimes feel like they are seeing more tourists than Italians – and some cases (like Rome) that’s true.
The most popular region in August among Italians is Sardinia with its crystal clear water, beautiful beaches and great cusine.
Summer travel in the island is the most expensive. If you are going to Sardinia this month prepare yourself financially and mentally as it will be really crowded.
We would like to recommend you also other months when the weather is still good, when there is less tourist and prices are not as high – September and October. While in September you can still enjoy swimming in the sea, October is perfect for travelling around the island and discovering it.
Today we would like to tell you about one dish that you HAVE TO taste while staying in Sardinia: chjusoni!
malloreddus
What is it and how to eat?
Chjusoni, named also gnocchetti sardi, is a type of pasta and traditional sardinian dish at the same time. Their shape reminds a little shell. They are made from semolina and water only and served with different type of sauces. The most popular is pasta with sauce made from tomato sauce and a patridge.
Gnocchetti sardi are one of the most popular Sardinian dish, prepared for plenty of occasions including weddings and sagre(about which we have already wrote in -> “What is sagra?”) from long time ago.
While staying in Sardinia you can try themin every restaurant. You can also buy them in the local shops or make on your own. They are really easy to do! You need only few ingredients: semolina, acqua, a ;ittle bit of salt and around 1 hour of time. Fresh pasta is really so much better!
If you would like to know how to prepare gnocchetti sardi join our cooking class! You will learn how to prepare the dough and the technique to create those beautiful shells at home.
Although the easiest way to wander around Sardinia is to use a car (own or rented), without it u will be also fine! Just take your time and plan everything ahead.
Many hotels offer transport from/to the airport and to the nearest beach. Check your reservation for the details.
In biggest / more touristic cities you will find taxi companies. Prices are quite high.
If you are tired of organizing everything by yourself you can contact us and we will more than happy to help you.
We are organizing trips in the north of Sardinia, according to individual wants. Let’s meet in Sardinia!
There’s no bridge that connects Sardinia to mainland – there’s no possibility of driving all the way from one to the other – but ferry crossings include fares for people travelling with a vehicle.
The journey by ferry is the alternative to the airplane. Due to the cost reasons and the possibility to use the own car during the vacation, the ferries are used quite often as a mean of travel.
source Internet
Sardinia is connected with all the ports of the Italian continent. The destination ports of Sardinia are: Cagliari, Porto Torres, Olbia, Golfo Aranci (Olbia) and Arbatax.
Main connections:
Civitavecchia – > Arbatax, Cagliari or Olbia (it takes around 7 hours to arrive in Sardinia)
Genoa -> Olbia or Porto Torres
Livorno -> Olbia or Porto Torres
Piombino -> Golfo Aranci
La Spezia -> Golfo Aranci
There are different types of tickets and its price vary on what option you choose.
Example: Ticket for 2 people and a vehicle + double bedded cabin from Civitavecchia to Cagliari is 187,20€
2)Moby Lines (www.mobylines.com)operates mainly to Olbia:
Genova –> Porto Torres, Olbia
Livorno –> Olbia
Civitavecchia –> Olbia
Piombino -> Olbia
As an example we have chosen crossing Civitavecchia-Olbia, for 2 adults + cabin+ vehicle. The price is 221,56€ + 6 euro reservation fee
3)Sardinia Ferries (www.corsica-ferries.co.uk) operates only to Golfo Aranci
Livorno –> Golfo Aranci
Our example: 2 adults + vehicle travelling from Livorno to Sardinia – 109,96€
4)Grande Navi Veloci (http://www.gnv.it/en) operates only from Genova:
Genova – Porto Torres Ticket for 2 adults and a vehicle starts from 300€
Note:
It is best to book a ferry in advance, especially in the summer, in order to guarantee a seat, or a cabin if desired, for the over.
Prices may vary depending on the chosen standard, season etc.
On official websites of ferry companies you can find many promotions.
Sardinia, the second largest Italian island in the Mediterranean sea, lies around 200 km (120miles) west of the mainland of Italy and only 12 km (7,5 miles) south of French island Corsica.
You can get there by plane or by the ferry boat. In this post we will talk about the most easy and fastest way – airplane.
The journey by plane is the most convenient one, however in this case you will need to rent a car to travel around the island.
The island of Sardinia has four international airports which operate to major cities in Europe:
1) Alghero-Fertilia Airport (AHO) in the north-west
2) Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport (OLB) in the north-east
3) Cagliari Elmas Airport (CAG) in the south
4) Tortoli Airport (TTB) in the central east
From April to October there are more connections as the season starts at the end of March/beginning of April. Some Ryanair routes are available only at that time, f. ex. Cracow (Poland) to Cagliari.
High season in Sardinia starts in June and lasts untill September. If you plan your holidays during that period try to book the tickets in advance.
SARDINIA 2 SEE 