Sardinia

MAJESTIC SEA AND UNTAMED MOUNTAINS

This 9-day trip takes us to one of the most beautiful and wild regions of Sardinia. DH Lawrence described Sardinia as being ‘lost between Europe and Africa and belonging nowhere’. More precisely, Sardinia lies east of the Balearic Islands and Spain, and north of the African countries of Tunisia and Algeria. It is the second largest Mediterranean island after Sicily and similar in size to Wales. Given such vastness, for this trip we focus on just a small area and stay in just two hotels (after spending the first night in the historic centre of Olbia); a comfortable and historic hotel in Cala Gonone overlooking the sea, and another rather unique and well-renowned hotel in the heart of the Barbagia area. These hotels act as two different bases from which we do all our walks and have been carefully chosen to keep driving to a minimum and to provide you with the best the region has to offer. 

The first few days feature magnificent coastal walks and some extremely beautiful and secluded beaches combined with coastal limestone mountains. During the second half of the trip, we retreat to the wild interior just as the Sards did in the past when the threat of (unfriendly) invasion started to become all too real. 

Despite being a relatively small geographical area, the diversity of the walks we do is extraordinary. The different landscape features include: valleys, plateaus, mountain peaks, ridges, clefts, outcrops, caves, karst, sinkholes, ravines, coves, beaches, grassy plains, canyons, pastures, fields, meadows, woods, scrubland etc. There is no shortage of interesting cultural sites to be seen along the way as well, most of which are related to the incredibly unique Nuragic civilisation, which came into being during the early Bronze Age. 

The terrain is very varied and includes gravel country roads, forest and farm tracks, sandy beaches, forest paths, historic mule and charcoal burner tracks and some challenging stony mountain paths which require care and patience. There are a few brief sections on two of the walks that require a little bit of scrambling (with the use of one’s hands). However, on the whole, the walking, in terms of footing, is very good and an enormous effort has been made to provide access and exposure to some of the most beautiful parts of this rugged region.

For a detailed itinerary and/or further information, please contact us at [email protected]

KEY INFORMATION

The fitness level for all trips is classified according to the average distance and elevation gain of the walks offered, with fitness levels ranging from 1-5, see here for more details.