It is very difficult to explain by words the beauty of Sardinia! However, it is somewhere that I highly recommend visiting if you haven’t! I had the opportunity to visit Sardinia in one of the shoulder season during last September.

My trip was for 9 days across the North Eastern part of Sardinia. I was very keen on visiting Baunei and the Gulf of Orosei even though it required a lot of driving. For the sake of this article, I have divided my trip into 3 phases:

1. Baunei and Gulf of Orosei
2. La Maddalena
3. Porto Cervo and Arzachena

Summary

Flights

We’re very big on using reward points to travel across Europe from the UK. Therefore, our flights were booked to Olbia through British Airways Reward Flight scheme. The cost for us per people was:

• 5800 Avios
• £90 cash

If reward flights aren’t for you, I recommend using Skyscanner to find the best deals on flights

Places to Stay

These are the hotels that we stayed in and recommend:

• Tramas Hotel and Spa – Olbia
• Hotel Golortize – Baunei
• Hotel Excelsior – La Maddalena
• Dolce Vita Boutique Hotel – Porto Cervo/Costa Smeralda

Car Rental

I highly recommend renting a car with Auto Europe as they have good deals year long. We rented with Sicily by Car as we’ve used them before and like their full insurance package (must have in Sardinia)

Key Activites

These are the key activities that are recommended in each area:

• Hike down and swim Cala Golortize – Baunei
• Visit Cala Luna and Cala Mariolu Beaches – Gulf of Orosei
• Visit Bassa Trinita and Spiaggia Spalmatore – La Maddalena
• Hire a boat to visit the Archipelago around La Maddalena
• Visit Porto Cervo – Costa Smeralda
• Try authentic Sardinian dishes
• Visit a vineyard

Phase 1 : Days 1 to 4

Day 1 – Arrival in Olbia

There are 3 airports in Sardinia, Alghero Airport (North-Western side), Olbia (North-Eastern side) and Cagliari (Southern side). Considering, our trip was mainly on the North-Eastern side of the island, we opted to arrive into Olbia Airport.

Our flight arrived around 9 pm so we decided to stay for one night in Olbia before properly starting our island trip!

If you are visiting Olbia, I highly recommend this hotel: Tramas Hotel & SPA. It was a great stay even for one night and we wish we could’ve stayed longer!

Day 2 – Drive to Baunei

As planned, we made our way the next morning to Baunei from Olbia which around a 2.5 hour drive.

We made a pitstop at the town of Budoni to get an initial taste of the beautiful Sardinia beaches and I can assure you it didn’t disappoint.

The water was a bit cold but it didn’t stop me from snorkelling and capturing some beautiful photos with my new GoPro!

After a long drive around the narrow terrain of the Gulf of Orosei, we finally made to our home for the next few days. Hotel Goloritze was a great and cozy hub for us to stay in and we really enjoyed it. So it is highlight recommended!!

Day 3

We woke up this morning and we were excited to hike down Cala Goloritze as it was one of the key areas we wanted to visit in Gulf of Orosei. However, the weather was raining and our hotel staff recommended us against it as it is a steep hike.

The kind staff recommended us to visit Pedra Longa, a very popular place for mountain climbers. It was gorgeous! See below for yourselves.

Following this, we drove down to Santa Maria Navarrese, the hub of where we were expecting to take a boat excursion from the next day, which I hate to spoil it to you, got cancelled too!

The area was beautiful, we had some nice lunch over there and great ice cream at Mastro Gelataio. It was too cold to plunge into the beach but we did it anyways as I needed to make the best out of my new GoPro.

We finished off the day with some great local Sardinian food at MeC Puddu which is highly recommended!

To be fully honest, at this point we were feeling a bit unlucky with the weather but we were still hopeful that it will be better.

Day 4

This was supposed to be our final day in Baunei before heading back to the North. Our original plan was to go out on a boat excursion to visit different beaches including Cala Mariolu, Luna and Goloritze (only from afar as boats are not allowed to get too close). However, this got cancelled so we opted to go on a hike to Cala Goloritze!

I would rank the hike as a medium level as it does have some steep areas which are primarly difficult on the way back. It takes approximetly 1.5 hrs to go down and 2 hrs to come back. You must buy tickets beforehand (online) as the beach has a limited capacity! Some people were trying to buy on arrival and it was sold out! The scenery was mesmerising even before arriving to the beach!

However, as soon as you reach the last few steps before arriving to the beach, you are welcome with an amazing sight. The beach feels exclusive, the elephant looking ridge is a sight not be forgotten. We spent a few hours swimming and snorkelling and it was one of our best moments in Sardinia.

After hiking back for a couple of hours, we had some food at the snack bar near the parking before we commenced our 3 hrs drive to Palau to take a ferry to La Maddalena. The drive was definitely long, especially after a long hike.

Just before midnight, we made it to our next home for a few days, Hotel Excelsior. The hotel was great overall and had a great selection of breakfast which was the perfect thing before our daily adventures!

Just like that, the next phase of our adventure started

Phase 2 : Days 5 to 7

Day 5

On the morning of the 5th day, we started noticing that the weather is shifting in our favour, so the first thing we do? Go to the beach! The plan for the day was to hop to different beaches and spend some relaxing time on each.

First beach we went was the Bassa Trinita. It was very nice and relaxing with a small bar on the entrance. The bar had welfare amenities and also one great Aperol Spritz

Then, we made our way to Spiagga di Cala Spalmatore, which was a short drive from Bassa Trinita. This beach was quieter which mightve been due to the timing but we found it more picturesque.

We finished off our day with an amazing authentic dinner at La Locanda del Mirto. It is a place we highly recommend for its cozy and warm atmosphere and great food.

Day 6

On day 6 we felt like doing something different and went to explore the Garibaldi Museum. It was very interesting but quick.

After that, we went back to our habits and visited a new beach, this timeit was Spiaggia del Relitto.

At this point, you should already know my rating of the beach. It is just gorgeous, they all are!

We again finished the day with some great food and local white wine in town at Osteria Coco. The wait was short and the food was mouthwatering!

Day 7

This was the final day at La Maddalena and we wanted to explore the Archipelago. The options we had were to either go on a group boat excursion or rent a boat ourselves. We opted for the latter option.

The islands within the Archipelago are:

• Caprera
• Spargi
• Santo Stefano
• Santa Maria
• Budelli
• Razzoli
• Maddalena

Only 3 inhabited which are Caprera, Spargi and Maddalena.

We hired a boat and after a few instructions of how to operate the dinghy, we were on our way!

Honestly, this experience was like no other. Beautiful views, calm beaches and a level of peacefulness like no other. I highly recommend renting a boat if you can. The experience with the boat was straightforward even for first time boaters.

We got close to Spiaggia Rosa (Pink beach) but we couldn’t see much to be honest. The best beach we went to was Cala Soraya on Spargi.

After handing over the boat, we visited La Finestrella Gelateria to indulge with some great ice cream before catching the ferry and concluding our La Maddalena trip.

We jumped onto the ferry and made our way to Porto Cervo to spend our final few days at a very nice boutique hotel called Dolce Vita Hotel.

Phase 3 – Days 8 and 9

Day 8

We decided to spend the day exploring the very lavish Porto Cervo which is popular for celebrities (not during shoulder season!). The area was full of yachts and fancy stores of the likes of Burberry, Louis Vuitton and many more. Everything seemed to be more expensive in this area, even parking was paid (it was the first time we paid parking during this whole trip).

Then, we visited Spiaggia di Poltu Liccia, which was a bit crowded and not as clean as other beaches we have been to on our journey so far. I think this part of Porto Cervo was overrated and I would highly recommend spending more time in the other areas such as La Maddalena or Baunei.

For dinner, we had some great seafood near our hotel at a restaurant called Retro. It had a great ambiance and really good food and drink menu.

Day 9

For our final day we want to explore a bit the interior areas. So we ended up spending some time on a giant tombs ruins excursion. It was very interesting to learn about the mass burial history with these giant tombs.

After this excursion, we were keen on trying some of the local wineries and visited the Lu Beddu winery. They had a great selection of wines to be tasted with a perfectly matched selection of cheeses and cured hams.

And with this, we packed up our bags and made our way back to Olbia the next morning to sadly end our trip. But that’s why its called a holiday!

Conclusion

Overall the trip to Sardinia was a dream experience. From crystal clear beaches to amazing nature views. It is one trip we will definitely repeat.

Generally, we tried to find the best deals for accommodation, flights and car rentals and we ended up with an expenditure of around €165 per person (2 people travelled) per day (9 Days) inclusive of all costs.

The budget can definitely be reduced by using BnBs for accommodation and maybe booking flights way in advance!