The highlight of our last week in Sardinia has been our holiday along the western side of the island with my Dad.
Leaving Santa Maria Navaresse in our hire car, Cate and I drove across the centre of Sardinia to Alghero. The road meandered across the mountains of central Sardinia giving us some spectacular views. We had time to stop at a lovely restaurant in a little medieval village called Rebeccu – the starters were especially fantastic, as you can see in the picture!
In Alghero we had rented a small apartment where we stayed for the next three nights. We picked up my Dad from Alghero airport and started exploring. Alghero itself is a pretty town, albeit very touristy, and we spent a day wandering around, enjoying the evening sunset and some great meals. On the second day we drove to the coast. Our plans to go for coastal walks were stymied by national park regulations, but we got some good coastal views and even managed a short swim at a beach that required us to scramble down a steep path from the cliff. At that time Sardinia was still in the grip of a heatwave, so the ocean dip was much appreciated.
For the middle of the holiday we drove south to Iglesias, staying at a quirky apartment on the edge of the town. The coastal drive down from Alghero was beautiful. We stopped for a coffee at a town called Bosa, very popular on the tourist circuit as it is a pretty village with rows of houses along the river. Once in Iglesias the sightseeing got serious: we visited the Temple of Antas (also the site of an ancient cork oak tree), a deep cave system, the curiously named town of Buggerru (and no, the auto-spelling has not corrected it!), and still found time for some walks.
The last leg of our trip was in the capital; Cagliari. This time we went a bit upmarket and treated ourselves to a hotel right in the marina district, so plenty of opportunities to stroll past the boats along the waterfront. We also walked up to the old town of Castello – worth the uphill slog for the views from the top, as well as the chance to see the cathedral and to enjoy the pizzas in a restaurant overlooking the city.
