Our Favorite Place in Italy

At this point, we’ve traveled fairly extensively through Italy. As an elderly Italian man once said to us, though, you could live ten lifetimes and still not see all that Italy has to offer. He’s probably right. 

Vacationers flock to Italy for good reason – the food, the natural beauty, the history, the culture, the art, and did I mention the food? Traveling together, Conor and I have loved many places in Italy. Our favorites include (in no particular order) Venice, Florence, Assisi, parts of Sicily, the Aeolian Islands, the island of Ischia, and the island of Elba. 

However, out of everywhere we have been, we now think that the island of Sardinia is our favorite Italian locale. We have yet to circumnavigate the entire island (but we’re working on it!), and we have already come to this conclusion.

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Why is Sardinia our favorite? It’s simple – Sardinia has all the great things to love about Italy without the biggest negatives. Let me explain:

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#1 – Beautiful unspoiled nature

If you are a nature lover and are drawn to holiday locations because of this, then Sardinia is a no-brainer. We are drawn to such things. 🙂 Conor even says that the wildness of the west coast of Sardinia reminds him of the west coast of Ireland that he loves so much. 

• First, let’s talk water. Sardinia is surrounded by such clean blue water, and by ‘clean’ I mean pristine. It is unlike most other areas of the Italian mainland coast we have been where it is not uncommon to see manmade particles (lots of plastic or other trash) or natural particles (tons of seagrass or something like fish scales) sadly floating in the sea. Also, Sardinia has endless sandy beaches which means the blue water becomes turquoise. The areas are so clear, it literally looks like you’re in a swimming pool. At this point, I think I’m quite spoiled and may never want to swim in waters where you can’t see straight through to the bottom. 😉

• In addition to enjoying the water at the endless sandy beaches, the scenery along the coast is also stunning throughout. By this I mean fascinating rock formations and beautiful green mountains. I’m a sucker for green mountains. The entire island is covered in mountains.

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#2 – Outdoor Activities

For those who like water sports, I think you can do them all here – swimming, snorkeling, diving, standup paddle boarding, kayaking, wind surfing, sailing, fishing, cave exploring, etc. etc.! We regularly swim and kayak from the boat and have been entertained watching all the activities going on around us. If you’re more into land-based activities, hiking through all the mountains is big. We’ve only done a couple of short treks, namely because of the heat right now. You can also go biking, golfing, and rock climbing. You name it. 

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#3 – It’s not crowded.

Since we have discovered so many amazing places in Italy, we have not understood why foreign tourists flock to the same places, say like Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. We prefer locales less traveled. Less touristy. You aren’t dealing with crowds and you aren’t paying crazy prices. You’re getting more authentic experiences. (Sardinia is mainly filled with Italian tourists.) And you’re getting the same, if not better, great views, sites, activities, food, culture, etc. Trust us. 😉 

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#4 – Large sandy anchorages

From a sailing perspective, Sardinia has so many fabulous anchorages, which means great holding. Imagine getting a great night sleep because you know your (awesome) anchor can hold you steady through really strong gusts of wind. Anchoring in Sardinia is so much easier than say, Croatia, where the waters are deeper and rockier. (We found Corsica to have this same great sandy feature.) Given everything else I’ve also described, imagine how many peaceful nights you could spend on the hook in beautiful settings. Without crowds. And with plenty of space to yourself to swim, kayak, cook out, and enjoy sunsets, moon glow, stars, or sunrises, as the case may be. Close your eyes and imagine. The tranquility. The peace. The awe. 

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#5 – Nice towns

Ok, we know remoteness is not everyone’s cup of tea. We like to alternate our days with remote anchorages and civilization too. Thankfully, Sardinia also has plenty of nice towns in which to take in food, history, culture, nightlife, and amenities. It’s essentially known that Italian food is amazing, and Sardinia offers all the delicious Italian options you could hope for. (I personally love being in Italy because if you have to eat gluten free, it is the #1 easiest place in the world to be.) Culturally, you find the same “la dolce vita” relaxing lifestyle where the pace is slow, meals are long, and because of the heat afternoon naps followed by gelato make so much sense. You can also take in Sardinian culture and history through its plethora of museums, churches, ruins, and archeological sites. Want to shop til you drop? Need a grocery, pharmacy or haircut? No problem. Are you a night owl looking for entertainment? You can find that too. So far, we have visited the villages of Golfo Aranci, La Maddalena, La Calleta, Bosa, and Carloforte, and the larger cities of Olbia and Alghero. There are plenty of cities to visit inland as well. Here are the ones I haven’t reported on yet:

La Maddalena

Bosa

Carloforte

Alghero

I have so many photos from Alghero, it will deserve its own blog post! It’s a really neat city.

And, we haven’t visited the largest city, Cagliari, yet, but will be doing so soon!

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#6 – Super friendly people

The biggest thing that makes Sardinia so enjoyable (in my opinion, over mainland Italy) is its people. Sardinians are Sardinians first, Italian second. Like Sicily, the island of Sardinia has a history of being ruled by a variety of groups through the ages – the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, Genoese, and Catalans. Sardinia only became part of unified Italy in 1861, and in 1948 it gained some autonomy. Like Sicily, the various influences make up the Sardinian language and culture still today. We have found the people to be so incredibly friendly, welcoming, helpful, calm and considerate. And, many of them also speak English, which is a bonus for us! A boating friend called them “relaxed Italians,” which I think is a pretty good description. 😉

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So overall, we think Sardinia is hard to beat. If you are sailing Sardinia, you will have the same strong and common Mistral winds to contend with like you see in Corsica, but it’s not really a problem here if you have time and patience. 

Next up we have Irish family coming to visit, and we can’t wait to explore more of this amazing place with them! We will keep reporting on anything new we discover here. 😉

We love comments and questions, so feel free to leave them in the Comments section below!