Sardinia’s beachy and beautiful along the Mediterranean. Dramatic in the mountains, and scattered all over with ancient villages, historic cities, and remarkable natural phenomena. No surprise to find that one family holiday here, almost always leads to another.
Closer to Corsica than the west coast of Italy, Sardinia is famous for long, hot summers and a fiercely independent spirit. The cave-lined and cliff-strewn coastline attracts adventurers all year round, and the island has a well-deserved reputation for world-class road cycling. You could spend an entire holiday on the beach, but resisting all other delightful distractions is as good as impossible, so don’t even try.
Direct flights from the UK to Sardinia take two hours and 40 minutes, year round.
Both Cagliari Airport in the south and Olbia Airport on the north coast have direct, year round flights from the UK.
Sardinia has long, hot summers with average temperatures of 30˚ in July and August. Spring is reliably warm and sunny from early March.
Sardinia has beach resorts on each of its coasts so you can choose a different one to suit your holiday type, budget or even the time of year you want to travel.
Apart from the island of Sardinia itself, you can also holiday on the Maddalena Archipelago in the north or pick a base on classically lovely Isola Sant’Antioco in the south.
Sardinia’s Bronze Age fort, Su Nuraxi of Barumini, is one of Italy’s oldest archaeological World Heritage sites.
Sardinia has three national parks including spectacular Gennargentu which contains Punta La Marmora, the island’s highest mountain.
The area for beautiful beaches, best surf, staggering sea cliffs and caves, harbour cities and family resorts. Not anywhere close to the high-maintenance, yacht-laden gloss of Costa Smeralda, the north west coast is great for younger kids and water sport loving teenagers.
For some, Sardinia begins and ends on the north east coast. This where you’ll find Costa Smeralda, and Santa Teresa Gallura: the resort town for rich Italians, European billionaires, and mega-yacht owners. See and be seen is the holiday rule on this coast, and the wealth’s conspicuous. But the beaches are very pretty, and the sea’s as green and pure as clear cut emerald: hence the name.
Unlike almost any other island, anywhere, Sardinia’s less crowded to the south rather than north. Think of this as good news, because the long, white beaches here have been compared to the South Pacific.
Ask how to get about Sardinia with kids, and the short answer is invariably: hire a car. It’s not a small island, and relying on public transport could eat up quite a bit of holiday time. You also don’t want to miss out on the remarkable interior, historic villages, and at least a few of the breathtaking mountain roads – all aimed at drivers. Towns and cities are easy to explore on foot, and Sardinia has more boat trips and guided tours than you’re ever likely to exhaust.