We drove across central Sardinia to the north/northeastern region and spent a week based in the hills of Arzachena, near Palau. What a stunning area!
But on the way there..
One of our main goals while driving from Alghero was to visit Nuraghe Santu Antine. It turns out that it’s coupled with the Museum of the Nuraghi Valley of Logudoro-Meilogu in the cute village of Torralba nearby so we checked that out first (to give us some background and to catch it before it closed for the day!).
It’s a sleepy museum but they jazzed it up by having lots of modern storyboards with maps, love that! Of course I’d be interested to play with all the underlying data as GIS layers to look at correlations and compare to other features.
Our favorite display was a series of milestones. These are the actual original, ~1,700 year old stones used to mark each mile (Roman mile it turns out, which is just smaller than a modern mile) along the impressively vast Roman road network. Many had dedications to officials of varying importance, which were on display. While I suppose it’s obvious given that modern English uses the Latin (aka Roman) script for writing, it was wild to see such old artifacts with words that almost made sense to us engraved into them.
Once we had read up on the history of Nuraghe Santu Antine and the Roman occupation that used, modified, and also preserved it, we drove the 5 minutes to the actual nuraghe.
While many of the building techniques and structural elements were similar to those we’d seen in other nuraghe, at Santu Antine everything is.. bigger. In fact it is one of the tallest remaining nuraghe in Sardinia. The central tower stands at 17m (55ft) tall, and was estimated to have been 25m (82ft) when originally in use. It has three floors, which again in a world of basalt blocks, limited tools, and no mortar is quite an achievement!
There are passages all throughout, sort of woven together so that multiple levels and stairs accessing them can coexist without any actual flat floors over each other. Super cool and yeah, we got lost a few times.
The stairs, at least in their current (~4,000 year old, multi-civilization) form are a bit irregular but very functional. There are little windows to provide light (just in case the power for the LEDs went out 😉). All-in-all it is surprisingly livable.
The views from way up on the tower are far-reaching and peaceful. Reminder that the AirPods are for the audio guide, not just to make us stand out as tech junkies.
Despite looking a lot like little castles, scholars generally believe that nuraghe were not built for religion or war. Evidence points to them being focused on living for the prominent families. This isn’t to say that religion and war weren’t present in Nuragic civilization however. It sounds like there was likely a significant militaristic component to their society, as well as a strong Mother Goddess presence. The latter seems more about fertility and other natural processes than a control-based organized religion/cult like we see so dominant today.
A reminder that there are estimated to be 8,000 nuraghe now of an estimated 10,000 believed to have once existed. As you drive down pretty much any road in Sardinia you’ll see signs for nuraghe. It is refreshing to see such embrace of and respect for ancient inhabitants.
We continued across the island..
We tried to get pizza in the tiny town of Ittireddu but nothing was open. Always cool to check out the sights though.
As we drove, the landscape changed quickly and the mountains got taller and more jagged ahead.
We finally worked our way up through the towering granite spires to our home for the next week, a peaceful stone cabin in the hills overlooking the ocean called Tenuta Sant’Antonio. Again it was off-season so there were a couple nights that we were the only people there, but even full I’m sure it’s a relaxed scene. The cabins/houses are well-spaced and surrounded by wildflowers. The staff are incredibly nice and helpful, and each day make all the food for the next morning’s breakfast.
As with all of our stays, each day we picked hikes, beaches, ruins, etc for the day and explored that region. From Tenuta Sant’Antonio that meant at least 15 minutes of steep, twisty, narrow roads to anywhere (Palau being the closest town). Meanwhile our rental, a Dacia Bigster (it’s a joke name sir!), seems to be aimed at stereotypical Americans. It’s comfortable and modern, but far bigger than we wanted. I specifically requested a smaller vehicle and they insisted on “upgrading” us for free.. oh well. It handles these roads well but uses most of the lane so passing another car (same or opposing direction) is often an act of faith. “Oops I forgot something back at the room” is not a popular statement.
Santa Teresa Gallura is the northernmost town in Sardinia. As with much of northern Sardinia, the coastline is formed of jagged granite spines that drop precipitously into the sea, with small, beautiful beaches sprinkled between them. Nowhere is this more striking than Capo Testa, a peninsula just to the west of the town.
We hiked most of Capo Testa following a clockwise route. Our trail started from the southeastern entrance to the peninsula at a big parking lot, so the first (and last) km was mostly easy walking on a gradual slope. Then the rocks rise above and stunning beaches appear below. This was one of the most visually stunning hikes we’ve ever done. Every step you feel disrespectful if you’re not taking a picture!
This section is known as Cala Grande now, but has historically been known as the Valley of the Moon. This was the label for alternative lifestyle encampments that moved here in the 1960s and 1970s. There are some remnants of old huts and clothing, and apparently there are still a few people living amongst the rocks. Seems about right, neither hippies nor lunar aliens would look out of place here.
…and ‘at the end of the Valley of the Moon lies Paradise’.. sounds like a quote right? Well if it isn’t, it should be. The ocean here is as clear as can be, with a panoramic view of rocks diving into it. Here are a few different ways of looking at/basking in it!
The next 2km (1.2mi) were spent clambering over and ducking under gaps between massive boulders, emerging onto the stage of another viewpoint somehow more stunning than the last. We often found ourselves at the tip of some precipice just smiling and soaking it in for several minutes before moving onto the next one.
Despite all of the rocks, there was persistent scrub and even some flowers. Cacti and thorn bushes were common as well, so most hiking guides recommend wearing long pants and shirts. I much prefer wearing shorts and a t-shirt, being careful, and enjoying the cool breeze.. but sometimes I pay the price.
We eventually emerged at the lighthouse area, where the lighthouse has been active since it was built in 1845. The lighthouse itself is off-limits and the keeper quarters abandoned and locked up, but there is a great viewing deck at the latter.
We chose to add a short out-and-back to the rocks at the northern tip of Capo Testa.
From this whole part of the island you can clearly see the southern tip of the French island of Corsica and the beautiful limestone cliffs of Bonifacio. The islands are only 11km (6.8mi) apart at the closest point. If you zoom way in you can even see the famous stairs carved into them (it’s the diagonal line just below the white tower).
This was a wonderful hike and we recommend it highly. We suggest parking near the lighthouse to reduce the time spent on roads and hike more of the trails winding between the high rocks and swim at the beaches.
We visited Santa Teresa Gallura itself briefly as well. We had a nice lunch at the unassuming Vico Food 3.0 Gastronomia Hamburgeria. It was just what we needed after a great hike. Good food from a friendly little deli while people-watching!
We had some great freshly made gelato at G’ala Gelato. Mango, chocolate fondant, and yogurt.
On our way back to Arzachena we got pulled over by a local policeman. He was parked in one of the tiny pull-overs and reached out with what looked like a mini stop sign on a selfie-stick. He was in full uniform so I took the hint and made the quick decision to pull-over even though physically pulling in was a challenge. Meanwhile the dipshit tailgating me went flying by. The officer was very calm and straight-forward, likely because he spoke very little English (nor should he need to!) and we clearly spoke very VERY little Italian (sadly). He asked for my ID, insurance, and registration as usual.. or at least we think so. Since it’s a rental and we’d been hiking all of our stuff was packed away and it wasn’t the usual stuff to begin with. I held my open hands in front of me and gestured that I needed to dive into my bags and he didn’t object. I managed to get everything to him, including the International Driver’s Permit (IDP) I got at AAA (rarely useful but I figure the $30 at least shows that I made an effort to do the right thing). He then asked for Savitri’s ID, which struck us as odd. She said she didn’t have it since she wasn’t driving, but did manage to produce a picture of her passport on her phone. He kindly asked if he could borrow the phone and took the pile of stuff back to his car. Five minutes later he came back, handed us everything and said thank you and goodbye. No indication of why he had pulled us over, no suggestions or repercussions.. I was thrilled to not receive a ticket or warning but unsure what had just happened. My usual go-to is speeding, which of course I was, but I was speeding less than most other cars so that seemed unlikely to be the issue. Guilty of driving a Bigster? We’ll never know.
Another day, another amazing hike. No complaints! We did another wonderful hike in the Costa Serena neighborhood northwest of Palau. We worked our way along fields, through our beloved granite boulders, and had close encounters with all sorts of little flora and fauna.
Apparently it was damselfly and dragonfly mating season because we saw a ton of them going at it. What else could we do but be voyeurs?!
We broke out of the scrub onto the dunes above the northern coast. Cala di Trana was visible, as were some cool rock formations. There was a family playing in the sand on the far <left> end so we went right and had a little turquoise cove all to ourselves!
On the way back we encountered a very large marginated tortoise with its distinctive flared carapace. He didn’t snap like a snapping turtle, which we appreciated, but he also didn’t stay to socialize much.
We saw several of these and other beetles on the path. Savitri got down close and noticed the amazing texture of the surface so we both took tons of pictures.
This was another relatively short, HIGHLY rewarding hike. Definitely do it if you’re in the area. It also shares ~80% of its length with a hike to Spiaggia di Talmone which looks beautiful as well. Bring a bathing suit either way!
We spent an evening in Palau, which in warmer months is a popular tourist destination largely due to the many great beaches like the one we hiked to (but mostly more accessible!). It has a cute downtown and was still quite lively. We stopped to pose in front of the projected art tree.
We had dinner at CuPPulata, primarily to try their signature star-shaped pizza, the Pizza CuPPulata. Each arm of the star is prepared differently. I suppose it’s gimmicky but we got to share six (the middle is its own section) different tasty pizzas in one and that’s not nothing!
- Punta 1: gorgonzola, noci, radicchio;
- Punta 2: peperoni saltati (aglio, olio) & friarielli (aglio, olio, peperoncino);
- Punta 3: mozzarella fiordilatte, salsiccia fresca, funghi antunna trifolati (aglio, olio, prezzemolo)
- Punta 4: speck, ricotta;
- Punta 5: burrata stracciata, mortadella ai pistacchi, granella di pistacchi
- Centro: mozzarella di Bufala, pomodorini rossi e gialli
Solid restaurant with great service and unique offerings.
Arzachena was the town we stayed in, and we came to appreciate it more as we explored the region. It’s bigger than we first thought, and has a little of everything we needed.
It has some great gelato made in-house at C’era Una Volta. Chocolate fondant with orange, malaga (rum raisin), café.
Most importantly for us, Arzachena has Z Restaurant. Now of course we only go to a handful of restaurants in each area so I can’t declare that we happened to pick “the best”, but.. Z is a contender for our favorite restaurant on this trip. We even ended up eating there twice as a result! Conflating the pictures and impressions.
The Beef Harumaki and the Pork Bao were two of the definite highlights that were swirling in our heads after the first visit and made us go back and get more..
The Wagyu maki is perfectly done and must be tried.. at least once.
We both loved the mochi and I loved the Nutella maki. Savitri isn’t into rice in desserts and I usually am not either but the Nutella had such dark chocolate in it that I was convinced.
It seems wrong to love a restaurant so much when it has very little to do with Sardinia, however that’s life and any cuisine can shine anywhere with the right team. Compliments to the chef and everybody involved!!
Our next hike was a little further down the east coast near Romazzino up Monti Zoppu. This is really a small rock bump when it comes to mountains and especially eastern Sardinia, but its prominence and proximity to scenic crescent beaches made it a great short out-and-back.
You walk right by Spiaggia de Poltu Liccia and can easily jump in. We weren’t in swim mode yet and didn’t have our bathing suits (and I read that skinny dipping, even in remote areas is strictly forbidden?!).
From the summit you can see beaches in every direction!
This hike through rocks and scrub was a reminder that Sardinian trails, like many in the world, are often not marked well. It takes one step in the wrong direction to lose the trail, and things like animal trails and popular bathroom spots can form believable alternate trails too.
My recommended solution is to always have detailed maps on your phone. I tell everybody to download Organic Maps. It’s 100% free, all offline, and has the full power of OpenStreetMap data to give you as much context as possible. When you’re on wifi, you can download the entire area (state, country, beyond) you might possibly be in and it doesn’t take up much space. OpenStreetMap has the most complete global trail database in existence, and if anything is wrong or missing you can add it yourself (with the also free app Go Map!!). It has pretty complete coverage of trailside things like springs, nuraghes, viewpoints, etc.
OpenStreetMap does NOT have good businesses, addresses, legal restrictions, or traffic though, so it isn’t very helpful for everyday street routing.. yet. For those I use Apple Maps or Google Maps (in offline mode as needed).
The southernmost part of the northeast that we visited from our Arzachena home was the city of Olbia. Olbia is the fourth largest city by population in Sardinia after Cagliari, Sassari, and Quartu Sant’Elena (four miles east of Cagliari), and is well-connected with a port, rail, and international airport (OLB).
Exploring a new area is always some mixture of wonder at the unique pocket of life there, the architecture, the surroundings, and some trepidation figuring out where you can drive and park! It turns out that there is a huge, free public lot right on the water so Olbia passed that test.
A reminder that it matters where you drive and park. Well except some days, when the ZTL is delightfully non attiva!
We did a self-guided walking tour of the old town area, loosely inspired by this helpful site. Some places were closed and we of course added gelato stops! As we walked we saw some street art, which we often enjoy.
Right near the parking area there is a sizable greenspace. We were amused/impressed to see a robot lawn mower (Husqvarna) with a big Spiderman decal on its grill mowing away methodically. If they can manage to not have it stolen and/or vandalized it seems like a great idea.
Our first stop ended up being gelato because one of the most highly-rated artisanal shops was right on the main street from the parking lot. We hadn’t had lunch yet but when duty calls we boldly step up!
We agree that this was one of the best gelato shops we’ve visited in Sardinia. The people were very nice and the gelato world class. They had very creative flavors- we had Salted butter caramel and Honey Moon (Ricotta Cheese & honey caramelized nuts). Both were outstanding, and the honey used was a specially processed local dark honey-derivative called Abbamele. This stuff is amazing and we’re still trying to figure out how to get some to take home.
We ducked into Chiesa di San Paolo Apostolo, a beautiful old church with a multi-color dome and nice stonework. No pictures allowed inside, but spoiler alert it was quiet & pleasant despite being dark & churchy.
We had lunch in a cute little side street pizza place called 4 morsi.
As is often the case, we decided to order a pizza to share then when the waitress reacted with “just one?!” we immediately caved and got a second one. They were small-ish but very filling. Hard to ever regret fresh Italian pizza though!
4 Morsi is known for the colorful upside-down umbrellas hanging over their outdoor seating. I’ve seen sillier things.
We visited the only other big church in town, Basilica di San Simplicio.
They charge to enter, in this case to fund the renovations and restorations of the building and grounds so we coughed it up. They let you borrow a pamphlet about the church’s history and Saint Simplicio that was actually quite interesting. Here it is, very poorly photographed in my hand inside the church.
No rules against photography here so we discreetly snapped some shots. Also churchy but renovated thousand year architectural is pretty cool.
We walked along the largest remaining section (~64m/210ft) of remnants of the Olbian Punic Walls (the defensive walls built around the city by the Carthagenians {aka Punic people} in about 330 BC). Once again we were looking at something incredibly “simple” that is mind-bendingly old and impressive. To see such history (we’re talking Carthage here!) in the middle of a present-day residential neighborhood is hard to grasp. These large granite blocks have seen over two thousand years of active human history.
We walked through a sort of down-trodden neighborhood. Central to the area is a large square with an artistic roof that houses farmer and craft markets. Unfortunately we weren’t there when the market was open, but we are very curious! Seems like it could be a fun venue.
By chance/careful planning, we ended up next to another artisanal gelato shop called Gelateria da Brivido. It looked very promising with some peculiar items. We had the Gorgonzola Miele (I applaud the creativity but wasn’t impressed with the result) and a Sardegna Fruit (seems simple but was lacking in fruitiness!). Savitri had a cookie sandwich which turned out to be a fairly dry chocolate biscuit with Stracciatella gelato filling. The gelato component was good but the combo disappointing. The lady serving the goodies was very nice however!
We expected the northeast of Sardinia to be dominated by beaches and tourists. Being there out-of-season countered the latter significantly, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that the hiking, food, and yes, the beaches were gorgeous and plentiful. The more mountainous areas such as where we stayed felt like we could happily explore them for years and we would love to return.
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