South Sardinia - Easter week 2024 itinerary

Dates: 25 March - 1 April 2024

Day 1

Arrival in Cagliari on a late flight. 

For our late-March stay in Sardinia we chose an apartment in the city centre, pedestrian area, and it worked out very well as this part of the city felt very lively with lots of restaurants and cafes nearby. At the same time, the resort/beach areas around Cagliari seemed completely empty and shut down for off-season time.

Day 2
Cagliari

After a morning visit in the Civic Market of San Benedetto, where we stocked up on fresh vegetables, fruit and fish, we spent our first day wandering around the city. We started with climbing up the stairs of Bastion Saint Remy, for a spectacular view of the city. After that we headed to the medieval Castello district and the Cagliari Cathedral. Built in 13th century and renovated later in a baroque style, it features a unique underground crypt Shrine of the Martyrs, with rich and very detailed baroque decorations.

Bastion St Remy

Cagliari Cathedral

Shrine of the Martyrs crypt in the Cathedral

Castello district

After a little rest and lunch prepared with the amazing local products from the market, we went to explore the port district, and later enjoyed the busy pedestrian area near our apartment, and drinks and snacks in a local bar.

Cagliari - port

On the streets of Cagliari

Day 3

Molentargius Saline

In the morning we rented a car to start exploring the island. Our first destination was a nearby natural park Molentargius Saline, which is known as a wild flamingos habitat. You can visit the park on foot (the entrance is free), rent a bike or go on a guided tour. We decided on the second option and explored the park on bikes, our girls equipped with binoculars brought from home. We were very excited to see a lot of these beautiful birds, for the first time in a natural environment and not in a zoo. In the middle of our trip we cycled from the park to the Poletto beach, the main urban beach of Cagliari which streaches for about 8km. Cycling back was a lot faster than expected, as it started to rain :). 

Molentargius Saline - watching flamingos

Poletto beach

Day 4
The ancient city of Nora and beaches of Chia

On day four we travelled to the west of Cagliari, with our first destination being the archeological site of the ancient city of Nora, founded by Phoenicians and further developed by the Romans. The site was much bigger than expected, with remains of homes, buildings, columns, amphitheatre and well-preserved mosaics from ancient Roman period. Located on a seashore, surrounded by clear blue Mediteranean, Nora is a lovely spot to walk around. You can also enjoy the views from an onsite coffee shop. Note there is a quiet little beach with crystial clear water just next to the Nora site.

Nora archeological site

Nora archeological site

Nora archeological site

Beach near the entrance to Nora

After the visit to Nora, we drove a bit further, to the region of Chia, known for some of the most beautiful beaches in the South Sardinia. We chose a small and quite a hidden beach Spiaggia di Cala Cipolla, and were not dissapointed. The beach lays in a small bay, and to us it was stunning, with very dramatic loud waves hitting the rocks on both sides. We enjoyed a couple of hours of just relaxing, having a picnic and playing with the kids on the beach, which we had practically to ourselves (we saw maybe a total of five people there).

Spaggia di Cala Cipolla

Day 5

Su Nuraxi di Barumini + Parco della Giara

Sardinia is known as home to prehistoric nuragic civilization which dates back to Bronze Age. Remains of nuragic villages and fortresses can be found in many places on the island, and one of the best preserved sites is about an hour drive inland from Cagliari. Su Nuraxi di Barumini dates back to 16 centrury B.C. and is quite a misterious place, as due to its age, there are no written historical sources which would explain the look and use of the different buildings, but it is assumed that it served as a defense structure. We never saw a prehistoric site like this before, so to us it felt really unique.
Note it can be visited only on a guided tour.

Su Nuraxi di Baruximi

 

After visiting the nuragic site, we drove to a nearby Giara Park - a nature reserve and home to wild horses. The park can be visted for free, but we chose a guided 2-hour hike with one of the park staff. It was a good choice, especially if you hope to see some horses, but also to learn more about them and the nature which surrounds you. Our guide was very knowledgeable, and even though the tour was in Italian, he explained everything to us in English.  We weren't very lucky with the horses, but we still saw one, as well as a few wild cows :). The Giara nature park covers about 45 square kilometers, so we saw only a very small part of it. 

Parco della Giara

Parco della Giara

Day 6

Cagliari + beach on the Eastern coast of Cagliari

After lots of walking on the previous day, we decided to take it easy, stay in the city, go for lunch and to the food market. In the afternoon we wanted to see the Eastern coast of Cagliari and drove to the beach Spiaggia di Mari Pintau. Perhaps the cloudy and chilli weather played a role here, but we weren't as impressed with this this part of the coast as with Chia beaches. 

On our way back in the evening, we were lucky to see some Easter processions in Cagliari.

Spiaggia di Mari Pintau

Easter Eve procession in Cagliari

Day 7 (Easter Sunday)

Cagliari + Chia beaches

We had a relaxed Easter Sunday morning in town, then made lunch and headed to Chia for a 'goodbye' with Sardinia. This time we chose Spaggia Su Guideu, another beautiful beach which was just next to Spaggia di Cala Cipolla that we visited last time. We had some perfect weather for the end of our stay. 

Spaggia Su Guideu

Spaggia Su Guideu

Day 8

Flight back home

We really enjoyed our first visit to Sardinia. Driving was crazy, like in most of Italy. Food was lovely, beaches were beautiful. We saw some unique sights. But what I think gave us the best feeling was visiting all those places without the summer crowds and heat. Having the beaches practically to ourselves, not needing to queue anywhere - the beauty of off-season travel :).