The stunning white sands and bright blue waters of Sardinia (Image: Getty)
It’s the Mediterranean island with the perfect blend of hot weather, amazing food, rich history, city life and beautiful beaches.
But it’s not even in the top 10 islands most visited by British tourists, which is dominated by the likes of Tenerife, Majorca and Lanzarote in Spain, as well as Santorini, Corfu and Rhodes in Greece.
However, manoy of those in the know would say that this Mediterranean paradise island beats them all hands down. And one of its major selling points is the staggering number of beautiful beaches that you’ll find every few miles along the coast.
The island is Sardinia, which lies around halfway between the coasts of Italy and Spain in the Med, and it’s far less popular and less well-known than the hotspots of Spain and Greece, which are now visited by so many tourists each year that locals there are fighting back against over-tourism.
Sardinia is a perfect holiday destination for many reasons: it is a huge island, so there is lots of space available, meaning you don’t have to crowd into one or two over-populated tourist spots.
It has a big city, Cagliari, on its southern tip, so you can experience the bustle of city life, complete with a lively restaurant and bar scene. On the opposite end of the island is Alghero, a reasonably big town also with a lively restaurant scene.
It also feaures luxury in abundance, and its north-eastern shore is a magnet for wealthy European tourists who flock to Porto Cervo, where you can entertain yourself by examining the heavily-guarded yachts and trying to guess who owns them.
The food scene is sensational, as you’d expect from anywhere in Italy, and there are so many options to eat. Given Sardinia is less overwhelmed by tourists than the likes of Majorca, you’ll still find that many of its restaurants still cater mainly for locals and the quality of food is high.
But perhaps Sardinia’s main selling point is the frankly extraorindary number of jaw-droppingly beautiful beaches, any one of which would be a national treasure if they were in a different European country. In fact, in a recent list of the world’s 50 most beautiful beaches, two from Sardina made the list, one of which was ranked in second place.
Cala Mariolu, which ‘stands out for its striking beauty everywhere you turn and the sense of privacy and adventure it offers’ (Image: Getty)
La Pelosa beach in the north of Sardinia, near Alghero, has some of the whitest sands on the island (Image: Getty)
The best beaches in Sardinia
It’s almost impossible to pick out the “best” beaches in Sardinia, because there are so many that could deservedly make the list located around the entire island. So here is just a selection, and you may well find ones that you prefer through your own research. As well as the main island of Sardinia itself, there is also the archipelago of Maddalena, a series of islands just off Sardinia’s north coast, which has its own collection of gorgeous beaches.
1. Cala Mariolu
2. Siaggia della Pelosa
3. Spiaggia del Pirata
4. Spiaggia Rena Bianca
5. Cala Corsara, La Maddalena
Sardinia can, of course, get busy in the peak times of July and August, when lots of Italians holiday there themselves. Costa Smeralda is among the most popular destinations. It’s also something of a celebrity hotspot and the area of the island where wealth is most obvious.
If you fancy a bit of celebrity-spotting, this is definitely the place to go, with Spiagga del Principe the best beach to potentially see a Hollywood star, music mogul or business leader. Lonely Planet says: ” A number of beautiful coves necklace the fabulous swoop of coastline where Gallura’s wind-whipped granite mountains tumble down to fjordlike inlets in the emerald sea. One of the finest is the Spiaggia del Principe, a stunning crescent of pale sand snuggled among low cliffs named after Prince Karim Aga Khan, who has given it his seal of approval.”
Spiaggia del Principe (Image: Getty)
Where to stay in Sardinia
Where you choose to stay in Sardinia depends on the sort of holiday you want. Cagliari is the island’s largest centre of population, a bustling city with a perfect mix of the historic and modern. It is not really a tourist city, so the restaurants here cater mainly for Italians so you can be sure of their quality.
Even Cagliari has a beautiful beach to call its own, the massive Poetto, a short ride out of the city, where people from the city flock as often as they can.
Poetto, the wide city beach of Cagliari (Image: Getty)
At the opposite end of the island is Alghero, a comfortably-sized town with several beaches and interesting sites nearby, including the most gorgeous country villages. From Alghero you can get a boat to Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune’s Cave), a dramatic seafront cavern where stalactites hang above the water.
On the east coast you have the luxury destinations of Porto Cervo and the Costa Smeralda, a haven for the rich and famous. If you’re not ready to mingle with the wealthy just yet, then Cannigione is an understated small town nearby, where there are lots of options for hotels, restaurants and bars.
Similarly, if you want a location that is close to the city but also has a good selection of beaches nearby, try Villasimius in the south, a short drive from Cagliari.
Yachts of the super-rich docked in Sardinia’s Porto Cervo (Image: Getty)
Where to eat in Sardinia
Your options are almost endless, with all the major towns and cities having lots of authentic options which are still for the most part geared more to Italians than tourists.
But one eating experience not to be missed is the agriturismo. This is an Italian concept which has seen traditional farms adapt to cater for visitors who want to eat or stay (or both). The menus can be extensive and fantastic, and you will find yourself very full of the most excellent locally-produced food. There’s nothing like it.
How to get to Sardinia
The main airports in Sardinia are at Cagliari on the south coast and Olbia on the north-eastern coast. You can get frequent flights to either from UK airports.