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Sardinia and Corsica

Kat

10+ Posts
Would love to hear any travel experiences for these two areas. Best time to visit? Any must see ruins? Areas to stay?
Should we fly in or ferry? We can start from anywhere but more than likely Amalfi Coast/Salerno. It appears Pisa might be a better choice to ferry.
We have as much time as necessary to explore. Thank you in advance!
 
NOT a Sardina expert - but we spent a couple of weeks in Sardinia in April/May 2018. The weather was largely good - a couple of rainy days though. It was not warm enough to spend time on the beaches sunbathing and swimming though. If that is the experience you want, I would go later in the season. If so, consider staying near Olbia and enjoy the emerald coast beaches. We rented an AirBnB in Alghero on the Northwest coast. Alghero is an old port city with a historic center that has a lot of Catalan influence due to its easy sea access to the Northeast coast of Spain. There is no single place to stay that is "super-convenient" to everywhere. Alghero as a base though worked for us.

We took the overnight ferry from Civitavecchia to Olbia and rented a car in Olbia and drove to A;ghero. A car is essential in Sardinia. The ferry was clean and comfortable, but really most of our time was spent sleeping. If I recall correctly, it was about a 10 or 11 hour crossing. There are flights to both Calgiari (southern tip) and Olbia. We flew out from Calgiari to Marseilles and spent a night in Cagliari - a large port with a hustling and bustling port area. A wholly different experience than sleepier Alghero. If you are planning to go to Corsica afterwards, I understand there is a ferry from Porto Torres to Corsica.

There are interesting ancient stone structure called nuraghi scattered throughout the island and are remnants of the Nuraghic civilization. Each is different, some large, some smaller. Depending on where you are staying you can figure out which would be most convenient to see,

Le Prigionette Park had gorgeous sea views from rocky cliffs. It is not to far from Grotto Nettuno, which we also visited.

There is a preserved Phoenecian-Roman port called Tharros near the town of Cabras that was interestting.

If you can get to the Girara di Gesturi you can see some of the last remaining wild horses in all of Europe. We there for the ranunculus bloom so it was an especially beautiful sight.

We also visited Su Gologone, a huge natural spring in the center of Sardinia. We had a great lunch at hotel there that was a facility worth seeing (or staying at if it is your budget). It is a favorite of various celebrities low-keying it in Sardinia (e.g., Madonna, Brad Pitt, etc.). Each room is unique with amazing artwork and the common areas and setting is exquisite. https://www.sugologone.it/en/

Millenary Olive Trees - Sardinia's claim to Europe's oldest olive trees - 3,000 years or so old.

Lot's of sheep in Sardinia and pecorino cheese abounds.

That's what is in my memory at the moment. Would have to go back to my journal and pictures to get more detail. Have fun planning.
 
We love Sardinia in the spring for the landscapes. The coasts covered in Mediterranean vegetation burst into flower between mid April in the south and about the the end of May to the north. Spectacular for hiking or just walking, along the coast, along the beaches. There are still few people around that time of year and temperatures are warm without being too hot. For us Sardinia has always been a place to visit for the nature and landscapes. The sea and beaches are spectacular too, but we are people who like walking along beaches out of season, not lying on them in the heat. I've swum in April and May on good days, but I was born in the UK!
Cagliari and Alghero are the most interesting cities.
We've visited most of the island over the years so ask if you need more precise info. We haven't been recently because my husband has got knee problems and for us Sardinia is a place for walking..... Puglia and Sicily offer more in terms of food/culture/architecture/churches.
When are you thinking of going and for how long?
 
Thank you both! This was a suggestion so I was looking for any trip experiences. We will possibly go in the future but this time we will go to Naples etc.
 
We visited Corsica twice in September for 2 weeks at a time and experienced beautiful golden sunny weather. It was hot enough to swim in the sea every day. In the afternoons we’d often drive up into the cool of the mountains.
We were completely spellbound by the country from the pink sands and turquoise sea to the warmth of the Corsican people. They consider visitors to be at a disadvantage as they are away from home and family and that really shows.
I read “ The Granite Isle” by Dorothy Carrington to prepare us for our trips. I recommend it to anyone before they visit.
We stayed in the south around Porto Vecchio on both occasions but travelled up north to Calvi on our second visit with an overnight visit.
The atmospheric town of Bonifacio offers a cliff top citadel, a small museum, a flight of steps carved into the cliffs and the opportunity to visit the beautiful Lavezzi Isles as well as superbviews.
We were fortunate enough to be able to hear some Corsican polyphonic singing which we really enjoyed.
It’s a long time since our visits so I’d have to dig out my notes.
Sadly “our “ is now just me as I was widowed 5 years ago this month.

I’m sure Sardinia is richly rewarding too but we were put off exploring by a large amount of feral and abandoned dogs that were present nearly everywhere we went not least on the doorstep of the villa we rented some mornings.
It’s true that we did see a handful on French Corsica too but not in the large numbers that were so visible on Sardinia.
I sponsored a Corsican cat sanctuary for a few years after our initial visit.

I did lots of work supporting animal charities on Sardinia when we came home but the government were not interested in the plight of so many suffering animals.
I continue to support an English animal charity now who works exclusively in Italy but particularly in the south to help suffering animals of every kind.
It’s good to read some sensible advice about Sardinia in the postings above
mine !
 
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Been to both once each time.

kind of rushed a week through.

planning to return to Corsica in June. Seems like you need at least two weeks in each. I’ve barely touched the towns to the north of Corsica.

similar story with Sardinia.

of the two, I remember the limestone Calanques in Corsica and the cliffs in Corsica.

Sardinia had some beaches you could only reach by boat and La Magdalena archipelago, where there are a lot of boat tours. Not big on beaches but the scenery was superb.
 

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