The west coast of Sardinia Self-Guided main pictures
The west coast of Sardinia Self-Guided main pictures

The west coast of Sardinia Self-Guided

Riding all Sardinia west coast, starting from the fascinating Alghero, then across the wilderness of Costa Verde, completing your adventure with the unspoilt beach of Chia and the lively village of Pula.
This tour has also a guided version, check here for dates and price

| Cycling | Active | 8days/7nights | Self-Guided | From € 1300 € 1040* |

Highlights


Alghero and its Catalan heritage

Alghero and its Catalan heritage

Alghero-Bosa coastal road

Alghero-Bosa coastal road

Cabras with its lagoons and pink flamingos

Cabras with its lagoons and pink flamingos

Wilderness of Costa Verde

Wilderness of Costa Verde

Day to Day

B: Breakfast; L: Lunch; D: Dinner;
1Arrival in AlgheroWarm up rideD
2From Alghero to TresnuraghesCycling 60Km/1200mB D
3From Tresnuraghes to CabrasCycling 55Km/400mB
4From Cabras to BuggerruCycling 100Km/1500mB
5From Buggerru to Sant'AntiocoCycling 70Km/770mB
6The loop of 2 islandsCycling 60Km/600mB
7From Sant'Antioco to PulaCycling 85Km/990mB
8Shuttle and departure from CagliariB

Tour Map


Day 1: Arrival in Alghero

A Catalan Heritage Gem

Alghero is a Catalan heritage town, with a typical old center made out of narrow streets protected by its massive bastions overlooking the sea, a charming place to start your week. We'll welcome you ta airport and we'll have a 10 minutes shuttle to our Hotel in town.
According to arrival time we’ll have a detailed bike fitting and a short warm up ride exploring a nice rural countryside with olive oil groves, orchards and vineyards.
Then we'll make time for a proper Mediterranean aperitif with the local refreshing Torbato wine, followed by a sumptuous dinner at one of our favorite restaurants on the ramparts facing the marina.

Array Overnight: Alghero
Included: Dinner

Day 2: From Alghero to Tresnuraghes

Wild Coastline and Rolling Malvasia Vineyards

Today’s ride will take you along the stunning scenic coastal road from Alghero to Bosa, 45 kms of pristine beauty over the cliffs overlooking the sea, admiring the views of Alghero bay and Capo Caccia. This is going to be one of te best rides of your life, surrounded by wild nature over a rugged coastline, mountain pastures and oak forests, all the way until the colorful Bosa, a medieval town dominated by its XII century Malaspina castle. Left Bosa the road starts climbing through the Modolo valley, a vivid patchwork of vegetable gardens, olive groves and vineyards of Malvasia producing the precious wine symbol of the area. When at the top don’t miss to turn and admire the beach of Porto Alabe with its brown volcanic sand, then ride across the villages of Magomadas ending in Tresnuraghes.



Array Overnight: Tresnuraghes
Included: Breakfast Dinner

Day 3: From Tresnuraghes to Cabras

Olive Oil and Bottarga

Today's route crosses a very important olive oil production area, where the village of Cuglieri is the main center with its majestic Cathedral of Santa Maria della Neve overlooking the valley. Here we'd have an olive oil tasting snack, learning about the history of olive oil making started thanks to Jesuits back in the XVI Century. Soon after we'll start a long downhill rewarding us with absolutely beautiful views, reaching over the promontory of Capo San Marco and the Maldiventre island.
After few more villages we'll enter the fascinating Sinis Peninsula, with its wetlands and pink flamingos. The trip ends in Cabras, a village with strong and ancient fishing tradition, dating back to Phoenicians, probably the ones that started the preparation of Bottarga, a delicacy of salted and cured fish roe, extracted from the local flathead grey mullet. The village museum hosts the "Giants of Monti Prama", IX Century B.C statues celebrating Nuragic warriors.

Array Overnight: Cabras
Included: Breakfast

Day 4: From Cabras to Buggerru

Wild Costa Verde

Another spectacular ride, passing on the Marceddì lagoon, a place that seems frozen in time. Then the majestic Costa Verde (the Green Coast) is quite a movie location thanks to the old mining villages and sandy dunes, this is considered one of the wildest areas of the island. The Mediterranean bush covers like a thick carpet the hills, arriving at the desert sands of majestic dunes. The ocean itself looks wilder here, always moving thanks to the mistral wind. We’ll stop in Portixeddu, just a few km before our last effort to get Buggerru, an ancient mining village nestled in a cove on the coast. Here we'll have our dinner in a very local trattoria.

Array Overnight: Buggerru
Included: Breakfast

Day 5: From Buggerru to Sant'Antioco

Old rural villages and vineyard of Carignano grape

Big climb today as a day start... But then, 2 beautiful downhills with sea view till the beach of Funtanamare are waiting for you. We'll reach then the village of Portoscuso for an Ice Cream and then 25 km of a flat road to reach the island of Sant'Antioco, connected to Sardinia main land by a bridge since the Roman Empire epoc. The downtown of this pretty fisherman village, rich of traditions, will be the place of our dinner.

Array Overnight: Sant'Antioco
Included: Breakfast

Day 6: The loop of 2 islands

Discover the multicultural heritage of Carloforte island

On the today loop, we'll discover the two islands in the south of Sardinia. So close but so different for history and landscapes. We'll head to Calasetta port, taking a 30min ferry ride to the Island of San Pietro, landing in Carloforte, a Mediterranean gem where Ligurian, African, and Sardinian cultures blend harmoniously. We'll spend the day exploring the salt works, lovely small beaches, and spectacular cliffs until the solitary lighthouse of Capo Sandalo. After the ride, we'll have time to immerse ourselves in this charming and colorful town, famous for the Red Tuna fishing tradition, still in use with the ancient technique of "Tonnare".

In the afternoon, we'll take the ferry back to Calasetta. For the most avid riders, we can do a scenic 40 km ride along the whole coastline of the Sant'Antioco, dotted with secret coves, Spanish towers, and orchards.

Array Overnight: Sant'Antioco
Included: Breakfast

Day 7: From Sant'Antioco to Pula

Ride the amazing Costa del Sud

We’ve told you, this tour has plenty of beauty. So what’s more marvellous than the southern Sardinia coast? After few km we’ll be enchanted by the neat Romanesque-Pisan architecture of the Cathedral of Tratalias, than the surprise rises along the succession of secret coves and ancient spanish watching towers, overlooking a sea with all shades of blue and green. The up and down ends in Chia, one of the most gorgeous beaches of the whole island, then we have just 15 km of peaceful countryside until the legendary Nora, the phoenician town conquered by the romans, one of the most important settlements of ancient Mediterranean.

Pula is a lively town and the perfect place to celebrating before the transfer to Cagliari for the final dinner downtown.

Overnight: Cagliari
Included: Breakfast

Day 8: Shuttle and departure from Cagliari

Arrivederci Amici!

It’s time to say goodbye, but we know our Island touched your heart and you want to be back in Sardinia with us!
After breakfast we'll help you with bikes and luggage and shuttle to Cagliari airport, at just 30 minutes from Pula.
Ciao Amici, ci vedremo ancora!

Array Included: Breakfast

Brendan NevinBrendan Nevin
15:07 07 Jun 23
Mediterras supported 8 of us on the cycling Gran Tour down the west coast. I would strongly recommend them - brilliant support, great local knowledge led routes and excellent bikes, We would use them again without hesitation.
Lesley KovarLesley Kovar
11:20 08 May 23
We just finished a custom tour with Mediterras, from Palermo to Marsala. What a fantastic experience! Our guide Gian Mario was so knowledgeable and attentive, his planning was meticulous. The choice of boutique hotels, as well as the restaurants he selected, were all wonderful. The rides were well planned, taking us through beautiful countryside and along spectacular coasts. Our van driver Giovanni was also awesome, he could be a professional naturalist. We are already planning our next trip with them (to Sardinia). What a treat to use a small local company that gave us such a memorable trip!
Bernie CreavenBernie Creaven
11:09 08 May 23
We loved traveling with Mediterrras!Mario and Giovanni were amazing, professional, detailed and thoughtful. They made planning this trip easy, they were super flexible when we had to change plans. They supplied us with excellent equipment (I loved my road bike), detailed maps, fun rides, history lessons, in fact we laughed our way around Sicily!We enjoyed our meals together and they booked us into beautiful hotels. Unfortunately, one member of our group had a medical emergency, they looked after him like they would a family member.I can’t wait to bike again with our new best friends!Go ahead book these local guys, you’re guaranteed a fabulous experience!Bernadette (Irish woman living and biking in Seattle).
Rich GundlachRich Gundlach
13:15 24 Sep 22
Great planning, exceptional guides. We enjoyed everything about our trip. We learned a great deal about the history and culture of Sardinia. Marcello at Mediterras made sure that everything was properly arranged and made adjustments when necessary. A great part of our enjoyment came from our interaction with our guides (Giovanni, Stefano and Danilo). They were all very knowledgeable and friendly. When it came time to part we felt like we were leaving old friends.
Doris ChapatteDoris Chapatte
11:53 12 Sep 22
We did the "big-loop" from the 20.08.2022.The big loop ist 12 days road bike around the island. We have booked the trip 1.5 weeks before (last minute) and everything has been organised perfectly. We had an extra break day every 4 days biking. And was great.Mediterras has answer to all our questions. On the day of departure, our bikes we ready, we got time to get full explanation of the tour. We got a navigation system with all the routes. Everything was very clear and very well organised. Our lugage was every evening delivered at the next hotels.The hotel has been wonderfully selected, and always at some nice location and not too far away from the center or the beach. Thank again to Mediterras team for the wonderful holidays.I would give more than a 5 Stars for this trip and the wonderful team.Doris & Jean-Luc - from Swizerland
Tadhg CookeTadhg Cooke
12:46 09 Jun 22
A fantastic introduction to cycling in Sardinia. I just rented the bike in Cagliari for a few days at the end of my holiday, with no particular routes in mind. Gian Mario kindly suggested two nice challenging routes, and sent the GPX files. I only had time for one of them - but it was an absolute gem. Starting in the city, cycling along Poetto, before turning towards the hills. After one tiny village, I didn't pass another café or shop for 40 or 50 km. Just me and the pain in my legs. Superb. The bike was a gem - a former Lotto Jumbo team bike which was ridden in the Paris Roubaix by Tom Leezer. I was a *bit* slower, but I probably enjoyed it more! Wonderful experience - lovely people - always available on whatsapp if I needed anything, which was very reassuring when I don't speak Italian or Sardu! I will definitely use them again if/when I return to Sardegna.Thanks again!
We did the Sicily Baroque tour with Mediterras. Self guided on bikes (el and manual). Gian and his team did adapt the tour for our needs and did all to make the tour enjoyable. Few problems surfaced but all were solved. The trail was interesting and added a lot to our understanding of Sicily, its landscape and life in the rural areas. Accommodations were all good, and the quality of the food in the restaurants Gian had arranged varied from good to excellent. At the end of our tour we did a walk in the hillsides of Etna arranged by Mediterras.The Etna tour was wonderful. We were lucky with weather given the circumstances. It was a bit foggy and a bit cold, but it did not rain. The guides did a good job of explaining the geology of Etna for us and the two geology-educated persons in the group! The hike was challenging, which suited the group well. The food and wine at Barbaras place was totally excellent! Six stars out of five.We were not as lucky in Taormina! It did rain cats and dogs. The drivers did adapt quite well. Did stop at several foto-ops and at the entry gate to the pedestrian street. We did wander through the Greek theatre and the pedestrian walk, did have a stop at a fancy coffe-shop/bar and then decided to skip the dinner and return early back to Syracusa.
W. B.W. B.
16:03 20 Oct 21
I found this company using google and right away Gian was very responsive. I told them what we were looking for, gave specific parameters for distance and elevation, and they put together an itinerary very quickly that completely matched what I asked for. The entire trip was seamless from the 1am pickup at airport to drop off after 10 days of cycling. The routes were on quiet wonderful roads and the hotels they chose were all great. A really good local company which does what they claim to do very well. Highly recommend.
Ilja WinkertIlja Winkert
11:14 17 Sep 21
I rented quite spontaneously a city bike for my whole stay here near Cagliari. The workshop is very well located. Grocery shopping, going to the beach and the city worked very well. Bike were in a good condition. I was properly advised. Fully recommend this place.
ZosiaZosia
14:46 23 Aug 21
We are so happy that we found this rental. Very nice, helpfull and professional customer service. We recommend to everyone!
juliet clarkejuliet clarke
17:20 15 Jun 21
Mediterras arranged a self guided cycling trip through South Eastern sicily stopping in beautiful baroque towns. They arranged everything with less than a weeks notice, keeping us up to date on accommodation, bikes equipment etc.My husband and I had a wonderful time. The ride was perfect, having both been off a bike for several months, the ride was the perfect combination of hills and flats for us to really enjoy it. The accommodation was far better than what we were expecting for the price and recommendations for dinner and stops spot on. We ate incredibly well and all the hosts in the villas and hotels very welcoming and helpful.I would certainly recommend them especially arranging it all with such little notice.
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