The west coast of Sardinia Self-Guided

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!