NORTH WEST
White beaches kissed by a sea with shades of silver, turquoise, blue and topaz. Sandy coves, cliffs, islands. Many of the legends about Sardinia’s splendour come from here, from the enchanting northwestern side of the island. Explore it with us.
Alghero
Historic city at the northern tip of the western coast of Sardinia, a renowned resort also known as the capital of the Coral Riviera. It retains well-preserved traces of Catalan dominance and is also known as Barceloneta.
With its 44,000 inhabitants, it is the 5th largest city of Sardinia. Alghero is the island’s main harbour town, home to Fertilia airport and one of its best-loved cities for the popular walkway along the port’s bastions, the red roofs that touch the sky and the gorgeous natural bay that flows into the emerald sea. The shoreline is some 90 km long and known as the Coral Riviera, home to a major colony of the finest coral. The most famous beach here is Le Bombarde, blessed with crystalline water and a clean sandy bottom, it is a favourite destination of families, young people and surfing enthusiasts. Just a kilometre away is Lazzaretto, ten inlets with soft sandy beaches.
Castelsardo
One of the loveliest towns in Italy is a medieval fortress surrounded by nature and steeped in history, religious traditions and ancient crafts. It sits perched on a promontory in Anglona, in the centre of the Asinara Gulf in north-western Sardinia
t may have been the legendary Tibula of Roman times, but by the Middle Ages it was already an impenetrable centuries-old fortress protected by thick walls and 17 towers, until the advent of modern weaponry. The original nucleus of Castelsardo grew up around the castle of the Dorias, which tradition dates to 1102, although it was probably constructed in the late XIII century. Today it is the seat of the lovely Museo dell’Intreccio Mediterraneo (or Museum of the Crossroads of the Mediterranean), one of the most visited museums in all of Sardinia. In the early XVI century the castle was renamed Castillo Aragonés and became the seat of the bishopric until the Cathedral of Sant’Antonio Abate was built in 1586
Stintino
A pearl in the Mediterranean, on the northwestern tip of Sardinia, 50 km from Sassari: La Pelosa, its symbolic beach, is one of the most beautiful in Europe.
Located on a strip of land in the extreme northwestern part of Sardinia, Stintino stretches out towards Asinara, almost touching it. Right there, exactly where it touches it, lies its masterpiece, La Pelosa: with its clear seabed and shallow waters for dozens of metres, weightless white sand and a dazzling, calm sea with waters in every shade of blue. Next to its 'big sister', there is La Pelosetta, closed in by a little island dominated by an Aragonese tower (dated 1578), symbol of La Pelosa. From a ‘terrace’ on the ‘tropical’ beach, at an altitude of two hundred metres, you can enjoy a unique view of Isola Piana and the Asinara National Park, which is unspoilt and wild: Stintino is the nearest place of embarkation if you want to visit it.