The reward for a 5am flight was the morning sun spreading gold across the mossy peaks around Cagliari. The expansive view of unspoiled coastline as we came into land – all gleaming white sand and neon-turquoise bays – was nothing short of a postcard: we wished we were there, and we soon would be. Mentally, I picked out a dream spot on the shores.
For years, I’d heard mixed reviews of Sardinia. “If you want to pay €30 for an average bowl of spaghetti with a view of the mega-yachts, go ahead,” friends had warned with a raised eyebrow. It took me a while to realize they were talking, mainly, about the north of the island, where glitzy ports line the rarefied coastline and the ultra-wealthy flock to huge coastal resorts.
But here, on a bright summer morning, with my plane window full of mountains and piercing aquamarine shallows, I was confident we’d got it right.
Italy’s flash side has had quite the year following the post-pandemic travel rush, then White Lotus season two, which aired in late 2022. Set on neighbouring Sicily, the show turned the heads of affluent travellers to Italy’s plunging clifftop hotels, spicy islands, Med yacht trips and ornate villas.
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It was this Versace-clad picture of Italian travel that I was looking to escape as I arrived in Sardinia’s southernmost city, Cagliari, bound for the rather more barefoot seaside town of Chia. My partner, Giles, and I had booked to spend the first night in town, forever suckers for a fourth or fifth-tier Italian city (and I’d recommend it, given the city is 15 minutes’ drive from the airport and you’ll still be getting your head around the hire car).
We swung into the port, a tiered cluster of shabby-chic buildings painted rusty red, peach and mustard yellow, tumbling down to sandy Poetto beach. Directly behind our hotel in the port were tempting, slender alleys packed with restaurant terraces, squares of small aperitivo bars, and a confetti of purple blossoms from the towering Jacaranda trees. So far, so dolce vita.
It was quite a hike up to the imposing St Remy Bastion, past which we paused for a spritz and a mortadella focaccia on the city walls at De Candia. Higher still was Cagliari’s Roman amphitheatre, built in the 2nd century AD and once host to gladiatorial spectacles and…
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