Travel Diaries in Sardinia: The best Beaches in Europe

Article by guest author Peter Brooker

The yawning mouths of the wave breakers sucked in the Island Princess, the oldest of the Princess fleet.

Cagliari the capital city of Sardinia is a hard word to say for non-natives, the 'g' is soft and sounds like calorie. With a population of only 1.5 million.

The city was formed from four historical quarters with two laws; local laws and Italian laws. It's architecture has flavours of both the modern and ancient, due to the city's destruction of the Second World War. The buildings that have been recently restored are now social housing. We took the bus up to Fox Mountain where we got to see the entire city. 

It boasts 10km of white beach sand  one of the longest in Europe. Before the beach there are man-made square swimming pools. These were closed in 1985 to protect the pink flamingos that decided to stop here in the lagoon. These flamingos feast on the little shrimp farms, that gives them that pink colour.

Of course like most coastal islands in the Med, it's tourism that drives the economy. They also salt, fish and artichokes,

The roads are peppered with beautiful Jacaranda trees that are in full purple bloom here at the end of August. 

Our tour guide took us into a local winery, where we got to sample some of their produce. Admittedly some of the wines were too immature for my palette, but the experience was interesting enough. 

It was a short tour, and if you're cruising, I would probably give this tour a miss. You'll no doubt have the drinks package already, and paying for more wine just seemed a little overkill for us. I would instead get a taxi and have them drive you to the top of the mountain where you can enjoy the vistas. Next time we go back I would like to do some beach walks instead. 

For more things to do in Sardinia you can check out this post on Lonely Planet. 

You can also follow Alexa on Instagram, a local that makes the island look so idyllic. 

Cover Photo by Nicolò Canu on Unsplash