Sardinia by motorcycle

DEPARTURE

our journey finally begins, we set off with our motorbike nicely loaded…the top box, two side bags, the bag on the tank plus tent and sleeping bags…then during the journey we'll also add the beach umbrella…we arrive in Genoa where we have the Grimaldi ferry at 21.00, we arrive just in time to avoid the thunderstorm that was following us, the ship is very beautiful, full of every comfort, the cabin is small but very comfortable, we were already quite tired so after a little dinner at the self-service we go to sleep.

OLBIA - DORGALI

as planned we head straight towards the east coast, we fill up with petrol and go to see the sea at Porto Istana, the water was calm and transparent, in front of us you could see the island of Tavolara, the temptation to take a swim was strong but we set off again passing through the little villages of S.Teodoro, Budoni, Posada, the latter very charming, all nestled on a small hill, and we arrive at the beach of Capo Comino, where we cool off and rest a bit. In the afternoon we reach Dorgali where we had booked our farm campsite, we pitch our tent and go for a little stroll before dinner at Cala Gonone

DORGALI - BARISARDO

Morning, we wake up early, take down the tent and load our motorbike, we prepare to cross the Genna pass (1017 m above sea level), a road that crosses the kingdom of the shepherds of Supramonte, truly enchanting and evocative, one of the most beautiful views of this holiday, we travel about 50 km like this in complete solitude, then a long descent takes us to the first inhabited centre, Urzulei, a stop at a little bar on the road and then off again, passing through the villages of Tortolì, Arbatax, we arrive at the beach of Barisardo, more precisely at the tower of Barì, a truly very beautiful, immense beach, sand as coarse as grains of rice with a reddish colour and a deep blue sea, split in half by a small rocky promontory on which stands the seventeenth-century tower from which it takes its name. A day of relaxation on the beach and an overnight stay at Camping L'ultima spiaggia.

BARISARDO - COSTA REI

Today's destination is Costa Rei, we travel the whole coastal road, the mountains are almost no longer visible and the landscape becomes much more arid; along the way we stop at a fruit vendor (there are lots of them), we buy some peaches and look for a bit of coolness under the trees…it's extremely hot! We set off again and arrive at Capo Ferrato, we immediately decide to look for a campsite so that we'll then have the whole day to relax; we find one called Camping Capo Ferrato, very small but delightful, with access to a truly beautiful beach, very white sand and crystal-clear sea…a day of relaxation at the beach, and in the evening, since it's not far, we go to dinner in Villasimius.

COSTA REI

We're so comfortable at this campsite in Costa Rei that we decide to stay here one more day.....

COSTA REI - CARBONIA

In the morning we resume our journey, our destination today would be the Pula area, so the road to travel is quite a lot, as always we take the coastal road, very beautiful and scenic although more congested than the previous ones especially in the Cagliari area where chaos and smog reign supreme, we pass through the town of Pula, then Nora and we stop only at Capo Spartivento where there are some little beaches I had heard about, the first one we see is Cala Cipolla with white sand and rocks, it stays sheltered by a barrier of pines and Mediterranean scrub and being bordered by two granite promontories it almost looks like a natural pool, a shame only that it was very crowded, much more beautiful is the beach of Chia, very long, very light sand and truly crystal-clear sea, sand dunes twenty meters high topped by centuries-old junipers...a true enchantment.

We resume our journey until we reach Carbonia where we find an agritourism complex "pedra del Sol" that is very nice and where you eat divinely

ISOLA DI S.PIETRO

Today on the schedule we have the Island of St. Peter, we take our motorcycle again this time stripped of all the luggage and head to Sant'Antioco, a sort of island within the island because it is connected to Sardinia by a bridge, we take a little tour of the small harbor and then a tour of the island by motorcycle, then we reach Calasetta where we take the ferry to St. Peter, the crossing is short, about 20/30 minutes and we disembark at Carloforte the only inhabited center of the island, very nice and picturesque with a beautiful square dominated by two large trees surrounded by benches, the island is very small, about 50 sq km, in a short time you go all around it, we stop to take some nice photos at Cala Mezzaluna, which is a stretch of coast characterized by a cliff plunging into the sea in the shape of a crescent..

then we find a little beach and there we stop until it's time to head back.

CARBONIA - BOSA

In the morning we resume our journey northward, as always a scenic road, we pass in front of the Pan di Zucchero rock, a natural wonder rising from the sea to a height of 132 m and owing its name to its rounded shape and its whitish color that contrasts with the reddish of the coast, a few photos and we set off again, crossing the area around Buggerru, we pass through Arbus and from there we'd like to go visit the famous dunes of Piscinas, finding them was not at all easy but in the end we did it, we head toward Ingurtoso, a sort of abandoned mining village, we were doubtful that it was the right road but in the end we get there, a beach 6 km long characterized by its very high dunes, we remain fascinated, it felt like being in the desert...a paradise for our motorcycle, after this little stop, we get back on the motorcycle and don't get off until we reach Bosa, there we look for a campsi

te (there's only one and it's ugly too) and exhausted we pitch our tent for the night

BOSA - SANTA TERESA DI GALLURA

Today too the road to travel is a lot, the vacation is almost over and we still have to complete the loop, we set off from Bosa and our first stop is Alghero, an ancient Catalan city still surrounded by the old walls, we park our motorcycle and take a little tour of the historic center full of people and little shops, we eat a sandwich and set off again.. next stop Castelsardo, an ancient and wonderful medieval village all gathered on a rocky promontory that slopes sheer down over the Gulf of Asinara, we stop in a little garden to rest and then set off again toward Costa Paradiso where we treat ourselves to a nice swim on the rocks..it's a very distinctive stretch, it seems all built on purpose for tourism, all the same in little red bricks..very beautiful and certainly not within everyone's reach...the day ends at Santa Teresa di Gallura at the "la Liccia" campsite.

SANTA TERESA DI GALLURA - GOLFO ARANCI

Today our destinations are the much-praised Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo, which are of course very beautiful, but truly unaffordable—you can really only just pass through—we stop for a bit at a little beach, stroll a while among the narrow streets of Porto Rotondo and then reach Golfo Aranci, where we find a hotel to spend the night.

GOLFO ARANCI - LIVORNO - BRESCIA

In the morning we wake up early, the ferry leaves at eight and we plod through 5 hours of travel...and so we leave Sardinia behind us....an unforgettable trip, very demanding, but it filled us with pride.