Travel tips for Sardinia

Sardinia rewards preparation more than most Mediterranean destinations, mostly because the single biggest difference from a typical city break is that a rental car is genuinely necessary here: the ARST bus network and the island's train line connect towns but rarely reach the beaches and coves that draw most visitors, so travellers who plan to rely on public transport routinely find themselves stranded miles from the coast.

Sardinia has three airports — Cagliari-Elmas in the south, Olbia Costa Smeralda in the northeast, and Alghero-Fertilia in the northwest — and choosing the right one for your base saves hours of driving; ferries also connect the island to mainland Italy from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Genoa, Naples and Palermo, to Barcelona, Toulon and Marseille, and, for a Corsica add-on, from Bonifacio to Santa Teresa Gallura.

A second point worth planning around is the quota system now in place at several of the island's best-known beaches — La Pelosa at Stintino, Cala Goloritzé, Cala Mariolu, Cala Brandinchi, Lu Impostu and Tuerredda all require paid, timed-entry booking online, usually well in advance in July and August, and turning up without a reservation can mean being turned away entirely. Taking sand, shells or pebbles from any Sardinian beach is illegal and enforced with genuinely large fines, running into several thousand euros, so souvenir sand is not worth the risk.

Seasonally, May to October is when the sea is swimmable and most coastal businesses are open, July and August bring the highest prices and heaviest crowds, September is widely considered the best compromise between weather and quiet, and from November to March many coastal towns and beach facilities close for the season entirely, though inland towns and cities carry on as normal year-round. The currency is the euro and the official languages are Italian and Sardinian (sardu), with Catalan still spoken in Alghero and a Ligurian dialect, Tabarchino, spoken in Carloforte.

Personal safety is rarely a concern anywhere on the island, and the main practical risk for visitors is logistical rather than criminal — missing a ferry, arriving at a quota beach without a booking, or underestimating driving times on mountain roads in the interior.