Reaching Cagliari town:

Cagliari’s airport  is in Elmas at about 10 kms from Cagliari city centre. The airport is serviced by shuttle buses reaching Cagliari main square, Piazza Matteotti,  in about 15 minutes from 8:45 – 23.30.  From Piazza Matteotti square, depending on where you are staying, you could walk, get another bus or a cab. The alternative is to catch a cab from the airport to the hotel, which should cost you around € 20. Cagliari’s pier is not far from many hotels of the city but a cab will probably be the best choice if you got lots of suitcases.

Sightseeing Cagliari:

Local buses are available and pretty cheap to reach the town centre, the parks (Monte Urpinu, Monte Claro) and the Poetto beach. It must be said that these are often late on schedule though (Italian style!). From Piazza Matteotti you can walk nearly everywhere within the Old Town (Castello, Marina, Stampace, Villanova). Be prepared for some fun exercise as Cagliari is built on hills!

A little tourist  train tours the Old Town Centre (seasonal) and a small open Sightseeing  Coach will get you to the areas that are more difficult to reach by foot (the Salt Mines, Poetto Beach, Bonaria Church..).

If you are a little bit more adventurous, you can hire a bike and visit Cagliari in the greenest way, although there are not yet cycling ways in Cagliari. Extra care is recommended in the busiest roads but you should be fine in the Old Town as cars are not allowed (Castello).

Excursions:

There are both a rail station and a coach station (ARST) that connect the town to the rest of the island. These are located in Piazza Matteotti and you can reach many historic and archaeological sites from them even as a day excursion:

Barumini: the so famous Unesco site consisting in the main Sardinian Nuraghe fortress. It can be reached by ARST coaches in about 90 minutes.

Laconi: a mountain destination for those who like culture (you can visit Menhirs and Tombe dei Giganti) woods and trekking. Only 83 kms but 2 hours journey by direct coach or rail.

Mandas: in this village you can board the “little green train” (seasonal) for a beautiful excursion that goes up to Arbatax through lovely mountain scenery and tiny villages. You should get a train to Mandas from Monserrato nearby Cagliari(and to Monserrato by coach from Cagliari). The Green train works normally from mid June-September.

Nora archaeological site and lagoon. You will have to get to Pula with the ARST coaches and from there get the local bus to the site, which is 2 kms away.

San Sperate village and its famous wall paintings are about 25 minutes from Cagliari by direct ARST coach. You can easily do this in half a day. Not to be missed by the Street Art lovers!

St. Antioco and S. Pietro islands: well, it is a shame that these are so cut off from the rest of Sardinia as there is a lot to do, see and eat …! Superb beaches, very important archaeological sites (Catacombs, Tophet Museum, Ipogeo Museum).  If you get the right connection, it can be done in a day. Get a train to Carbonia via Villamassargia and from Carbonia catch a coach to S. Antioco (about 90-120 minutes each way).

Tharros archaeological site. Well, this is a bit more challenging as there is not direct transport. Your first step then is to get to Oristano by train (80 minutes) or by coach (2 hours). From Oristano to Tharros there are 35 Kms to go and the only bus connection you will get operates in July and August.

Villasimius beaches:  by ARST direct coaches Villasimius is about 90 minutes. A shuttle bus takes you daily from the Village to the beach (summer months only).

Timings and routes do change also according to the season so I preferred not to indicate any. Best way to get the right information on timings is to ask at the stations in advance of your journey either in person (better) or by phone as the ARST and Rail websites are all in Italian at the moment and do not seem to work a great deal..

That’s all for now, next chapter will be about the North-West Sardinia.

Ciao, Manu

Also, If you are staying in Cagliari you could spend the night at the Apartment Mara

On the way back I nearly missed my flight because I had to refill petrol and I couldn’t find any petrol station nearby. So I am writing this post in order to help you to avoid few little annoying things.

First of all, when you rent the car, ask where is the pick up point, because in Alghero and in Cagliari many agencies are outside the airport (pretty hidden actually). Wherever your agency is, if you are not traveling alone, it’s faster if one of you goes to pick up the keys and the others wait for your luggage.

That time I had to queue for one hour…Anyway, finally I got my car and I was driving to Cagliari when I got lost few times, so here is a map.

If you are going anywhere in Sardinia apart from Alghero or Bosa, follow the blue line to SS131 (Carlo Felice) otherwise follow the red line.

For ss131 follow directions to Sassari, and make sure you do not miss the “Sassari 4 Corsie” (I have marked it with a pin). When you arrive at the SS131 take for Cagliari if you want to go south.

Coming back to the airport from south on the SS131 there are directions to Alghero airport advising to wheel before Sassari. IGNORE them and arrive to Sassari, then follow directions for Alghero. If you have to refill do it just before leaving the SS131. There’s just one petrol station close to the airport and it might be closed.