Nowhere else in the world has anything like the nuraghi. Between the 17th and 9th centuries BC, when much of Europe still lived in huts, the Sardinians built thousands of dry-stone towers up to twenty metres high, with domed chambers stacked one on top of another and staircases built into the thickness of the walls. More than seven thousand survive, scattered across every corner of the island, along with sacred wells of perfect geometry, villages of round huts, monumental tombs and bronze figurines of warriors, priests and mothers.
This eight-day itinerary crosses Sardinia from south to north to see the finest and best-preserved sites: the village of Su Nuraxi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; the sacred well of Santa Cristina; the Losa nuraghe and Santu Antine, the "king's house"; the Giants of Mont'e Prama, the oldest statues in the western Mediterranean; the hidden village of Tiscali in the Supramonte; and the giants' tombs of Gallura. For the background, read our page on the nuraghi.
Itinerary at a glance
- Duration: 8 days, 7 nights
- Distance: about 650 km, from Cagliari to Olbia
- Transport: hire car (essential: many sites are out in the countryside)
- Best time: March to June and September to November; in summer the open-air sites are scorching in the middle of the day
- Indicative budget: about €900 per person sharing a double room, ferries and flights excluded
- Ideal for: archaeology lovers, families with older children, curious travellers
- Cagliari: the National Archaeological Museum
- Barumini: Su Nuraxi and the Giara
- Paulilatino: the sacred well of Santa Cristina
- Abbasanta: the Losa nuraghe
- Cabras: the Giants of Mont'e Prama
- Torralba: the Santu Antine nuraghe
- Monte d'Accoddi: the prehistoric altar
- Alghero: Palmavera and Anghelu Ruju
- Dorgali: Serra Orrios and Tiscali
- Arzachena: the giants' tombs
Who were the Nuragic people?
The Nuragic civilisation emerged in the Bronze Age, around 1700 BC, and lasted until the arrival of the Phoenicians and then the Carthaginians. It had no writing, so we know only what its stones and bronzes tell us. It was a society of shepherds, farmers, metalworkers and seafarers, in contact with the Mycenaeans, Cypriots and Etruscans. What the nuraghi were for is still debated: fortresses, chieftains' homes, storehouses, places of worship, probably a bit of everything, depending on the period. The great scholar of the nuraghi was the archaeologist Giovanni Lilliu, who in the 1950s excavated Su Nuraxi, in the village where he was born.
- 3200 BCThe altar of Monte d'Accoddi is built, before the nuraghi
- 1700 BCThe first corridor nuraghi appear
- 1600 BCTholos nuraghi, with a domed chamber, spread across the island
- 1200 BCSacred wells such as Santa Cristina are built
- 900 BCThe Giants of Mont'e Prama are carved, according to many scholars
- 800 BCThe Phoenicians found Nora, Tharros and Sulki
- 1949Giovanni Lilliu begins excavating Su Nuraxi
- 1997Su Nuraxi is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List
Day 1: Cagliari and the Archaeological Museum
Start in Cagliari, in the Cittadella dei Musei at the top of the Castello quarter. The National Archaeological Museum holds the largest collection of Nuragic bronzes: warriors with bows and shields, cloaked chieftains, offering-bearers, mothers holding their sons, little bronze boats. Some of the Giants of Mont'e Prama are also on display here. Allow at least two hours, then stroll along the bastions and head down to the Marina quarter for dinner.
Where to stay: in Cagliari.
Day 2: Su Nuraxi and the Giara
Drive into the Marmilla to Barumini (about an hour). Su Nuraxi is Sardinia's most famous Nuragic complex and its only UNESCO site: a central tower from the 17th century BC, surrounded by a four-towered bastion and a village of more than fifty huts. The guided visit, at fixed times, lasts about an hour and takes you inside the towers through narrow passages and steep stairs. The ticket also covers the Casa Zapata museum, where another nuraghe was found by chance beneath a noble mansion.
In the afternoon drive up to the Giara di Gesturi plateau, home to the small, dark wild horses of the Giara, among cork oaks and seasonal ponds called paulis. At sunset you often see them drinking.
Where to stay: in a Marmilla agriturismo or in Barumini.
Day 3: Santa Cristina and the Losa nuraghe
Head north-west to Paulilatino (about an hour). The sacred well of Santa Cristina is the most beautiful in Sardinia: a staircase of perfectly squared stones leads down to the water beneath a tholos dome open at the top. On certain nights the moonlight travels down the staircase to the water, and many scholars think the well was also designed as an observatory. Beside it is a Christian village with a little church and cumbessias, pilgrims' lodgings.
A few kilometres away, near Abbasanta, the Losa nuraghe is one of the most elegant: a central tower within a triangular bastion of carefully dressed basalt. In the afternoon continue to Oristano or Cabras.
Where to stay: in Oristano or Cabras, for two nights.
Day 4: the Giants of Mont'e Prama and the Sinis
In Cabras, the Giovanni Marongiu Civic Museum displays the Giants of Mont'e Prama: stone statues more than two metres tall depicting archers, warriors and boxers with double-ringed eyes. They were found in fragments by a farmer in 1974 and pieced together after decades of restoration; new excavations keep bringing more to light. Nearby are stone models of nuraghi, showing how the complete towers looked.
In the afternoon explore the Sinis peninsula, with the Punic and Roman city of Tharros by the sea and quartz-grain beaches such as Is Arutas. In the evening try mullet and Cabras bottarga. See also Oristano and the Sinis.
Day 5: Santu Antine and Monte d'Accoddi
Drive up into the Logudoro to Torralba (about an hour and a quarter), home to the Santu Antine nuraghe, known as Sa Domo 'e su Re, the king's house. Its central tower still stands over seventeen metres high, with three stacked chambers, surrounded by a bastion with interior corridors you walk through in the dark. The village museum has models of the complex. From the nuraghe you see the Valley of the Nuraghi, dotted with dozens of towers.
In the afternoon drive to Monte d'Accoddi, between Sassari and Porto Torres (about three quarters of an hour): a great terraced altar resembling a Mesopotamian ziggurat, built more than a thousand years before the nuraghi. It is unique in Europe. Then continue to Alghero.
Where to stay: in Alghero.
Day 6: Alghero, Palmavera and Anghelu Ruju
In the morning visit the Palmavera nuraghe, just outside Alghero, with its village and great meeting hut, which contains a stone model of a nuraghe. Then the Anghelu Ruju necropolis, one of the largest in Sardinia: thirty-eight domus de janas, "fairy houses", rock-cut tombs older than the nuraghi, with bull's horns carved on the walls. In the afternoon walk Alghero's ramparts and head out to Capo Caccia for sunset.
Day 7: Serra Orrios and Tiscali
Cross the island eastwards to Dorgali (about two and a half hours). The Serra Orrios village preserves the remains of some seventy huts and two megaron temples. In the afternoon, or better the next morning, climb to the village of Tiscali, hidden inside a collapsed sinkhole at the top of a Supramonte mountain: it can only be reached on foot, about two hours' walk from the Lanaitto valley on a stony path. It is one of the most atmospheric places in Sardinia. For a short stroll instead, visit the sacred spring of Sa Sedda 'e sos Carros near Oliena, with its ram's-head fountain.
Where to stay: in Dorgali, Cala Gonone or Oliena.
Day 8: the giants' tombs of Arzachena
Drive north into Gallura to Arzachena (about two hours). Here visit the Coddu Vecchiu giants' tomb, with its great arched stele more than four metres high, and the La Prisgiona nuraghe with its village. Giants' tombs were collective burials: long stone galleries fronted by a semicircular forecourt where rituals took place. Then drive to Olbia airport (about half an hour) or the port.
How much it costs
| Item | Indicative cost per person |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 7 nights sharing a double room (mid-range hotels and agriturismi) | €380-560 |
| Hire car for 8 days shared by two, plus fuel | €170-260 |
| Admissions (Cagliari museum, Su Nuraxi, Santa Cristina, Losa, Cabras, Santu Antine, Monte d'Accoddi, Palmavera, Anghelu Ruju, Serra Orrios, Tiscali, Coddu Vecchiu) | €80-110 |
| Meals | €240-320 |
| Total | about €870-1,250, flights and ferries excluded |
To save money: many sites sell combined tickets with the nearby village museum; agriturismi in the Marmilla and Logudoro are inexpensive and serve generous dinners of their own produce. See also car hire in Sardinia.
Practical information
- Opening hours: sites run by local cooperatives open almost every day but close before sunset in winter; always check times, especially at Su Nuraxi, where visits are in groups.
- Shoes: inside the nuraghi the stairs are narrow and steep, and the Tiscali path is stony: wear hiking shoes.
- Heat: in summer visit the sites early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and carry water.
- Guides: visits are almost always guided and included in the ticket; for Tiscali a local guide is a good idea.
- Children: crawling through the dark corridors into the towers is a hit with kids.
Variations
- The Sulcis: the Seruci nuraghe at Gonnesa and the village of Pani Loriga; see the Sulcis area.
- The Sarcidano: the Arrubiu nuraghe at Orroli, one of the largest, with five towers, near Orroli.
- The Barbagia: the Nuragic sanctuary of Romanzesu in the woods of Bitti.
What to read before you go
A good archaeological guide to Sardinia and a general history of the island; for the scholarly view, the works of Giovanni Lilliu. See also the history of Sardinia and our map of the island.
Final tips
- Pace: two sites a day are plenty; stop in the villages for lunch between one nuraghe and the next.
- Combinations: from Gallura you can link up with the islands itinerary; from Dorgali with the Supramonte itinerary.
- A tip: at Santa Cristina, walk slowly down the well staircase and look up at the opening in the dome: three thousand years ago someone calculated it so that the light would fall exactly there.
Where to stay along the way
Tours and activities in Sardinia
Offers from GetYourGuide. Some links are affiliate links: if you book we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.