In Sardinia, food tells the story of the island better than any book. Inland it is shepherds' cooking: sheep's cheeses, meat roasted on spits, wafer-thin bread that keeps for months and handmade pasta in different shapes in every village. On the coast it is the cooking of fishermen and lagoons, with bottarga, clams, tuna and grey mullet. And everywhere there is wine: Cannonau, the island's red; Vermentino, the white of Gallura; Oristano's Vernaccia; Carignano from the Sulcis; Bosa's Malvasia. Ogliastra, one of the places in the world where people live longest, is also one of the richest in food traditions.
This eight-day itinerary loops clockwise around Sardinia, from Cagliari back to Cagliari, through the main wine regions and the villages of its signature products: you visit wineries, olive mills and cheesemakers, taste bottarga where it is made, have lunch with shepherds and learn to make culurgiones. See also our pages on Sardinian food and Sardinian wines.
Itinerary at a glance
- Duration: 8 days, 7 nights
- Distance: about 900 km, Cagliari to Cagliari
- Transport: hire car (and the driver doesn't drink: take turns)
- Best time: September to November for the harvest and new produce; April to June for the weather
- Indicative budget: about €1,100 per person sharing a double room, flights and ferries excluded
- Ideal for: wine and food lovers, couples, groups of friends
- Cagliari: San Benedetto market
- Serdiana: the Parteolla wineries
- San Gavino Monreale: saffron
- Cabras: bottarga and Vernaccia
- Bosa: Malvasia
- Berchidda: Vermentino di Gallura
- Mamoiada: Barbagia Cannonau
- Oliena: Nepente and the shepherds
- Jerzu: the wine town and culurgiones
- Santadi: Carignano del Sulcis
Wine and food in Sardinia
Wine has been made in Sardinia for at least three thousand years: Nuragic excavations have turned up grape seeds and very old traces of winemaking. The most widespread grape, Cannonau, is a close relative of grenache and garnacha, and gives warm, fragrant reds. Vermentino di Gallura is the island's only DOCG, and in 1971 Vernaccia di Oristano became Sardinia's first DOC. At the table come carasau bread, wafer-thin and crisp, pecorino and fiore sardo, malloreddus and culurgiones, roast porceddu and, to finish, seadas with bitter strawberry-tree honey and a glass of mirto.
- 1200 BCThe Nuragic people grow vines and make wine
- 1971Vernaccia di Oristano becomes Sardinia's first DOC
- 1996Vermentino di Gallura becomes a DOCG
- 2004International studies identify Ogliastra as one of the world's longest-lived areas
- 2015Culurgiones d'Ogliastra receive PGI status
Day 1: Cagliari and San Benedetto market
In Cagliari start at the San Benedetto market, one of the largest covered markets in Italy: downstairs the fish, with clams, sea urchins, tuna and bottarga; upstairs meat, cheese, cured meats and sweets. Have breakfast with a pardula or bread with ricotta. In the afternoon drive to Serdiana (about half an hour), in the Parteolla, to visit one of the area's big wineries for a tasting of Nuragus, Monica and Cannonau. In the evening dine in the Marina quarter on fregola with clams and grilled fish. See where to eat in Cagliari.
Where to stay: in Cagliari.
Day 2: San Gavino saffron and the Medio Campidano
Drive up the Campidano plain to San Gavino Monreale (about three quarters of an hour), home of Zafferano di Sardegna DOP, one of Italy's most prized saffrons. In autumn, from late October to early November, the fields turn purple and the flowers are picked at dawn; at other times a farm explains the process. A few kilometres away, at Sardara, you can relax in the spa. In the afternoon continue to Oristano or Cabras. See Sardinian saffron.
Where to stay: in Cabras or Oristano, for two nights.
Day 3: Cabras, bottarga and Vernaccia
Cabras is the capital of grey mullet bottarga: the roe of mullet caught in the lagoon is salted and dried, then eaten in thin slices with olive oil or grated over spaghetti. Visit an artisan workshop and have lunch in a village trattoria on roast mullet. In the afternoon head into the countryside of Baratili San Pietro and Zeddiani, the land of Vernaccia di Oristano, an amber wine aged for years under a veil of yeast, like sherry, and drunk as an aperitif or with desserts. See bottarga and Oristano and the Sinis.
Day 4: Bosa and Malvasia
Drive up the coast to Bosa (about an hour and a quarter). On the hills around the town, terraced towards the sea, grows Malvasia di Bosa, a fragrant white, dry or sweet, made by a handful of small wineries. Stroll along the riverside among the colourful houses and old tanneries, and eat lobster Bosa-style, with onion and tomato. In the afternoon continue towards Gallura.
Where to stay: in inland Gallura, at Berchidda or Monti, for one night.
Day 5: Vermentino di Gallura
Inland Gallura, between Berchidda, Monti, Luras and Tempio, is the land of Vermentino di Gallura, which grows on granite soils and makes savoury, mineral whites. Berchidda has a Wine Museum on the history of Sardinian winemaking, and cooperative and private wineries offer tastings. In Calangianus and Tempio visit a cork factory, the area's other treasure. For lunch try zuppa gallurese, bread baked in broth with cheese. In the afternoon drive down into the Barbagia.
Where to stay: in Nuoro or Oliena, for two nights.
Day 6: Barbagia Cannonau
The Barbagia is the kingdom of Cannonau. In Mamoiada dozens of small wineries make elegant Cannonau from old high-altitude vines; in Oliena you drink Nepente, the name Gabriele D'Annunzio gave to the village's Cannonau. Visit two wineries and a dairy where fiore sardo and pecorino are made. For lunch, join a shepherds' lunch, a speciality of Orgosolo: porceddu, boiled mutton, cheeses, carasau bread and wine under the trees. See carasau bread and Sardinian cheeses.
Day 7: Jerzu and Ogliastra
Head down towards the Ogliastra coast to Jerzu (about an hour and a half), the "wine town", where the large cooperative winery makes a renowned Cannonau. Ogliastra is one of the world's "blue zones", where an unusually high number of people live past a hundred, and researchers link this partly to diet. In the afternoon join a culurgiones workshop: ravioli filled with potato, pecorino and mint, closed by hand with an ear-of-wheat seam. Stay on the coast, at Tortolì or Bari Sardo. See Ogliastra.
Where to stay: in Tortolì or Bari Sardo.
Day 8: Carignano del Sulcis and back to Cagliari
Drive back south and, if there is time, detour into the Sulcis to Santadi (about two and a half hours from Tortolì), the land of Carignano del Sulcis, grown on sandy soils, often still bush-trained, with ungrafted vines that survived phylloxera. The big Santadi winery offers tours and tastings. Then return to Cagliari (about an hour).
How much it costs
| Item | Indicative cost per person |
|---|---|
| Accommodation, 7 nights sharing a double room (mid-range hotels and agriturismi) | €420-600 |
| Hire car for 8 days shared by two, plus fuel | €190-270 |
| Tastings and visits (6-8 wineries, Wine Museum, dairy, culurgiones workshop, shepherds' lunch) | €180-260 |
| Meals | €260-340 |
| Total | about €1,050-1,470, flights and ferries excluded |
To save money: many cooperative wineries offer cheap or free tastings if you buy wine; in inland villages a full trattoria lunch costs €20-25. Buy bottarga, cheese and wine direct from producers. See car hire.
Practical information
- Driving and alcohol: Italy's limit is 0.5 g/l, zero for new drivers; the driver tastes and spits, or book a tour with a driver.
- Bookings: almost all wineries are visited by appointment; write or call a few days ahead.
- Shipping: many wineries ship across Italy and Europe; ask for bottarga and cheese to be vacuum-packed.
- Seasons: the harvest runs from September to October; saffron is picked from October to November; in autumn the Autunno in Barbagia festival sees villages open their houses and cellars.
Variations
- The Mandrolisai: the reds of Sorgono, Atzara and Samugheo, in the heart of the island; see Sorgono.
- The Terralba Campidano: Bovale and Monica, near the sea at Arborea; see Terralba.
- Olive oil: the mills of Seneghe in the Montiferru and of Gonnosfanadiga; see Seneghe.
What to read before you go
A good Sardinian cookbook and a guide to Sardinian wines; for Ogliastra's longevity, Dan Buettner's book on the Blue Zones. See also our recipes for first courses and main courses.
Final tips
- Pace: no more than two wineries a day, with a long lunch in between.
- Combinations: from the Barbagia you can link up with the carnival and Supramonte itineraries; from the Sulcis with the mining itinerary.
- A tip: at the shepherds' lunch, let them pour your wine and cut your cheese: it is a ritual of hospitality, and refusing would be rude.
Where to stay
Tours and activities in Sardinia
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