Alghero, Sardinia: what to see, festivals and where to stay

Alghero is the most Catalan town in Italy: a fortified village on the sea, with honey-coloured bastions, towers, cobbled lanes and street signs written in two languages, Italian and Algherese, a variety of Catalan spoken here for almost seven centuries. They call it Barceloneta, little Barcelona, and walking along the bastions at sunset, with the outline of Capo Caccia on the water, you understand why it is one of Sardinia's best-loved destinations. Around the town stretches the Coral Riviera, with white-sand beaches, cliffs dropping into the sea and some of the most spectacular sea caves in the Mediterranean.

A Catalan town

The area around Alghero was inhabited in prehistory, as the Anghelu Ruju necropolis and the Palmavera nuraghe show, but the town was born in the Middle Ages as a fortified village of the Genoese Doria family in the early 12th century. In 1353-1354 King Peter IV of Aragon took it after a long siege, expelled its Sardinian and Ligurian inhabitants and repopulated it with settlers from Catalonia, the Balearics and Valencia. From then on Alghero remained a Catalan island in Sardinian land: its language, customs, architecture and even its cuisine come from there.

For centuries it was a stronghold of the Crown of Aragon and then of Spain, with its walls, towers and harbour. In 1541 Emperor Charles V stayed here and, tradition says, looked out from a balcony in the old town and told the people of Alghero: you are all knights. In the 19th century part of the walls was torn down and the town grew beyond the old centre; since the 20th century tourism has made it one of the island's busiest resorts.

The old town and the bastions

The old town is enclosed on three sides by the sea and protected by bastions that you can walk along their entire length: the Cristoforo Colombo bastion, the Marco Polo bastion facing Capo Caccia, the Maddalena bastion above the harbour. Along the walls rise the towers: the Porta a Terra tower, the old landward entrance to the town, the tower of San Giovanni, the Sulis tower dominating the square of the same name and the seafront, the Maddalena tower and the tower of San Giacomo.

Inside the walls, narrow cobbled streets open onto small squares and Gothic-Catalan palaces. The cathedral of Santa Maria, begun in the 16th century, has a fine octagonal Gothic-Catalan bell tower that can be visited. The church of San Francesco, from the 14th and 15th centuries, holds a quiet cloister with sandstone and trachyte columns. The church of San Michele can be recognised from afar by its dome covered in yellow, green and blue majolica tiles, shining on the town's skyline. In Piazza Civica, the town's drawing room, stands the Palazzo d'Albis, where Charles V stayed.

Coral

Alghero is the capital of Mediterranean red coral. For centuries coral fishermen, many of them from Torre del Greco and Liguria, harvested from the seabed off Capo Caccia a deep-coloured coral considered among the finest in the world. In the old town's workshops you can still see master goldsmiths working it, and the Coral Museum tells the story from fishing to craftsmanship. The coast from Alghero to Bosa is called the Coral Riviera.

Capo Caccia and Neptune's Grotto

North-west of the town lies the bay of Porto Conte, closed by the cliffs of Capo Caccia, a white limestone headland more than one hundred and sixty metres above the sea. The Porto Conte regional nature park includes woods, beaches and the Le Prigionette forest, home to white donkeys, Giara ponies and fallow deer.

The most famous spot is Neptune's Grotto, a sea cave opening at the foot of the cliff. You can reach it by boat from Alghero harbour, or on foot down the Escala del Cabirol, the roe deer's stairway: more than six hundred steps cut into the rock, with dizzying views over the sea. Inside are a saltwater lake and halls full of stalactites and stalagmites. Nearby, the Grotta Verde and the Grotta dei Ricami can be visited with specialist guides or by diving.

Prehistory

Alghero's territory is among the richest in Sardinia for prehistoric monuments. The Anghelu Ruju necropolis, a few kilometres from town, includes dozens of rock-cut tombs carved into sandstone between the Neolithic and Copper Age, some decorated with bulls' heads in relief. The Palmavera nuraghe, on the road to Porto Conte, is a complex with two towers, an outer wall and a village of huts, including the great meeting hut with a circular bench. In the same area you can visit the Santu Pedru necropolis and the nuragic village of Sant'Imbenia overlooking the bay.

Beaches

Alghero's beaches are among the most accessible on the island. In town, the Lido di San Giovanni and Maria Pia beach, long and backed by pine woods, can be reached on foot or by bike. Towards Fertilia are Le Bombarde, one of the most popular beaches, with crystal-clear water, and Il Lazzaretto, a series of coves among the rocks. In the bay of Porto Conte are Mugoni, with white sand and shallow water ideal for children, and the coves of Cala Dragunara. Further north, the wild, windswept beach of Porto Ferro is a surfers' favourite. To the south, the coast road to Bosa runs high above the sea, among cliffs and coves, and is one of the most beautiful scenic roads in Italy.

Fertilia

A few kilometres north of Alghero lies Fertilia, a hamlet founded in the 1930s during the reclamation of the Nurra, with rationalist architecture and a seafront promenade. After the Second World War many exiles from Istria and Dalmatia settled here, and they still make it a distinctive community. Alghero-Fertilia airport is here.

Festivals

Alghero lives the Setmana Santa, Holy Week in the Catalan tradition, with great intensity, with the Good Friday processions and the Desclavament, the deposition of Christ from the cross in the cathedral. At New Year the town holds Cap d'Any, a big party in the square with concerts and fireworks over the sea. In summer there are food festivals and concerts, and at the end of winter the Bogamarì festival celebrates sea urchins, one of the town's culinary passions.

Food

Alghero's cooking blends Sardinia and Catalonia. The signature dish is lobster Catalan style, served with tomato, onion and a drizzle of oil. Then there are Algherese paella, fish soups, burrida, stuffed squid, raw sea urchins with bread and the many fish dishes of the harbour restaurants. The surrounding countryside produces excellent wines, especially the Vermentino and Cannonau of the large Nurra wineries, and a fine extra virgin olive oil. Among the sweets, menjar blanc and crespelle.

Getting there and tips

Alghero-Fertilia airport, about ten kilometres from town, has national and international flights, especially low-cost. The port of Porto Torres, some forty kilometres away, receives ferries from Genoa, Barcelona and other cities. In town you get around on foot and by bike; there is a summer bus service to Capo Caccia and the farther beaches, but a car remains the most convenient choice. Not to be missed nearby: Sassari, Stintino with La Pelosa, Bosa along the coast road and the wineries of Olmedo and the Nurra. Alghero is lively all year round, but spring and September are the best times to enjoy it, with the sea still warm and the old town less crowded.