8-Day Sardinia Unveiled: Nuragic Mysteries & Coastal Splendors

Day 1: Arrive Cagliari

Arrive Cagliari. Afternoon: Castello district walk — Elephant Tower, Cathedral, Royal Palace, Bastion of Saint Remy with Gulf of Angels views. Welcome dinner. Overnight Cagliari (4★).

Day 2: Nora & Pula — Phoenician Sardinia

Morning: drive to Nora Archaeological Park — Sardinia’s oldest city, founded by the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC. Walk the Roman mosaic floors (beautifully preserved), the theatre, the baths, and the Temple of Tanit (the Carthaginian mother goddess). The site sits on a peninsula with the sea on three sides. Afternoon: Pula’s beach and the 16th-century Spanish watchtower. Overnight Iglesias area.

Day 3: Mont’e Prama Giants & Tharros

The archaeological heart of the tour. Morning: Cabras Museum to see the Giants of Mont’e Prama — 2-meter-tall Nuragic stone statues of warriors, archers, and boxers from 900 BC, the oldest large-scale statuary in the Mediterranean after Egypt’s. Their discovery in 1974 rewrote Sardinian archaeology — these are the only monumental Nuragic sculptures ever found. Afternoon: Santa Cristina Sacred Well — a Nuragic temple from 1000 BC built with precisely cut basalt blocks. The well is aligned so that the full moon illuminates the water at its base every 18.6 years (the lunar standstill). The stonework precision rivals the Egyptians. Continue to Tharros for sunset. Overnight Oristano.

Day 4: Nuraghe & Wine Country

Morning: Nuraghe Losa, one of Sardinia’s best-preserved nuraghe towers — a 3,500-year-old three-story stone fortress with a corbelled dome (tholos) and internal staircases. Afternoon: wine tasting in the Campidano region — Cannonau (Sardinia’s signature red, genetically identical to Spain’s Garnacha/Grenache) and Vermentino di Sardegna. Overnight Alghero.

Day 5: Alghero & Capo Caccia

Full day: Alghero’s Catalan quarter (Cathedral, Palazzo d’Albis, sea walls), Capo Caccia, Neptune’s Grotto. Malvasia di Bosa wine tasting (passito dessert wine from Sardinia’s west coast). Overnight Alghero.

Day 6: Gallura & Cork Country

Morning: Castelsardo — the medieval Doria castle town. Afternoon: Calangianus, the “Cork Capital” — Sardinia produces 80% of Italy’s cork. Visit a cork museum and a workshop where oak bark is transformed into wine stoppers and fashion items. Continue to Olbia. Overnight Olbia area.

Day 7: Costa Smeralda — Porto Cervo & Beaches

Full day: Costa Smeralda. Porto Cervo, Capriccioli, Spiaggia del Principe. Farewell dinner with Vermentino di Gallura DOCG — Sardinia’s only DOCG wine, from the granite soils of Gallura. Overnight Olbia.

Day 8: Departure

Transfer to Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport.

What’s Included

• Air-conditioned vehicle
• Driver
• Fuel Cost, Parking Fee, Toll Fee
• Accommodation in selected hotels
• Daily breakfast

What’s Not Included

• Entrance fees to attractions
• Tour Guide
• Meal (lunch and dinner)
• International flights
• Travel insurance
• Personal expenses