Sardinia has the best of Italy. These are its loveliest hotels

Times

2 days ago

Beaches better than the sands of Campania, archaeological heritage to match Sicily, mountain hikes on a par with the Dolomites and food as inventive as any of its fellow Italian regions . . . Sardinia is truly the best of the bel paese.
Most visitors, of course, come to the Med's second largest island for its beaches. Who could blame them? The coastline here is dreamy and each stretch is a world of its own. The north is the most famous, from the Costa Smeralda — the jet-set resort established by the Aga Khan, where pristine coves have views of the idyllic Maddalena archipelago — on the east side to Stintino on the west, where fabled sandy beaches melt into the sea. Then there's the south, known for family-friendly resorts along the horseshoe-shaped stretch from Pula to the capital, Cagliari, and down again to Villasimius at the southeastern tip.
But that's not all. Stretching down Sardinia's wild eastern flank is a dramatic seaboard of precipitous cliffs and coves best accessed by boat (day trips leave from surrounding towns such as Cala Gonone), while down the western side, along heart-in-mouth rollercoaster roads, lie spectacular shores with thick desertlike sands and vast dunes. Tourism is relatively new here — until the Nineties the coast below Oristano was best known for its mines. Today it's called the Costa Verde, with fascinating industrial heritage to remind you of its roots.
And that's the joy of Sardinia: discreet reminders of its past are everywhere. In seaside Alghero the streets are bilingual in Italian and Catalan, remembering centuries of Aragonese rule. Across the island stand 7,000 nuraghi: looming prehistoric edifices that were probably used as watchtowers. There are megalithic tombs, temples and sculptures. There are Punic citadels, Roman towns and Christian catacombs. And since most people stick to the beach, they're often all yours.
One piece of advice: don't ignore the mountainous inland. This is where you'll find the real Sardinia — where the cannonau vines and clean air keep centenarians healthy, where you can hike from mountain to megalith, and where old traditions endure (the pagan-rooted carnival celebrations are the trip of a lifetime). Drag yourself off the beach and you'll find the best of Italy here.
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It's a match made in heaven: Italy's ritziest coastline and one of the world's most luxurious hotel brands. Tucked into a fold of the Porto Cervo coastline (perhaps the very poshest bit of the Costa Smeralda), the 1965-built Romazzino has a celebrated past — Princess Margaret, Grace Kelly and half the Beatles have passed through its doors — but was brought up to date with an overhaul in 2024. Not that it's had a complete facelift; there's still a retro feel to the rooms, with colourful tiles and unadorned wood furniture. Four yawning hectares of gardens distract from the sea views, interiors match the outside with granite and wood materials, and sinuous curves provide privacy away from your fellow guests. Don't miss the simple grill-on-the-sand restaurant, Éntu e Mari.Details B&B doubles from £1,068. Fly to Olbia
The Costa Smeralda doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. Just like its glitzier cousins, this four-star sits right on the waterfront with the kind of vistas for which other Costa Smeralda hotels charge thousands. The difference? Fewer creature comforts. There's no pool, for starters, but then you don't exactly need one — the beach is right outside and the clear water is perfect for swimming and snorkelling. All 100 rooms are beach-perfect: bright, summery spaces with sea-blue tiled floors, white furniture and floor-to-ceiling windows — even in the entry-level options (though it's well worth splurging for a sea view). The sandy Cala Battistoni beach is a five-minute walk away.Details Seven nights' B&B from £789pp, including flights and car hire (justsardinia.co.uk)
This discreet four-star keeps things tranquil on the chichi Costa Smeralda. Instead of a prime beachfront location, it's set a little back with the forested Monti Corru mountain rearing up behind. That said, you still get views of the sea and the Maddalena archipelago from just about everywhere. There's an Instagrammable feel to the rooms — all cork-panelled walls, earthy drapes and pops of sea and sun in the colourful fabrics — and even the entry-level contenders have their own independent entrance, ramping up the intimacy. You'll also find a strong emphasis on wellness, from yoga in the garden to sound baths.Details Three nights' B&B from £978pp, including flights and car hire or transfers (kirkerholidays.com)
The clue's in the nature-centric name. This 75-room hotel sprawls in 40 acres of landscaped grounds, including those pines, and opens out on to no fewer than four secluded coves in front of the Maddalena archipelago. If you prefer nurture, there are two pools, an 800 sq m spa, tennis, padel and basketball courts, plus water sports galore. Rooms are categorised according to their location: 'Gardens' are immersed in greenery, 'Lagunas' cluster around a laid-back pool of the same name, and 'Sea Views' do exactly what they say on the tin. As night falls, the focus moves inwards — there's even a nightclub, with DJs and live music taking turns.Details Room-only doubles from £294. Fly to Olbia
You're not far from the glittering waters of the Costa Smeralda, yet you also get a taste of the real, mountainous Sardinia at this hotel sculpted from an old stazzu (farmstead) and wedged among boulders. Between rocks and greenery, its entry-level rooms accentuate that wilderness is somehow more atmospheric than pricier categories with far-off sea views. In all cases you'll get rustic-chic style (hand-carved bed frames, rough-painted walls), a terrace and — for Pool Junior Suites and above — your own tiny pool. The Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Fuoco Sacro, creates dishes from the hotel farm's vegetables, cheese and even some meats, while the smallish communal pool overlooks the Gulf of Arzachena.Details B&B doubles from £391. Fly to Olbia
'Nest' is no exaggeration: this three-bedroom villa is perched in the undergrowth above the coast, slotted into a landscape of olives and pines. Your bird's-eye view means the Costa Smeralda twinkles in the distance as the house is enfolded in greenery. Those bright colours are all visible from the oversized windows in your living room and from the terrace and pool, which point towards the bay. With two king rooms and a twin, this is a particularly good bet for families with older kids. It's just over a mile's drive to the sandy, forest-backed Sciumara beach.Details Seven nights' self-catering for six from £3,046. Fly to Olbia
Shimmy west from the Costa Smeralda and you'll hit the far northwestern tip of Sardinia, a curled finger beckoning to Corsica as it stretches north. Jaw-droppingly beautiful, this area offers soft dunes, long beaches and quick hops to Asinara, the 'donkey island' just offshore, which isn't home to just any old donkeys, but indigenous white-coated ones. Don't worry about the 'club' in the name — this is a great little four-star containing just 48 rooms, all with balconies, in 10,000 sq m of grounds. The pool is filled with saltwater while the beach, facing Asinara, is private. Kids' play areas, tennis and beach-volleyball courts make it a good bet for families too. La Pelosa, possibly Sardinia's lushest beach, is just over a mile north.Details Five nights' B&B from £462pp, including flights (thomascook.com)
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A wild headland towards the northwest tip of the island isn't the glam Sardinia of holiday brochures. Instead it's a more remote and back-to-nature kind of place, and all the better for it. Inside a namesake protected area, the clifftop Villa Nurra is an old farmhouse converted into a four-bedroom family-friendly villa whose walled garden, fenced-off pool and bunk beds render it a good fit for families with younger kids. The decor is pleasantly rustic, typified by exposed stone walls, while the sea is visible beyond the garden and fields of cows and sheep.Details Seven nights' self-catering for nine from £2,855. Fly to Alghero
Sardinia produces some of Italy's best wines, and you'll be a short stagger upstairs from nightly samples at this vino-themed stay in the countryside near Alghero. A former farmhouse swaddled by 44 acres of vineyards and olive groves, it's now a six-room retreat for anyone aged 12 and over. Pair mornings by the pool with afternoons of tastings (try the home-grown vermentino), tours of those groves or a bike ride into town — Alghero is half an hour away. Rooms are simple but tasteful — think wooden floorboards, cheerfully tiled bathrooms and the odd wooden beam — while even the cheapest have sofa-filled balconies overlooking the garden.Details Seven nights' B&B from £1,199pp, including flights and car hire (sardinianplaces.co.uk)
Sea vistas needn't be expensive. Etched into a cliffside, the four-star Petraladda has views for days: of the multicoloured houses of neighbouring town Castelsardo, clinging to the cliff; of the small Pedraladda beach, immediately below; and of the sea ambling towards the Strait of Bonifacio and Corsica. Drink them all in from its rooftop pool, or from the floor beneath, where a restaurant juts out over the blue, or from your window. In each bedroom sunny yellows and sea blues complement the colours outside; splash out on a still affordable superior for some of those sea views.Details Seven nights' B&B from £594pp, including flights and transfers
Get the best of both worlds courtesy of this castlelike grande dame. You'll be right in the middle of Alghero, the delectable seafront town that's more Catalan than Italian thanks to its past rulers, yet also far from the crowds on your very own private peninsula. Italian royals used to love this escape, separated from the masses by two hectares of grounds. Today its 24 rooms still have that classical style with lashings of drapery, antiques galore and views over gardens or the sea. Flop by the saltwater pools or set up a lounger on one of the tongues of rock extending into the blue.Details B&B doubles from £223. Fly to Alghero
As the summer holidays drag on, well-heeled parents sigh and think of Forte Village. It's not just that the southern coast east of Cagliari is more family-friendly than the Costa Smeralda. This resort is also legendary for providing the kids with so much to do: bowling, ceramics classes, a waterpark, even a Barbie-themed area. Feeling competitive? Train them up at one of Forte's academies, where the great and good of the sporting world often shower a bit of stardust on the little blighters. Tennis, fencing, dance and boxing — they're all on offer. There's plenty for parents too, including the Acquaforte Thalasso and Spa, which specialises in seawater treatments and has circuits taking in six pools.Details Half-board doubles from £454. Fly to Cagliari
Here's your leafy retreat in Sardinia's capital: an elegant art nouveau mansion inside one of the poshest parts of the city, turned into a graceful 19-room hotel (having also once been a convent). Depending on the category, your room, designed by the owner, Lucina Cellino, might have an exposed-stone wall, an in-room hot tub or a soothing view over the back lawn. Whichever you pick, you'll enjoy this home-from-home. The staff are invariably delightful, the public areas are drenched in art and the garden sunloungers instil a holiday vibe whether you're on your first or last night. It's an easy drive to one of Italy's best archaeology museums in the Castello quarter.Details B&B doubles from £102. Fly to Cagliari
An hour's drive southwest of Cagliari, past the ancient Phoenician city of Nora, gets you to Chia, one of the southernmost points of Sardinia (next stop: Tunisia). This is a coastline of immense beauty and family-friendly calm-watered beaches, and the resort of Chia Laguna, overlooking a flamingo-filled lagoon, makes the most of it. One of three hotels here, its family-centric Conrad has a kids' club hosting youngsters up to 17 years old, a children's pool and activities for teens including riding, tennis, snorkelling and, new for 2025, a football academy. Modern rooms keep the focus on the outside through the huge windows or patio doors. Choose either the hotel's Laguna (closer to the sea; better for couples) or Oasis (family-friendly; immersed in gardens) area.Details B&B doubles from £210. Fly to Cagliari
On Sardinia's southeastern tip, astride the deliciously named Capo Carbonara, is peaceful Villasimius, where white-sand beaches are two-a-penny. The Stella Maris sits on one of its own so, while there's an on-site pool, you'd be mad not to swap it for the loungers and parasols set up on the sand. A four-star, it's secluded from other hotels and set in a pine forest that backs on to the shore. They aren't afraid of colour here, with pastel greens, soft yellows and emerald pine tones on the walls. All 49 rooms also have balconies, affording inland views that are just as soothing as those of the sea.Details Five nights' half-board from £1,302pp, including flights and transfers (citalia.com)
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'Retreat' is no exaggeration for this eight-bedroom villa, tucked away in the forested hills behind Sardinia's less-visited southwest coast. Perched on an eyrie-like hillock from which you can survey the landscape as it unfurls to the sea, it has everything you need: proper lawns, enough loungers for everyone around the 15m pool and even a spit roast with the barbecue so you can have a go at cooking Sardinia's famous porceddu (suckling pig). Oh, and there's a vast shaded table area for everyone to enjoy it in. Inside, it's a modern affair with contemporary art and film posters on the walls, and windows that perfectly frame the wild outdoors. Grab a bike from downstairs — the sprawling, sandy Portixeddu beach, popular with surfers and one of the area's largest, is an easy ride away.Details Seven nights' self-catering for 16 from £3,448. Fly to Cagliari
Here's a case of Robinson Crusoe meets five-star luxury. It took three years to refurbish what used to be an old mining warehouse (and, later, a simple hotel) on the beach into today's top-notch resort, and plenty of wildness remains. For starters, they didn't redo the unpaved road that leads here, crossing some of Europe's highest dunes on its way, and the hotel really does sit right on the sand. Despite such a spectacular location, it's not all about what lies outside the deceptively simple rooms, where sand-coloured walls give way to sandy patios. There's an art collection too, including pieces designed for the hotel.Details B&B doubles from £265. Fly to Cagliari
If it was good enough for the ancients, it's good enough for us. Sardinia's Nuragic people were the first to settle the Sinis peninsula, on the west coast near what is now the city of Oristano. Later, the Phoenicians turned it into a trading port, and they were followed by the Carthaginians, Romans and Spanish. You can see the remains of these civilisations at Tharros, an archaeological site racked along the cliff, and stay nearby in the small town of Cabras, where this four-star 'scattered hotel' (an Italian speciality) is spread across several buildings around town. The 1950s Laguna building has six classic-looking rooms overlooking the pretty Cabras lagoon, with a birdwatching terrace on the roof. Note that as this is an albergo diffuso, the buildings aren't always manned, giving the vibe of a more independent stay.Details B&B doubles from £121. Fly to Cagliari
It takes patience to reach the east coast of Sardinia — this is the wildest side of the island, where roads peter out into tracks and sheer cliffs dive into the sea — but if you make the trek, you're rewarded with pebbly coves that have nary another person on them. This sweet 40-room four-star manages the best of both worlds: it's plum in Cala Gonone town itself, yet steeped in clifftop greenery and just 300m from the pebbly Palmasera beach. Pared-back rooms emphasise the greens and blues outside. There's a pool, a tennis court, a five-a-side football pitch and a kids' playground in the grounds, while the restaurant enables full-board stays if you just want to flop.Details Seven nights' half-board from £1,004pp, including flights and car hire (sardinianplaces.co.uk)
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Round up the family because this nine-room villa is the stuff of dreams — and it becomes attainable if you can fill it up. On the beach at Capo Coda Cavallo, or Cape Horsetail, which flicks upwards into the Tyrrhenian Sea about 12 miles southwest of Olbia, it has direct access to two beaches, as well as its own infinity pool beside the Mediterranean scrub. Wallowing in an acre of coastal gardens, it has room for loungers on the lawn, a pine-shaded dining area and even a patio cantilevered over the beach. Inside lie slick, brightly painted rooms, as well as a cottage suite in the garden, with floor-to-ceiling windows always pointing you outside. Rates include a housekeeper, butler and cook, but not food.Details Seven nights' self-catering for 17 from £38,299 (scottwillams.co.uk). Fly to Olbia
If you prefer the wild east of Sardinia but don't want to scrimp on comforts or ease, pick this: a two-bedroom apartment overlooking a sandy beach outside Arbatax, one of the east coast's larger (though still small) resorts. This is Capo Bellavista, or Cape of Good View, and that's no exaggeration. Facing towards mainland Italy, it's a place of dazzling dawns and a jumping-off point for the beaches and coves along this stretch. Though the flat is compact — a double room, a twin and a sofa bed, all sharing one bathroom — it offers sweeping views of the bay from a large terrace.Details Seven nights' self-catering for six from £1,967. Fly to Olbia
This dubs itself an 'experience hotel' and that's spot-on. In the island's wild entroterra, or interior, Su Gologone offers activities such as trekking through canyons and caves, taking a 4×4 up the mountainside or dropping in on Europe's largest karst sinkhole. Back at base you can learn embroidery, make ceramics, stargaze or listen to traditional tenores singers every Friday night. The hotel is a repository of Sardinian art — its owner, Giovanna Palimodde, has collected about 900 works — while the bedrooms, always stylish, range from rustic doubles full of traditional Sardinian artisanship to the outrageously romantic Wild Suite, which is wholly alfresco.Details B&B doubles from £244. Fly to Olbia
Of all 7,000 nuraghi in Sardinia, only one enjoys Unesco world heritage status: the formidable Su Nuraxi di Barumini, a vast defensive complex spread along a plain in central southern Sardinia. Fifteen minutes' drive east is the village of Gergei and this luxury four-room B&B, lovingly converted from a 19th-century farmhouse (one room's in a stable-like building) into an upmarket take on how its owner Samuel Lai's ancestors would have lived. That means low lighting, exposed-stone walls, headboards made from traditional orbace wool, artisanal carpets and pick-your-own eggs for breakfast. For the full slow tourism experience, take a ricotta-making class with Lai — he's a cheesemaker by trade.Details B&B doubles from £103 (welcomebeyond.com). Fly to Cagliari
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In the highlands behind the Costa Smeralda, Cascioni manages to combine five-star luxury with eco-friendly policies encompassing renewable energy, electric house cars, re-used water and organic farming, for starters. Within an 18-hectare estate overlooking the Padula Saloni nature reserve and lagoon, this is a boho kind of luxury: the bedrooms, all of which feature understated whitewashed walls and wooden bed frames, get their own shaded patios, ringed by olive and mastic trees. Guests can collect their own veg and eggs, then have them cooked to order; spa treatments use products based on Sardinian herbs and local honey. The pool suites have their own pint-sized pools surrounded by greenery.Details Seven nights' B&B from £1,799pp, including flights and car hire (justsardinia.co.uk)
You're only half an hour away from the Costa Smeralda beaches, but up here in the mountainous highlands behind the coast you're in another world. Not just the world of rolling hills and boulder-strewn peaks but also a liminal world between the living and the dead. Around Luogosanto ('sacred place') is a land of prehistoric stone circles, nuraghe and tombe dei giganti (megalithic burial sites), as well as gargantuan olive trees that are more than 1,000 years old. Gallicantu takes those eternal peace vibes and adds olive groves, beehives, pick-your-own vegetable patches and a cherry orchard. The simple whitewashed rooms overlook granite boulders, the pool is surrounded by olive and myrtle trees, and a cave-turned-wine cave is the ideal aperitivo spot.Details B&B doubles from £182. Fly to Olbia