Hiking trail Italy Sardinia

Italy

A five-days self-made trail between the Nuoro region and Orosei, Sardinia, Italy

To get right to the point: the Sardinians are not hikers. Nor do they seem interested in pleasing people who do like to walk. They get around by car. And when you see hikers, poverty stricken people so to speak, you honk your horn. To convert them? Stop walking!

Getting there: a low-cost airline flight from Cologne (Germany) to Cagliari (you also can fly to Olbia), the afternoon-bus from Cagliari-airport to Nuoro (2 hours) and with luck you can buy your walking maps before closing time of the library. You will need a map, don’t do it without good maps!
Accommodation: Hotels in the bigger cities and plenty of so called agriturismo’s at the countryside: eat, drink and sleep at the farmhouse.
Maps: we bought the Carta Topografica d’Italia, scale 1:50.000 by IGM. Sometimes outdated, but useful. You will not find many marked routes on the island (where we walked), so use a map! Forget about buying a hiking map in a bookstore, for example.

Easter 2007: a five-day trail. In April nature is green and temperatures tolerable. In summer temperatures can be very high ( 40° or more), too hot to walk. Through mountain-scenery, valleys and along a part of the magnificent east-coast. Using foot-paths, little roads, green roads, cart-ruts, no-roads and asphalt roads. To admire the towering mountain peaks, the bizarre cliff formations, the caves, the unspoiled nature. Walking at Sardinia is “ do it yourself”, a surprise, fences, no trespassing, private property, good-luck! ( “a headache file”).Quite a difference with another island: Corsica. See else on this site.

Distances between the stages: due to the mediocre quality of the maps, the lack of information and the frequent loss of the trail, the estimates are given below.

Day 1: Nuoro - Oliena........................................................14 km
Day 2: Oliena - Dorgali ( laatste kilometers per bus).....15 km (lopend)
Day 3: Dorgali - Grotta del Bue Marino v.v.*...................22 km
Day 4: Dorgali - Galtelli.......................................................16 km
Day 5: Galtelli - Orosei........................................................??
And a coastal-walk near San Teodoro. But it may happen that you end up at the fences of a villa and its backyard.......no passage....

From Olbia-airport to Cologne.

* From Cala Gonone there is a walking route to Cala di Luna with permanently beautiful Mediterranean panoramas and opportunities to visit various caves. A real coastal walk is unfortunately not possible. As said, after a few kilometers: end of route! Or, in high season, you have to pay for the beach. Or for €60,-- with a boat a bit further away and walk back again. Probably very nice, but that has nothing more to do with walking. It does have to do with earning a lot of money. Make a footpath!!

On trail: Seas of flowers, cactus, cork-oaks. The remains of the former inhabitants, the Nuraghe,  a people that disappeared at the time of rise of the Roman Empire. Their buildings could compete with the castles from the Middle Ages.
The Domus de Janas, between Dolgali and Galteti, the S.Pietro at Galteti. The Porceddu, sucking pigs roasted at the open fire, with Easter. 
And all the time those magnificent mountain and sea views, the romantic coast, the rough and unspoiled nature. So, our advice to the tourist industry at Sardinia: mark the paths between all those splendid situated agriturismo’s. And create path's where necessary. And the walkers and hikers will come in, from all of the world.
Like the French neighbors do: Corsica.

Read more about this tour on Sardinia: "quit and adventure".