North-west Sardinia, Italy All photos by Hetty
We stayed 5 nights in SASSARI, 14th to 18th September 2019, in the historic centre, but near the bus and train stations and a large supermarket.
We spent our first afternoon exploring the town and finding the bus station and ticket office
The Fountain of the Rosello, built 1603-6 over an ancient spring, symbolises the four seasons (corner statues) and 12 months (mouths)
San Gavino on top of the fountain
St Mary of Bethlehem – We passed this church with its huge dome on the way to the buses
We explored more of Sassari on our last evening
The cathedral
There are some grand buildings in Sassari
Palazzo Ducale
This one has a shop called Posh
Piazza Castello
Piazza d’Italia
Statue of Victor Emanuel II – King of Sardinia then of Italy
Palazzo Giordano
The Public Garden in Sassari
*********************************************************************************
Porto Torres – a Roman town 15th September 2019 My interactive map of Porto Torres
We caught the bus from Sassari (9.30) to Porto Torres (10.00)
This bridge was built by the Romans and was in use until the 1980s
The tarmac was just above the Roman road
The archaeology park covers a large area where you can see remains of the Roman city. (The museum was closed for refurbishment when we were there)
Roman baths
Orpheus
We watched these kittens chasing each others’ tails
The other side of the railway line are more Roman buildings
A sailing ship contrasts with the ferry
The Aragonese Tower 1326, built by the Spanish
The marina
The tiny church of Balai on a rocky shelf above the sea
Beach of Balai
In the town centre is the Basilica di San Gavino, the largest and oldest Romanesque church on the island, built between 1030 and 1080
They reused Roman capitals on the columns, so they are all different
In the 17th-century they made a crypt under the Basilica
We saw lots of palm trees all over Sardinia
The bus back to Sassari was at 4.10pm
*********************************************************************************
Alghero – Catalan town 15th September 2019
16th and 17th September 2019
We went to Alghero twice (on the 8.15 bus – 45 minute journey).
The first time we went by boat, across the bay to Neptune’s Cave and then later looked around Alghero
The second time we took the hop-on-hop-off bus to the cliffs above Neptune’s Cave, calling at Palmavera on the way, and walking from the museum to Cala Barca on the way back.
The historic mediaeval centre of Alghero, built by the Spanish, has massive sea-walls.
Views from the boat
Neptune’s Cave
There is a lake in the cave
We were pleased that we took the boat and didn’t go down and up the 654 steps on the Goat’s Staircase – it was 30 degrees! Lots of people did though
On the boat back to Alghero
On the left is the island we will see tomorrow
Back in Alghero
Piazza Civica
Cathedral entrance
Lovely views from the sea walls – you can walk on top all the way round
They have several old war machines
St Michael’s church
The second visit to Alghero:
Just outside the historic centre
View across the bay from the hop-on-hop-off bus (18 Euro each)
Palmavera is an ancient Nuragic village – 1500 to 600 BC
We spent an hour here, then got back on the bus
This is a plan of the village
The Bronze Age people left a model of the tower
Looking up inside the tower
We were surprised how much remains from the Bronze Age
Next stop was on the cliffs at Capo Caccia, above Neptune Cave
Yes it was a good idea to take the boat to the cave instead of taking the Goat’s Staircase
There wasn’t anywhere to walk, so we took the bus back to the museum of the Parco Naturale Regionale di Porto Conte and asked where we could walk. They gave us the gate-code so that we could walk through the forest to the other side of the peninsula.
It was a flat walk starting at sea-level, so we were surprised when we suddenly reached the coast at Cala Barca and found ourselves on top of the cliffs, with another stunning view
Back by the museum (the whole area used to be a penal colony)
Back in Alghero we had another wander while waiting for the 18.35 bus
*********************************************************************************
Castelsardo 18th September 2019, our last day.
This citadel is perched on a rocky promontory and was originally a Genoese city in the 12th century, but was taken over by the Spanish in the 14th century.
View of Castelsardo from the bus (10am from Sassari, an hour’s journey)
Piazza del Novecentenario
Steps up to the castle
In the castle
Battering ram, with a ram’s head!
In the castle is a museum of basket weaving
Panoramic view from the top of the castle – the new town and harbour
Church – Santa Maria delle Grazie
The old town faces the sea and is a maze of narrow alleys
and steps
The bus ride back to Sassari (15.10) was interesting as we passed several towns/villages on cliffs
19th September 2019
Our superb holiday came to an end and we had to go to the railway station in Sassari for the 10.23 train to Olbia
In Olbia (12.02) we caught the 12.37 bus to the airport, for the flight home to Bristol at 14.25
We were pleased that we were able to visit some of the ‘best’ places in Sardinia, all by public transport:
Emerald Coast, Cagliari, Nora, Alghero, Neptune’s Cave, Castelsardo
but other places are great as well and we had such a varied time (and it was sunny the whole time! Hot too)
Back to introduction to Sardinia