Sardinia trekking holiday, Italy
| country: | Italy |
| location: | Sardinia |
| trip type: | Wilderness trekking holidays |
| departures: | 2008: 18 Oct |
| price: | From £620 (8 days) excluding flights. Price includes accommodation, meals, equipment. |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Sardinia is the second largest Mediterranean island, stunningly beautiful and unspoilt and an ideal place to enjoy some wilderness rambling, both on inland limestone mountains as well as along the rugged coast.
The area we have chosen for this week of trekking is in the Supramonte di Oliena and Dorgali, to the east, boasting excellent deep gorges, good solid rock, wilderness trails, coastal paths in a surrounding of emerald blue seas and natural unspoilt beauty. In the mountain villages the communities are extremely traditional, many still own herds of sheep and make their own cheese, il Pecorino Sardo. Widowed woman wear traditional black dresses and during festivity time, many people still dress their traditional costume. Amongst local’s crafts, locals still make hand made leather goods and filigree jewellery.
Each day, using small paths and goat trails we explore the marvels of this limestone massif, reaching mountain ridges to enjoy the stunning views, spot the rare moufflon mountain goats and rare birds of pray, explore the many hidden archaeological sites. Highlights of this week are trekking to the highest point in Sardinia, Punta La Marmora (1983mt), exploring the deep gorge of Gorroppu, and discovering the hidden gems on the wild east coast.
Accommodation for the week is in two locations, to make the most of the trekking regions. Starting in a traditional "agriturismo", here Sardinian hospitality is at it's best, where evening meals are prepared using local home grown ingredients with traditional recipes. Being a wine producing region, the meal cannot be complete without tasting the local variety.
The area we have chosen for this week of trekking is in the Supramonte di Oliena and Dorgali, to the east, boasting excellent deep gorges, good solid rock, wilderness trails, coastal paths in a surrounding of emerald blue seas and natural unspoilt beauty. In the mountain villages the communities are extremely traditional, many still own herds of sheep and make their own cheese, il Pecorino Sardo. Widowed woman wear traditional black dresses and during festivity time, many people still dress their traditional costume. Amongst local’s crafts, locals still make hand made leather goods and filigree jewellery.
Each day, using small paths and goat trails we explore the marvels of this limestone massif, reaching mountain ridges to enjoy the stunning views, spot the rare moufflon mountain goats and rare birds of pray, explore the many hidden archaeological sites. Highlights of this week are trekking to the highest point in Sardinia, Punta La Marmora (1983mt), exploring the deep gorge of Gorroppu, and discovering the hidden gems on the wild east coast.
Accommodation for the week is in two locations, to make the most of the trekking regions. Starting in a traditional "agriturismo", here Sardinian hospitality is at it's best, where evening meals are prepared using local home grown ingredients with traditional recipes. Being a wine producing region, the meal cannot be complete without tasting the local variety.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive in Alghero/Olbia and transfer to Oliena. Settle onto the Agriturismo, dinner and meet your guides for a briefing. |
| Day 2: | After breakfast we transfer (30 min) to Valle del Lanaittu and the start to our trek. It is a true historical trail, taking us to an abandoned Bronze age village of Tiscali. The surrounding landscape is truly wild, with barren lunar limestone rocks and pinnacles, with the occasional rare centenary juniper trees that testify the harshness of this territory. Agriturismo and dinner. |
| Day 3: | After another hearty breakfast, we transfer to Genna SiIiana Pass (40min) at 1200mt. From here our trek begins, taking us down along a well marked trail and through thick woodland, finally reaching the deepest and most spectacular gorge in Sardegna, Gorroppu. From Jurassic origin, the gorge has walls as high as 500 mt, extending into the Supramonte mountains for almost two km. Moving away from the gorge, a wide open track will take us along the Flumineddu valley to the pick up point. A 30 minute transfer will take us to our Agriturismo and dinner. |
| Day 4: | With a transfer, we head to the highest mountain range in Sardinia, Gennargentu. Here we spend the day trekking to the highest point, Punta Lamarmora 1834 mt. Stopping in the villages of Orgosolo on the way, you get a better flavour of the traditions of the mountainous villages. Orgosolo is famous for the “murales”. Transfer to Hotel on the coast at Calagonone and dinner. |
| Day 5: | Options (not included in price): Boat trip along the coast, snorkelling, scuba-diving, speed boat hire, kayaking to visit of coastline natural caves. Dinner in town. |
| Day 6: | After breakfast we will enjoy a scenic boat ride to Cala Sisine, an idyllic sandy cove set amongst limestone cliffs and natural grottoes of “Neptune”. After a refreshing dip in this emerald green water, we depart on our return trek to Cala Gonone, via Cala Luna, along parts of the well famous “Selvaggio Blu” route. On route we could site some Griffon vultures and peregrine falcons. Time for another dip in the warm Mediterranean sea, before we tackle the final stretch of the coastal route which will take us all the way to Cala Gonone and our hotel. Dinner. |
| Day 7: | Depending on the group, we have two walks to choose from. 1) Coastal- Cala Goloritze’: a transfer will take us the Golgo St Pietro, from were we take a trail leading us down to the remote and stunning cove of Goloritze’. 2) Inland - Mt Corrasi - The small town of Oliena is known as the gateway to some of the wildest and remote mountains in the Mediterranean: the limestone mass of the Supramonte. Transferring from the hotel we start just above Oliena, on a trail which will gradually climb through Holm oak wood, to then open up to an extremely impressive panorama of the Cedrino valley, extending 1000 mt below. Reaching Mt Corrasi (1463 mt), the day’s effort will be rewarded with a breathtaking view into the valley below. Return route will take us back to the vehicles and then a transfer hack to the Hotel. Dinner |
| Day 8: | After breakfast transfer to airport for flight. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Global adventures start with a local perspective – that's our philosophy. Whether abroad, or just as importantly at home, the start point is the same; how to create a sense of well-being and enjoyment in the holiday, while benefiting the local people, economy and respecting the environment.
Walking is a great way to explore a country, travelling at a speed that enables you to be immersed in nature, meeting local people without damaging the environment and the culture. As guides, we set an example, trying our best to leave the smallest footprint as possible. Environmentally: • We limit printing on paper and recycle as much as possible. • We don’t buy over-packed products. • We buy fresh local products, aware of travel miles. • Our picnic sets are re-usable. • We try to reduce water, energy and fuel consumption • We use bio-degradable products as much as possible. • Use our bikes for shorter distance travel. From an economical perspective our policies are: • Work with local people with fair wages. • Buy local in small family run shops. • We select family run accommodation, farm stays “agriturismi” and small “pensioni” with their own responsible policies. • Never negotiate local prices. Also, our group sizes never exceed 12 people, in order to give our travellers the possibility to experience Sardinia in a relaxing way. Our friendly and easy going approach ensures a good personal relationship with every member of the group, combined with being able to participate and connect with the local culture, provides a richer holiday experience. Travellers on our Sardinia holidays are provided with our Travellers Codes that encourage the reduction of water usage, systems for collecting, recycling or safe disposal of litter and relevant suggestions to minimise damage to the environment, wildlife and marine ecosystems. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |