sellEXPERIENCE SARDINIA

Welcome to Cagliari! Your Perillo representative will be at the airport to greet you where you will be privately transferred to your hotel. Enjoy the rest of your day to unwind after your journey and experience your first night in Cagliari.

Enjoy breakfast and then a half day morning walking tour of the historic medieval Castello with its ancient fortifications, 14th century towers, and town hall. Visit Piazza Palazzo, the Cathedral of Santa Maria, the Bastion of St Remy, Royal Palace, and the bustling marina quarter with its tangled streets, bars, and restaurants. In the evening, enjoy your first Sardinian meal! The Sardinia cuisine is distinctly different from the Italian food that is mostly known, which is the result of diverse influences. The land where the Sardinian's raise their sheep, make their fantastic pecorino cheese, and the sea coastline brought invaders and settlers to their shores and thus brought culinary traditions that have been absorbed and made their own. The breads such as pane carasau has been grown here since ancient roman times, and is known as a local greeting of “saludi e trigu” (“good health and wheat”). Pasta that you would not find in the rest of Italy, such as fregula (like couscous) and culurgionis (a type of ravioli) are here as well. Throughout the week you will try these foods and many more. Dinner will be in a local restaurant and be the perfect ending to a perfect day!

 Enjoy a visit at the colorful San Benedetto Market where your guide will lead you on a tasting of local delicacies and crudities. Continue to Nora, the oldest village in Sardinia, for Carthaginian and Roman archaeological ruins dating to the 8th century BC. After the tour you will return to Cagliari to explore on your own for the evening.

Focus on the Nauraghic civilisation, a Bronze Age population that lived on Sardinia. They have left some impressive markers of their presence here. Firstly, you'll see a nuraghi, a fortified structure with almost a beehive shape, built of basalt blocks. The nuraghi that we visit in Barumini is called Su Nuraxu and is the largest of these ancient fortresses as well as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The original settlement dates from 1500 BC, with constant habitation for over 2000 years and is a physical timeline of Sardinia. After lunch in a charming agriturismo nearby, you'll continue on to another Bronze Age site known as the ‘tomb of the giants’, or locally as ‘Sa Domu and S’Orcu’. This is like nothing else that you see in Italy as the size of the stone blocks, their fascinating shape, and the simplicity and scale of the structure is situated up on a hilltop as a monument to a forgotten time. The tomb, as well as its burial function, may have been dedicated to the god Taurus. Afterwards, continue on to your hotel in the town of Oristano, where you'll be arriving in the early evening.

Enjoy a guided tour of the medieval fortified town of Alghero, known as ‘Little Barcelona’ for its Catalan influence. This town boasts a striking Gothic-style historic center with the Church of St Francis and Santa Maria Cathedral. Stroll the narrow lanes, walk the old town walls, and then experience lunch in a typical restaurant in the town before returning to Oristano.

From your home base in Oristano, there is a wealth of things to see and do within close proximity on the Sinis Peninsula. Visit San Salvatore, which is unlike any other town in Sardinia, with its narrow lanes lined with rows of tiny houses that have been used many times as a film set. Visit the church crypt where there is a sacred well, frequented since prehistoric times. The wall drawings are particularly interesting, spanning numerous eras, and although many were done in ancient Roman times, many have Punic references, Arabic script, and Greek script. These drawings provide an insight into the various populations that have settled here. Moving on to the archaeological museum in the town of Cabras, you'll see the statues known as the ‘giants of Mont’e Prama’. These recently found monolithic artefacts, carved in the Iron Age (900 BC), are unlike anything that you normally associate with Italian history. Also in this museum you will see many of the Punic and Roman items found in the nearby archaeological area of Tharros. After lunch you'll travel to a wonderful beach nearby, the beach of Isola Arutas, with its white quartz sand and beautiful blue water. Sardinia is famed for its turquoise clear waters and great beaches. Enjoy some time to relax on the beach, have a swim, or just take it easy in the cafe nearby. For any who prefer not to spend time on the beach, the driver will gladly take you back to Oristano where you can spend time looking around the interesting town centre.

Enjoy a visit the town of Orgosolo. This is the key mural town of Sardinia, with numerous buildings painted with local scenes, slogans, and an incredible variety of weird and wonderful things. Look around the town centre with a local guide learning about Orgosolo and the history of these murals and how they reveal so much about the more recent history of Sardinia, and the challenges and aspirations of the people who live there. After visiting the old town and its murals, drive towards the Supramonte. With an easy hike you will get Monte novo San Giovanni, from the top of which you will be able to enjoy a wonderful view over the whole Supramonte and the Gennargentu mountain chain. Afterwards, your final destination is Su Pinnettu, the old sheepfold of the shepherds. Such a structure can be found all around the mountains of the central eastern part of Sardinia. Here, immersed in a millenary forest, you will have the traditional lunch of sliced salami, cheese, boiled sheep, roasted piglet, Pane Carasatu (the typical Sardinian crispy bread), wine (Cannonau), and some of the best spirits of Sardinia, such as Mirto and Filu e Ferru. The food, including bread and wine, is made by the shepherds and their families.

Prepare to be transferred to the airport for your flight home.

Grazie! (Thank you) for choosing and traveling with Perillo Tours!