Italy Bicycle

[Woman biking near Cagliari - credit: piermario]

Places to visit

Inland places: Gennargentu mounts, Riserva Naturale di Monte Arcosu, Lago di Mulargia
Stagno di Cabras, Lago del Coghinas, Sulcis iglesiente (LINK Sardinia inland bike tour)

Costa Verde (green coast), in the west Sardinia, has spectacular beaches and dunes.

Smeralda coast is one of the most enchanting italian places VIP (LINK Sardinia coasts bike tour)

[Alghero Coast - credit: Marcia_Salviato]

Beaches

Alghero beaches:

• Mugoni beaches, 18 kilometers northwest of Alghero
• Porto Palmas beach, 40 kilometers northwest of Alghero
• Porticciolo beach, 17 kilometers northwest of Alghero
• Maria Pia beach, 2 km northwest of Alghero.

Baia Chia, such as a caribbean beach
Cagliari’s beaches (LINK Sardinia coasts bike tour)

Historic Attraction

• The Nuraghe is an archaeological megalithic monument. It is a truncated cone tower, built with huge square blocks of stone, more than 20 meters in height. You can find this attraction in the northwest and south-central Sardinia.
• Garibaldi House Museum

Weather

Mediterranean climate, temperatures reach and even exceed 30C. May is a perfect month to biking Sardinia.

Suggestion on Accommodations

I suggest to book a hotel in Alghero or Cagliari and take trips out. The main reason is that most of the small places will still not have opened all their hotels and restaurants for the summer season.

[credit: mailliw]

Roads Condition

Costa verde in the west has many dirtroads.
The routes is middle-high difficult

Geography

Gennargentu, 1,834 meters sea level, is the highest point in Sardinia. The largest river on the island is the Tirso, which is 151 km and flows into the Mediterranean Sea

Music

Sardinia is one of the world’s most interesting musical place. Here is one of the oldest forms of Vocal Polyphony, known as Canto a Tenores. Big names of international music have found it enchanting, such as Frank Zappa, Ornette Coleman, and Peter Gabriel.

Language

Sardinian is a Romance language of Latin origin, but with an obscure Pre-Roman element, including Phoenician, Etruscan, and Near Eastern languages

[Gennargentu - credit: Sicco2007]

Bike Trips Suggestion

1. Sardinian Nuraghe, example: Cycling between ancient Civilization
2. Smeralda coast biking
3. Costa Verde biking
4. Beaches Tour (Alghero, Cagliari)
5. Unmanned and wild inland places such as Sulcis Iglesiente(LINK Sardinia inland bike tour)

IMPORTANT! To visit Sardinia inland You need a map of its territory.

Problems for Bikers

Some bikers ask questions about stray dogs, in fact many people have had probelm with them. You’ll meet stray dogs in the towns, but not in the countryside.

What other bikers say

“I think the island is a diamond for ambitious bikers, a rough diamond!”

“The island roads are steep and empty (almost lonley, I had 120 km tour one day with less than 50 cars) and dammed hot. Take plenty of water for your daytrips because in some villages you might pass, even bars are closed between 1 pm and 4 pm.”

“It is cheaper to hire the bike for a whole day - they are that cheap! Women Bikes are 7 euro a day. (9am - 7.30pm). Men Bikes are 9 euro a day.”