Luxury holidays to Sardinia | Tailor-made luxury hotel holidays

An Expressions tailor-made holiday to Sardinia is a chance to experience this once remote and wild island. Historically, the island was inhabited by shepherds and a shy people, who had little to do with the Italian mainland. It then became a melting pot of diverse European and North African cultures, and now Sardinia still bears witness to its colourful past with echoes of the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Spanish and Tuscans being clearly apparent in its traditions, language and architecture today. The coastline is startling with its coves, long sandy beaches, inlets, rocky outcrops and clear, turquoise sea. Inland the macchia grassland with myrtle, thyme, prickly pears and dwarf oaks stretches towards the wild peaks of the Gennargentu mountains. Sardinia offers a delightful mixture for your holiday, combining the sophistication of the resorts and hotels of the Costa Smeralda and its stunning beaches with the remote, rural hinterland, where shepherds still tend their sheep in the mountains and traditional costume is worn with pride. Sardinia is a fascinating holiday island.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Costa Smeralda and the beach resorts of the north-east are, with good reason, where most first-time visitors to Sardinia begin, and the coastline there is genuinely spectacular. But Sardinia's interior, the Barbagia region around the Gennargentu mountains, is a different world again: a rugged, sparsely populated landscape where shepherds still tend their flocks in the hills and traditional costume is worn with real pride, not staged for visitors. We have a hotel, Su Gologone, some 25 kilometres from the coast, built specifically to give access to this side of the island: a chic yet genuinely rustic property filled with local art and serving authentic Sardinian cuisine, and a natural base for exploring the Barbagia's villages, walking trails and folk traditions. For clients who already know the glamour of the Costa Smeralda, or want a Sardinia holiday that goes beyond the beach from the outset, a few nights inland make for a markedly different and more revealing experience.

Sardinia's coastline has a genuinely varied character: the pink granite headlands of the Costa Smeralda give way, along the same stretch of coast, to the fourteen rocky islands and islets of the Maddalena Archipelago, a rugged and beautifully scenic marine reserve, while further west the Grotta di Nettuno near Alghero, reached by boat beneath dramatic cliffs, is one of the most spectacular sea caves in the Mediterranean. Inland, the coastal scenery gives way to macchia grassland scented with wild myrtle and thyme, dotted with prickly pears and dwarf oak, rising eventually to the wild peaks of the Gennargentu mountains, whose highest point, Punta la Marmora, reaches just over 6,000 feet. The clarity of the sea around Sardinia is also genuinely remarkable, even by Mediterranean standards, a product of the island's distance from the mainland and the relative absence of industry along much of its coast. Few Mediterranean islands combine this quality of coastline with such a wild and characterful interior.

Sardinia's history runs far deeper than its more recent Spanish and Italian influences suggest. The island is scattered with around 7,000 nuraghe, Bronze Age stone towers unique to Sardinia and found nowhere else in such numbers, and the Museo Nazionale Archeologico in Cagliari holds an outstanding collection of bronze votive statuettes made by the Nuragic people who built them. Later layers of history are just as visible: the church of Santissima Trinita di Saccargia, near Sassari, has 13th-century frescoes of real quality, while Alghero's cathedral, built in a distinctly Catalan-Gothic style, reflects centuries of Spanish rule and gives the town a markedly different character from the rest of the island. Sassari itself retains a genuine medieval quarter around its cathedral and Renaissance fountain. For clients with a serious interest in archaeology and layered history, Sardinia offers a depth that its reputation as a beach destination rarely conveys.

Su Gologone sits in genuine countryside some 25 kilometres from the coast, in the Barbagia, the historic heartland of shepherd culture in Sardinia, and it is deliberately built around that setting rather than apologising for the distance from the beach. The hotel itself is stylish rather than rustic in the simple sense, filled with contemporary Sardinian art, and its kitchen serves the island's traditional cuisine, roast meats cooked over embers, ewe's milk pecorino, wild boar ham, properly rather than as a diluted version for visitors. From here, clients can explore the Barbagia's villages, where dialect and traditional costume remain genuinely part of daily life rather than performance, walk in the Gennargentu mountains, and, depending on timing, witness traditions such as the Feast of the Mamuthones in nearby Mamoiada, a fierce and ancient ritual dance quite unlike anything found on the coast. It is the clearest way we know of giving a client the 'real Sardinia' within a comfortable, well-run hotel.

A two-centre holiday works particularly well in Sardinia, precisely because the coast and the interior are such different experiences and neither should really be rushed. We would typically suggest four or five nights on the Costa Smeralda, at a hotel such as La Rocca or Le Rocce Sarde, to enjoy the beaches, the clear sea and the resort's own restaurants and gardens, followed by three or four nights inland at Su Gologone in the Barbagia, with a hire car to link the two. This gives a genuine sense of contrast within a single trip: the sophistication and ease of the coast, followed by shepherd villages, mountain walking and a slower, older rhythm of life in the interior. For clients who want more than a beach holiday, or who have already spent time on the Costa Smeralda and want to see a different side of the island, this combination is usually our first recommendation.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

● Single centre or multi-centre
● Long or short stays
● Combine a number of different hotels in different regions
● Utilise a variety of transport arrangements to Italy and within Italy, combining flights, hire-car, rail, ferries and private transfers

Our special interest holidays to Sardinia

● Food and wine holidays
● Cultural tours for individuals
● Private guided sightseeing
● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Call us on 01392 441245

Highlights of Sardinia

Visit Sassari on the west coast of the island, a town with a mediaeval quarter, cathedral and Renaissance Fonte Rosello. Alghero has a very Spanish feel and from here you can take a boat trip to the Grotta di Nettuno, a spectacular, deep, natural cave. Tour the interior of the island, dotted with about 7,000 nuraghe, truncated stone structures built from basalt blocks. In the centre of the island are the dramatic Gennargentu mountains, whose highest point is Punta la Marmora at just over 6,000 ft (local traditions are keenly preserved in this region). To the north of the Costa Smeralda is the Maddalena Archipelago, of about 14 rocky islands and islets, beautifully scenic and with a rugged coastline. The Costa Smeralda itself consists of pink granite headlands, sandy creeks and bays with wooded hills and mountain ridges behind.

Cultural highlights of Sardinia

Visit the church of Santissima Trinita di Saccargia near Sassari for its 13th Century frescoes. The Catalan-Gothic 16th Century Cathedral on Alghero. Nuoro has been the home of some of Sardinia’s most important literary figures including Grazia Deledda who won the Nobel prize for literature in 1926. The Museo Nazionale Archeologico in Cagliari houses bronze votive statuettes of the Nuragic people.

Festivals in Sardinia

Cavalcata Sarda festival in Sassari on Ascension Day. Sagra del Redentore festival in Nuoro illustrates traditional dancing and dialects of the region. Feast of the Mamuthones in Mamoiada includes a ritual dance full of the fierce folkoric tradition of the Gennargentu mountains.

Gastronomy in Sardinia

The gastronomy of Sardinia is based very much on produce from the land, especially milk products and meat. Ewe's milk produces Sardinian pecorino cheese, used to flavour many regional dishes. Meat is often cooked over hot embers or roasted on a spit. Specialities include 'Prosciutto di cinghiale' (wild boar ham) and 'Succutundu' (strong meat stock with semolina balls). Roast lamb with rosemary and thyme features regularly on menus. Nougat is a local speciality. Sardinia produces its own red and white wines, with Nuragus and Vernaccia being the best known.

Sardinia travel information

Sardinia is reached very easily from the UK by air. We also suggest the use of a hire car to explore the island.

By air

Airport at Cagliari with direct flights with British Airways and from the 'No-frills' carriers or charter airlines. Airport at Olbia with flights from the 'No-frills' carriers or charter airlines.

Car hire

We include a hire-car with most of our holidays to Sardinia and a private car transfer with our holidays to the Forte Village and Chia Laguna resorts. Private transfers can be organised for you for all holidays instead of the hire-car.

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Sardinia

● Food and wine holidays
● Cultural tours for individuals
● Private guided sightseeing
● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday

Call us on 01392 441245

Here you will find a map of Sardinia showing the locations of the hotels that we offer

Our bespoke, luxury hotel holidays can be

Our special interest holidays to Sardinia

● Food and wine holidays
● Cultural tours for individuals
● Private guided sightseeing
● Art, history and heritage holidays
● Family holidays

Included in all our holidays

● Concierge service
● Handcrafted helpful hints and local information provided with all our holidays
● Personal service by your sales consultant who looks after all aspects of your holiday