Sardinia in car: Driving into the night on the island

After two days of driving through mainland Italy and an eight-hour cruise on the car ferry, we finally reach our destination.

Now I could finally try what I had been looking for the most. Driving the car around the island and exploring more than the nearest beach...

So what are the roads like in Sardinia?

 

If you want to skip our story and looking just for useful information about roads and country search for 💁 emoji.

First impression

Our ferry arrived in the evening and the port we choose was on the other side of the island than the city where we had our "base camp". That meant, I didn't have to wait too long for the first real taste of the island roads. Right after we got through car mayhem in the port, we started our drive against the night. And boy, what a treat it was!

My plan was to head to the north and follow the road around the northern coast towards Castelsardo. In the beginning, the road led us through serpentines up to the hills, and after a bit, the road started to go down and we had a nice view of the coast, lit with the moonlight and covered with small lights of the coastal cities and villages. The road itself was a bit narrow, more than I am used to, but the tarmac was in good condition and the drive was very smooth. We kept enjoying the view and I was very happy that I could finally use my other gears other than number six. Up to the moment when my GPS made up her mind and decided not to follow my selected roads.

Since it was quite late at this point, I gave up arguing with her (yes, I usually address my GPS as her 😅) and just keep following her instructions. And for the moment we were heading back to the port.

Sardinia motorways

Soon we reached the big city of Olbia, full of nightlife and city lights. After a short drive through the city, we turned to something which looked like a motorway.

Unfortunately, Sardinia doesn't have any motorway. However, there are two four-lane freeways, which connect south with north and east with west. Kinda.

On the other hand, this means all roads are free. Something, which I didn't know about at that time, so immediately I started to stress about payments, how we could miss the toll gate, or if some kind of vignette is needed. I found out later that all was good.

Although the road was not actually a motorway, the ride was good and the condition of the road was top. After we left Olbia we started to climb again and we entered "the void". Ok, not really, but on the sides of the road we saw fewer city lights and we been surrounded by dark hills lited only by moonlight. For the moment it felt very mystical. 

The traffic was very low (it was close to midnight) and basically no trucks at all. With few road works that we had to pass, I could really enjoy the drive.

We followed this road for around an hour, but because our destination was more to the north and lower on the coast, we couldn't stay on this road. Near the village of Burghidu, we turned down from the freeway, and despite the fact we had to descent to the coast, we started to climb again. This time steeper.

Serpentines, serpentines

After leaving the freeway, the road changes. Roadway became more narrow, in some parts not big enough for two cars and serpentines returned. And oh boy, what a serpentines they were. This road (SS132) could put many rally stages to shame. The tarmac was still in very good condition. One amazing turn after another, mixed with some 180-degree turns, going up and down. And since everyone in the car was sleeping and zero traffic here, I could unleash all 140 horses under my hood and have some low gear fun.

Ok, ok. Was really late, I didn't know the road and I had passengers inside, so I couldn't have that much fun. Yet I had the feeling of 10 years old, who just found the best hideout in the forest. It was very enjoyable to drive here, especially when Italian highways, tons of trucks, and constant road works appeared in my mind. We stopped after some time to stretch and smoke and since we stopped at a crossroad, immediately we started to do Supernatural jokes (yep, the Crowley one). Another road from the crossroad, led somewhere to the dark, more up and I had hard times resisting not taking this road and doing some midnight exploring.

Almost there

From here, we finally started our, still twisty, descend. After many more sharp, low-gear turns, we joined the bigger road. We would came this road if we would drive longer on SS132 and left the freeway later, but I was really happy the GPS took us another way. After we land in port I felt a bit tired, however now I was awake and aching for more. The road now became more straight and faster, yet still quite enjoyable. More and more lights started to appear on sides and soon we entered the city of Santa Maria Coghinas. While I was enjoying the midnight streets in the city under hills, I made a wrong turn. Leave it up to GPS! And you will end up taking shortcuts through someone's yard and bus parking station. 

The road from here was quite ordinary, passing smaller hills, traversing valleys, and with a more straight profile, no sharp turns, and wider. The drive was good and smooth as the tarmac was in good condition.

We followed SP90 for a while until we reached The Elephant tunnel, on which top sits the Roccia dell'Elefante, or Elephant rock (I will talk about this in another part). Of course, we didn't know that, so we kept wondering about the name until the next day. The SP90 road stretches all the way from outside of Castelsardo to the northern part of the island Santa Teresa Gallura with slightly over 70 km of tarmac passing through valleys and hills, changing from straight to very twisty.

We used only a small part of the SP90 tonight when we turned down to a smaller side road entering Castelsardo from the East. After a short drive mainly descending down through a series of nice turns, the light of port and residences on Castelsardo cliffs finally welcomed us. Just shy a few minutes after 1 AM.

Castelsardo

Before we could celebrate our arrival, there was one more thing left to do. Get through the city and park the car.

We have been staying with my wife's mom, who lives here in the city. Which was nice. To stay in her house. The location of the house was not so nice for me.

Castelsardo is a town built on a big hill with an amazing fortress sitting on top and an old town stretching from port to the top. Most people live here, in the old town, or the newer east part which lies on an equally big cliff and hill.

And all this means that streets are very narrow, very steep, and very twisty (In some cases made even from the cobblestones). And most of the time also full of cars parking on the sides.

If I say twisty, I mean really twisty. On some streets, they even have a special surface for cars to maintain grip and to be able to climb up these hills. And we are talking about places where there is no snow and ice in winter.

I have been here a few years ago, so I kinda knew what to expect. However. From the very first moment, I turned to the residential area, I had a feeling that I have a very inappropriate car for this city. Zig zagging around old Puntos and Pandas and similar "toy cars" with my Škoda, which is few centimeters over two meters wide, was only funny for everyone else in the car. Not so much for me.

And parking was not better. The spot where I had to fit my four-and-a-half meter mothership was, I would say appropriate for a scooter. For a while, I kept entertaining the rest of the family with my attempts to park in a small and steep place (Luckily, neighbors were already sleeping) until I finally squeeze there somehow. If this would be the last weird parking moment of the entire vacation I would be happy.

The show was finally over and was time to unload the trunk and hit the sack.

Next time I will talk more about driving in Sardinia and share some interesting places to visit if you seeking more than just relaxing on the beach.

Sardinia in car: Sail to the island

 

If you decide to travel to Sardinia by car, or on foot, unless you have an amphibious vehicle, or you are a very good swimmer, you have only one option, how to get to the island.

Take a ferry ...

If you want to skip our story and looking just for useful information about roads and country search for 💁 emoji.

Arrival

After we got supplied by tasty panini, we headed to the port. The way to port was well marked and also my navigation (I am using waze.com 90% of the time) was directing use straight to Corsica Ferries platform.

After entering port, we have been briefly stopped by the port worker. He asked the company with which we will sail and directed us to the correct gate. There, at the gate, we have been asked to show the ticket (which we had on the phone) and let us through. 

Some cars were picked for security check. Seems to be quite random so we had the luck to skip these "pleasantries" (on way back we were picked but was pretty simple and fast. Show IDs, check the trunk and check under the car) and headed to the embarking platform. 

Inside the port, roads were well marked and signs lead us through the whole port. Since for all of us was this for the first time, traveling on sea ferry, right after gate we have been stunned by the enormous size of the two ferries parked there. 

After a short drive, we stopped at check-in. The ferry company employee scanned our ticket, gave us a ticket with cabin number (or seat if you book one), a sticker on the front window with the parking deck, and pointed us to the line to park.

Cars here were lined up and waiting for loading. Usually, loading starts while the last cars still disembarking from the boat, but because our boat was delayed, we had time to take a short stroll around.

In Livorno, directly in port, just a few steps from where we have been parking is nice medieval fortress Fortezza Vecchia. If you come early enough before departure, you can park your car on the boarding platform and take maybe a two-minute walk to the entrance and visit the fortress from inside as well.

Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time and after preparing our cabin bags and finishing panini with prosciutto, the boarding started.

Preparation

Let's go back to the time before the trip for a moment and let me tell you, how we choose the company and planned the trip.

When you choosing your ferry crossing, there are few things you have to consider.

Ferry departure and arrival port

There are several ports with ferry service to Sardinia in Italy, but if you not planning to drive too much to the south of Italy, most likely you will end up either in Livorno or in Genoa.

The trip to Genoa was around 2 hours shorter for us.

The same goes for the arrival port. Most of them are in the north of the island, so you can choose between Porto Torres, Olbia, or slightly less know Golfo Aranci.

Our destination on the island was Castelsardo, so Porto Torres, being only about a 20-30 minute drive from there was an obvious choice.

Time of ferry sail

The time of sail depends on ports and also the company. The shortest sail is 8 hours and the longest is almost 13 hours.

Price of ferry

Prices between companies and between routes are different and sometimes it can be one or more hundred euros.

Different is also the selection of extra services, like wifi, premium cabins, meals, etc.

Prices are different for different departure days.

Buying a ticket can be pretty overwhelming especially if you doing it for the first time. For me it was. We spent almost a week searching, planning, and comparing. Most of the time we have been using pages like directferries.com to search and compare prices and services.

In the end, we decided to go with Corsica ferries - Sardinia ferries and sacrifice a longer drive for a smaller price and shorter sail.

The price for the trip from Genoa to Porto Torres would cost us around 640 euros (3 adults, 1 kid, 1 dog, and car, plus pet cabin), but the trip from Livorno to Golfo Aranci with Corsica ferries - Sardinia ferries was just slightly over 350 euro. And the cost of fuel for extra driving was too small.

Boarding the ferry

This was the part I was most nervous about since it was for the first time. Also, I tend to attract awkward moments. But in the end, it was very simple and nothing to be "scared" about.

After our line was waved to start the drive to the boat, crewmen kept point us to the correct ramp, floor, and eventually parking spot. Parking was not hard, even it might look intimidating. 

You can park the way that you have still enough space to open doors. If unsure how much space you have around or on the side, wait for a moment and some crewman will hand signal you and help you to park well.

After we parked, first in line, all the way in front, we took our bags and walked to staircase doors.

A bit of advice here. Wait for cars around to stop. Can be a bit dangerous walking between moving car in a dark and tight place. Also, watch out for your head as the ceiling is quite low and for your legs to not trip over some metal construction.

Don't forget to lock your car and close mirrors if they don't automatically.

The ferry cabin

My wife was initially against booking a cabin, as she heard, that they are messy, ugly, and small.

But, because of our dog (who likes to bark on other dogs) and a long trip here, we agreed to book a cabin with beds so we can take a nap.

To our surprise, the cabin wasn't that bad. I mean... It wasn't the most luxurious place, but was fairly clean, with outlets, a toilet with a shower, and enough space. And there was also working air-condition.

After sleeping in the car and driving for two days, taking shower, and getting in bed without going through complicated yoga poses was heaven for me.

On the trip to the island, we had a cabin in the middle of the ship, so it was pretty smooth without feeling too many movements.

One downside was the noise. The ship's engines produce a lot of noise and vibrations. But this was a problem almost everywhere on the ship.

Since our departure was again delayed, the rest of my family get bored and went to the cabin.

I stayed on the outer deck for a while with a cold drink and my IQOS (yes on most of the outer decks is allowed to smoke and there are bins for cigarettes) and watched the departure. After the ship gets out from port, from the side deck was a great view of the port, but also a historic part of Livorno and the fortress.

For someone, who didn't sail on the sea before, like me, it was a really exciting moment. Especially, after we left port completely and sail between another big, or better say, gigantic cruise and container ships on the open sea. 

The sail

After few hour sleep, we woke up and since we had still around two hours until landing, we went exploring the ship. 

The most excited member of the group was our dog. He was allowed to walk almost everywhere, so he did enjoy exploring and mainly sniffing the whole ship. It was very entertaining watching him jumping and climbing those big stairs. After every set of stairs, he stopped and looked at us with pride in his eyes.

The rest of us was more interested in getting a good cup of coffee, than sniffing around, so we headed to the upper deck for "beach bar". 

"Beach bar" was a bar on the upper outer deck with a small pool, a view of the sea, and a bar with snacks and drinks.

Three cappuccinos, please.

We hung out here for a while, but eventually, the hunger came, so we went to check the "local" food selection. 

There were several restaurants with different styles of food and few more snack and drink bars inside the ship. We choose to try a cantina-style one. The selection was really big and was hard to choose from. And the food itself was really good and with pleasant and willing staff. 

A big downside of this one was the number of people here. After getting food on a plate, took a while to get to pay for food and find a free table.

After we ate, we returned to the beach bar for more tasty coffee. When we walked out on the upper deck, we were welcomed with setting sun and amazing view on small islands and big cliffs surrounding the port of Golfo Aranci

Disembarking the ferry

While watching the amazing sunset, we kinda forgot to go pack our stuff and free the cabin.

The crewman was a bit upset, so we hastily packed and headed for a staircase to car decks.

This was the worst part of the sail. Since we had to leave the cabin and everyone else too and the ship was not docked yet, we didn't have access to the car yet. We had to wait in corridors with everyone on board.

After around ten minutes the first deck was called to go to the car and finally after another ten, maybe fifteen minutes was our turn. And of course, we forgot which deck is ours and where we park so took us a while to get to the car. And my shin got to know the metal frame of doors on the car deck, very intimately. In the end, we found the car. But because we were parked all the way in front of the ship and to the side, we had to wait for others to drive out.

While getting into the boat was good, getting out was the exact opposite. The situation was the same as on roads in Italy. The main slogan here was "Me first and only me". Again no concept of zipping cars, everyone was pushing and trying to get out of the boat earlier, driving from side to side. Too many close calls for my comfort. And between all the cars, few kamikaze bikers were just cherry on top.

The same situation was outside the ship and the whole time through the port. But eventually, everyone drove away and we could stop on parking near a small beach and enjoy the rest of the sunset and the first island's evening breeze.

We are finally here!