Sardinia-Medieval Towns

† Explanation of BAC Ride Fee – This fee is not included in the Estimated Cost and is non-refundable once submitted. The Ride Fee for US and Canada is $85 and $100 for all other countries, both are per participant.

Ride Description

  Welcome to Sardinia, Italy, the 2nd largest island in the Mediterranean and one of the oldest inhabited parts of Europe. Sardinia, boasts dramatic coastlines of imposing high cliffs, punctuated by 16th century Spanish watchtowers, prestigious yacht marinas and pristine beaches of jaw-dropping beauty. Over this 12 day bike tour, you will experience these scenic and historic sites, starting the ride from Palau on the brink of the Costa Smeralda in the north, pedaling along the Golfo dell' Asinara and finishing along the Costa del Sud in the south. 

RIDE RATING:  The ride is rated 3B. There are 8 mandatory riding days and 3 optional rides with interesting destinations. The first 2 days of riding exceed 50 miles; day one is 57.7 miles having 3968’ of elevation.  You can expect 8% climbs almost daily and a few days with climbs surpassing 11%, though short in distance.

WEATHER:  Sardinia boasts a beautifully warm Mediterranean climate renowned for its 'six-month summer' which means that the sea can be warm enough for swimming from May until October.  May is the start of long sunshine hours of 9 hours, bringing warmer temperatures hovering in the low 70s and nights in the mid 50s.  Average rainfall for the month is less than one inch.

LODGING AND MEALS:  Accommodations will be 3&4-star hotels.  Twelve breakfasts, seven group dinners and a daily social hour are included with this tour.

LOGISTICS:   We will meet at 6:00pm in the seaside town of Palau, 44 km north of Olbia airport, for social hour, welcome dinner, and planning our next day’s ride together. Palau is a harbor point from which ferries depart to the Maddalena Archipelago several times per day and is close proximity to Costa Smeralda. The coastline name pays homage to its green and turquoise waters, embraced by white sand beaches. Palau is accessible by public bus, shuttle buses or taxis. The area provides a great base for pre-trip planning and coordination. A shuttle bus from the farewell hotel in Teulada will end the trip at the airport in the capital city of Cagliari. For those that plan on arriving a few days early, we are offering 2 pre-trip rides out of Palau, the starting point. These opportunities are fully independent, so you can customize your own ride. Early arrival hotel nights and meals will be at your own expense. The trip starts on May 6, 2018 @ 6:00 p.m. Our hotel will extend our discounted rate to early arrivals but you can stay wherever you wish before the trip starts.

COST AND ADMINISTRATION:   Included in the estimated price of $2225 are 12 nights lodging double occupancy, 12 breakfasts, 7 dinners, daily socials, baggage van, maps, GPS tracks, hard copy cue sheets, and transport of bike boxes  to the end of the ride in Teulada.  Not included in the price is the non-refundable $100 BAC ride fee.  Initial deposit is $1500, with the balance of $725 due on January 31, 2018. The estimated cost is based on an exchange rate of €1 = $1.20.  Depending on currency exchange rates, there may be some minor changes in the amount of the final payment.

SINGLES & SOLOS POLICY:  It is recommended that singles who want a roommate try to find their own. However, after receipt of the initial deposit, a single without a roommate will be placed on the ride and given until September 1, 2017 to find a roommate. If they are unable to find a roommate, they will have the option to receive a full refund (minus the BAC fee and payment processing fee) or pay the $1500 single supplement and stay on the ride. The single supplement is paid directly to the Ride Leader by check.  If a single pays the supplement, they may continue to seek a roommate, but must plan to participate without a roommate if necessary. The Ride Leader will assist by attempting to match singles who apply for the ride.

CANCELLATION POLICY:   The $100 BAC registration fee and payment process fees are not refundable unless the entire tour is cancelled. If we are not able to fill your position, refunds will be entirely based on the cost of the tour package not impacting those who are completing the tour by increasing their portion. In addition, your share of fixed costs like the administrative, luggage van, and leader expenses will be deducted from your eventual refund.  BAC encourages members to purchase trip cancellation insurance.

RIDE PARTICIPANT RESPONSIBILITY: Please remember that BAC Ride Leaders are volunteers, and that successful tours depend on participants providing much of their own support.  Participants are expected to come to the ride well trained, in good health and ready to accomplish the required daily riding using well-maintained bicycles.   All participants should accept responsibility for a safe and enjoyable tour.  We encourage you to read the ride description carefully and respond to requests from Ride Leader.  While on the ride, support your Ride Leader with offers to help with various tasks such as happy hour preparation and clean-up.  Please do not interfere with the ride by inviting non-participants onto any portion of the ride or tour.  Please keep the Ride Leader informed of any special request you may have and respect the Ride Leader’s decisions

SIGN-UP:  To register for this Bike Tour of Sardinia, use the sign-up links. After receipt of your application information, you will be moved from the wait-list, to the pending list. You will then receive an email requesting you to go to the BAC site to digitally accept the Release of Liability (ROL), pay the non-refundable BAC fee ($100) and tour deposit  of $1500 by credit card. As soon as your deposit has been processed, your name(s) will be added to the Participant List. We look forward to having you join us for this amazing tour.  BAC members with questions may contact the Ride Director by “clicking” the name at the top of this Ride Description. All communication will be by email only.

ITINERARY:  

DAY 1 – Palau, the brink of Costa Smeralda Palau is the meeting place for the start of Sardinia - Medieval Towns.

DAY 2 – Golfo dell’ Asinara. The first day of cycling will exceed 50 miles along the undulating coast most of the day to the medieval town of Castelsardo picturesquely draped over a promontory overlooking the Golfo dell’ Asinara. On a clear day you can admire the island of Corsica. The sunsets here are especially memorable.

DAYS 3&4 - Alghero. Continuing along the coast, then southwest, brings us to the Mar di Sardegna, and a rest day. The city of Alghero retains a distinctive Catalan character- the result of intense Spanish colonization in the 14th century. Thanks to its excellent state of preservation, Alghero’s old town is a pleasure to stroll around, with medieval churches, long lanes of shops and a crowded marina to explore. There are regular boat excursions available from the port. Walk the city walls having wandered through Alghero’s maze of narrow lanes, leave time to do a circuit of the old town walls, or bastioni, looking down on the sea and with scintillating views out to the sheer cliffs of Capo Caccia – ideally at sunset.  Grotta di Nettuno (Neptune's Grotto), is the site of Alghero's biggest draw for sightseers.  It is the most dramatic of the marine caves that riddle the cliffs here, sporting a spectacular array of artfully illuminated rock formations. The ride out from Alghero’s port is half the fun – on the way you’ll pass the ravishing deep bay of Porto Conte to the top of the cliffs, then be challenged for the steep descent and re-ascent of 654 steps that make up the Escala del Cabirol, or “goat's stairway.” 

DAY 5 - Bosa. The feeling is relaxed and the local people are friendly and welcoming. As it is a real working city, albeit small (8,000 inhabitants) it has an authentic, original character rather than just being a tourist village. Tourists who come to Bosa, tend to be people looking for culture, history, natural and architectural beauty as well as a sun and sand holiday. There is a warren of cobbled streets with pastel colored medieval tower houses called Sa Costa. The main street in the old town, Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, is lined by 19th century palazzos with wrought iron balconies, and interesting shops, cafés, and bars. Castello Malaspina, dating from 1112, guards Bosa at the top of the hill. The river Temo runs through Bosa and is lined with palm trees on one bank and derelict tanneries on the other, which are of historic and national significance. Bosa has an illustrious and wealthy past; based on its position in a well-defended valley, along the only navigable river in Sardinia, and its (now defunct) leather tanning industry. It is the only true river town of Sardinia.

DAY 6 - Cabras.  Sprawled on the southern shore of the Stagno di Cabras, Cabras is an important fishing town and center of the island’s mullet fishing – the local bottarga (mullet roe) is much sought-after and well worth trying. Cabras is home to several churches (parish church, in Baroque style, and church of the Holy Spirit, dating to 1601 with two Gothic aisles), and to the Phoenician archaeological site of Tharros.

DAY 7&8 - Villanovaforru.  The small town center of Villanovaforru preserves the original medieval structure and habitat of the XVII century and is surrounded by hills covered with vineyards, olive groves and green pastures. The local economy is devoted to traditional craftsmanship with the production of ceramics, gold filigree, knives, wool fabrics and embroidery and offers excellent gourmet products and wines. The earliest traces of a settlement in the Villanovaforru area date back to 1350 B.C. In the area of Genna Marina, on top of a hill, there is a Nuraghe recently discovered in 1977. The structure is characterized by the presence of a central tower and three smaller ones, joined together by fortified walls and a central courtyard with a well. Around the nuraghe, the local inhabitants had built a village surrounded by another circle of walls and six smaller watchtowers. In late 800 B.C., the territories were abandoned due to a fire, but were used for ritual purposes in later eras. In the same area several traces of the Punic and Roman colonization have been brought to light. Today’s main urban center of Villanovaforru was founded during the Spanish rule. On the free day, for those who wish, we will visit Su Nuraxi, a settlement consisting of a seventeenth century BCE Nuraghe, a bastion of four corner towers plus a central one, and a village inhabited from the thirteenth to the sixth century BCE, developed around the Nuraghe. They are considered by scholars the most impressive expression of the Nuragic civilization and were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1997. The real function of the nuraghe is still debated. The archaeological site was fully excavated between 1950 and 1957 under the direction of Giovanni Lilliu, a local expert. The excavations allowed archaeologists to retrace the different stages of the construction of the towers and surrounding village, confirming that the entire complex was a vibrant, vital center up to the first century BCE, during the Roman period. There are over 7,000 of these truncated cone structures dotting the island.

DAY 9 - Arbus. Mining was once Sardinia’s most important industry dating back to the Phoenicians and the Romans. Lead, silver and zinc were the three distinguishing minerals of the area. The boom came in the 1870s with the introduction of dynamite, and the island witnessed the building of immense mining villages, often situated by the sea.  Reduced demand, high extraction and export costs closed the mines in the 1990s. These old mines and workers’ villages with their undeniable beauty and particularity caused “UNESCO” to turn them into a heritage of humanity, creating the unique Geo Mineral, Historical and Environmental park of Sardinia. Arbus is one such town with a concentration of mines.

DAY 10 - Portoscuso. In the small town of Masua, the mine of Porto Flavia, literally set in a cliff with a steep drop on the sea is a must see.  Nebida, located on the western coast of the Golfo di Gonnesa is one of the most beautiful archeological exhibits, due to its stunning location on a cliff overlooking the breathtaking view of the sea and famous rock islet “Pan di Zucchero.”  Nebida is transforming into a popular coastal destination for Italians and tourists alike for the crystal blue waters; sheer sun-bleached cliffs; soft, warm sea breezes, and an abandoned mineral processing plant. Portoscuso is a low-key fishing port. It has a few old tuna fisheries, a Spanish watchtower and a good beach close by.

DAY 11&12 - Teulada. The area was already inhabited in the Nuragic era; while later it was colonized by Phoenicians and Carthaginians, whose presence is attested by the remains of a Punic Tophet and the port of Malfatano. The Romans founded a military settlement, built to monitor and defend the bays of Cala Piombo and Porto Zafferano. After several pirate attacks, the inhabitants rebuilt the town more inland, in a plain, around the Church of Saint 'Isidoro. This location, however, was also easy prey of enemy attacks, so the inhabitants were forced to move again in a more internal area and developed a new center around the Church of San Francesco. In the XVII century, to defend against the continuous pirate raids, several watchtowers were built. Assigned to the Giudicato of Cagliari, the town submitted the domain for a long period. During the Second World War it was the scene of a battle between the Italian and the British fleets today, Teulada is enlivened by odd pieces of sculpture dotted around its streets and squares. Sculptors come from all over the world to compete in the town’s annual exhibition, Scultura e Pietra. They are given a block of local marble, granite or trachyte in June, when the theme - usually locally inspired - is announced. The pieces are finished by September, and then placed around the village. The last ride day is an optional ride. It meanders along the largely deserted Costa del Sud, one of Sardinia’s most scenic drives. The jagged coast of the Golfo di Teulada presents a procession of indented bays overlooked by Spanish watchtowers. It makes a highly rewarding cycle ride. The last ride day also brings about the end of our tour. We will celebrate with a farewell dinner together before leaving the next morning on a one and a half hour shuttle to the Cagliari Elmas Airport.

DAY 13 - Cagliari. Cagliari (the capital city of Sardinia), founded by Phoenicians, is located on the southern end of the island. Often referred to as the "City of the Sun", Cagliari has some interesting medieval architecture and archaeological wonders left behind by different cultures. Phoenicians founded the ancient port town of Cagliari (known as Korales), and many different civilizations have dominated and influenced its culture.