Sardinia Bike Tours

Benebbènnida! Welcome to Sardinia, an island that has always gone its own way. Perched above Castelsardo at Bajaloglia Resort, you'll spend your first afternoon shaking out travel legs on a short loop through the hills above the Gulf of Asinara, with the medieval Doria Castle and its rooftops of Castelsardo laid out below you. It's a gentle introduction to a week that only gets more interesting from here.

Today heads inland into Anglona, Sardinia's quietest historical region. The route climbs toward Sedini, a village built into and around La Rocca, an enormous limestone boulder hollowed out by hand five thousand years ago and inhabited, in various forms, right up until the last century. From there the road drops toward Lake Coghinas, the second-largest reservoir on the island, its still water framed by the Limbara mountains in the distance. It's a day of contrasts: prehistoric stone one moment, engineered water the next.

The biggest climbing day of the northern loop, and one that earns its reputation. Nulvi sits at 500 metres on the slopes of Monte San Lorenzo, the historic capital of Anglona and, remarkably, home to nearly eighty separate nuraghi within its small municipal borders. Getting there means working through rolling shepherd country, cheese and wine territory where the roads are narrow, the traffic is nonexistent, and the views stretch back toward the sea you rode away from that morning. By the time you roll back into Bajaloglia, you'll understand why Nulvi was once considered the region's most important town.

After three days inland, today turns toward the coast. It's the longest distance of the week but the gentlest in elevation, a transfer day that trades punchy climbs for a steady coastal rhythm as the route works its way west toward Alghero. Bags move ahead of you to Villa Las Tronas, a nineteenth-century seaside villa built on its own private promontory, once the summer retreat of the Italian royal family and, for the next three nights, yours.

The longest day of the week takes you inland from Alghero to Monteleone Rocca Doria, one of the smallest municipalities in all of Sardinia, with barely a hundred residents left. The village sits on a limestone plateau ringed on three sides by Lake Temo, a natural fortress that the Doria family fortified in the thirteenth century, only for it to fall after a two-year siege in 1436. What remains is a near-silent cluster of stone streets, the ruins of a castle, and one of the best panoramas on the west coast. The climbing is real, but the reward at the top is one of the quietest, strangest places you'll ride to all week.

The biggest climbing total of the trip, saved for the final full day of riding. The route heads south along the coast before turning inland toward Bosa, where houses in pink, yellow, and blue climb the hillside above the Temo, Sardinia's only navigable river, watched over by the Malaspina castle since 1112. It's one of the most photographed towns on the island, and for good reason. Legs will be tired by the time you reach it, but a glass of Malvasia di Bosa, made from grapes grown along the same river you just rode beside, has a way of putting that in perspective.

This is our final morning together and after a leisurely breakfast, it will be time to say goodbye, or at least arrivederci, until we meet again. Transfers to the airport will be arranged by our hard-working crew but if you’re planning on staying a few extra days, let us know if we can help with reservations or a few recommendations.