Italy’s Wild Sardinia
HIGHLIGHTS
Gateway City: Milan or Rome, Italy
Start Location: Olbia, Italy
End Location: Alghero, Italy
CHALLENGE LEVEL: 7*
Expect an average of 6-8 hiking miles per day over fairly rugged terrain with several steep inclines.
*Parallel trips are rated on a scale of 1-10. See our FAQ on Challenge Levels for more information.
2025 DATES
BETA TRIP
2026 DATES
COST
2025: $2895 per person. $400 single supplement.
2026: $2995 per person. $450 single supplement.
Reviews
what is included
- Six-nights accommodations with breakfast
- Luggage transfer from town to town
- Three of six evening meals
- Nightly wine reception and daily informational briefing
- Parallel Picnic Kit
- Professional hiking instruction and detailed maps
- Pre-trip materials, including packing list and training schedule
We will transfer your luggage from hotel to hotel so that you don’t have to worry about getting that wheeled suitcase up the hill. We will stay in a combination of agroturismos (working farms that host guests), guesthouses, and small hotels each night. Each will provide an authentic taste of local culture. While typical of many European hotels in offering smaller rooms than you might find in the U.S., each of the hotels we’ve chosen has clean, well-run facilities, air conditioning, and a full European-style breakfast. There is good Wi-Fi at each evening location.
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED
- Travel to Olbia, Italy, and from Alghero, Italy.
- Three of six independent evening meals
- Lunches (although we’ll get you started with picnic supplies)
- Trip insurance
- Personal memory purchases
At Parallel, we value the community that we build within a group, but we equally value your independence. As such, we’ve designed our trips to give you ample opportunity to explore on your own, or with your fellow travelers. During our days of hiking, you are welcome to complete the day’s itinerary at your own pace – whether that means hiking with others in the group or not is up to you.
You will have plenty of opportunity for independence in your meals, too. Each of your accommodations will include breakfast. When it comes to lunch on the trail, we’ve learned that everyone picnics differently – and as such, you will have the opportunity to provision for lunch from local shops so that you can choose when, where, and how you have lunch during the day. As noted above you’ll have the opportunity for three truly independent evening meals – two in the village of Putzu Idu, and the other in the charming river town of Bosa.
You’ll need airfare to Olbia, Italy, and from Alghero, Italy. If coming from the US, we recommend you fly in and out of Rome or Milan as there are several connecting flights a day to Olbia and from Alghero. On the first day of the trip, we will meet in Olbia and transit to our first accommodations in Dorgali together. Regardless of where you are coming from or headed to, we’re very happy to assist you with your travel plans.
This one is "Wild" for a reason. The land, the culture, the sea are all proud and untamed. Sardinia is further off the beaten path and fiercely independent. It's a bit harder to reach - but the rewards, once you are there, are enormous.
The culture is ancient and varied – 3000-year-old “nuraghes,” ancient structures built by a people largely lost to time, stand in fields all over the island with little explanation. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Napoleon, and Garibaldi all tussled over this island – and none were able to fully make it their own. There is a palpable and deep pride in the land that you will see immediately in the faces you encounter in villages and towns. Coupled with natural beauty that will have your heart stopping – think gin-clear water and vistas of mountains and canyons every bit as grand as the Yosemite Valley in the US – and you are sure to fall for Sardinia and its many wild delights.
We’ll start our journey in Dorgali at an agriturismo, a working farm that hosts guests, near the breathtaking Gulf of Orosei. Meals will be prepared from products fresh from the farm around you. The cheese, the wine, olive oil, the fresh vegetables, the sausage – it is all harvested and created underneath the olive trees that will blow in the breeze while you sleep. The agriturismo experience is unique – and if you haven’t experienced it before, you are likely to seek it out again for years to come.
Using Dorgali as our base, we will explore the untamed heart of Sardinia, the Gennargentu mountains. You will hike from a verdant riverside valley deep into the marble hills to the ancient village of Tiscali, built by an earlier civilization into a rocky crevice in order to hide from coastal raiders. We will hide from no one, and will return to our agriturismo for another homemade feast, washed down, perhaps, by the farm’s own wine and mirto, the inviting Sardinian liqueur made from myrtle. We will return to the coast and the limestone cliffs the next day to hike high above the sea from the small town of Cala Gonone to the pinch-yourself-beautiful beach of Cala Luna for a picnic and unforgettable swim.
From the east coast, we will transit to the west and the village of Putzu Idu. We will base ourselves here for two nights in order to explore the calmer waters, powdery beaches, and the ancient history visible in the Phoenician ruins at Tharros at the base of the Capo San Marco peninsula. Making our way north, we’ll spend a night in the charming riverside town of Bosa, sleeping under the imposing walls of the Castello Malaspina high above the town. And finally, after one last cliffside hike through the myrtle and rosemary, we will reach the ancient town of Alghero, where we will walk the town’s fortifications, now filled with inviting seaside restaurants and bars, to our own celebratory farewell dinner. We will offer complimentary transfers to the Alghero airport on our last morning together.
