South West Sardinia - May 2024

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12 May 2024: Mandas and Santa Vittoria

We arrived at Mandas at lunchtime which gave us the afternoon to try out the hire bikes
We cycled up through Serri to visit the Nuragic site at Santa Vittoria
The Nuragic civilization developed and occupied the site from 1600 BC to 800 BC
We returned to Mandas through Escolca and Gergei
In Escola there was a fete with the main street lined with stalls

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We headed westwards to the Su Nuraxi di Barumini which contains the best examples of nuraghi
Nuraghi are unique to Sardinia, they are conical defensive towers containing internal chambers
Several large coach parties arrived before us so, after taking coffee in the cafe, we decided to press on
All the villages we passed through contained numerous murals depicting historic events or the local countryside
Just outside Sardara we found our accommodation for the night - an expensive spa.

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Today we passed over a flat agricultural plain, before beginning a climb into the mountains
In May numerous varieties of wild flowers were out, supporting many butterflies
Our overnight stop was in an agrotourismo, with a multi-course set meal

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After a final short climb to Passo Bidderi (492m) we descended towards the Mediterranean coast
On the way down we diverted to visit the old mining town of Fluminimaggiore, which had an amazing set of murals
We reached the coast at Portixeddu at the northern end of a 4 km long sandy beach
At its southern end is another old port, Buggeru, which served the mining community
There is spectacular rocky scenery along the coast
We dropped down to the sandy beach at Cala Domestica for lunch, although we were plagued by flies
More climbing, and more dramatic scenery, took us to our overnight stop in Nebida

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More coastal scenery took us to Portoscuso, where we took the ferry across to Carloforte on the island of San Petro
From here we went south to explore the Island's beautiful south-east corner
There were stunning cliffs and tiny coves to explore
We returned to Portoscuso to explore its back streets ... and to find some shade
Finally we caught the ferry over to Calasetta on the Island of St Antioco
We were two of only 25 passengers allowed on the crossing as it carried explosives - a petrol tanker

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We followed the north coast of the Island of Sant'Antioco to its capital, also called Sant'Antioco, for coffee
then crossed the causeway back onto Sardinia
We stopped at the village of Tratalias Vecchio which was abandoned because of the construction of a large reservoir nearby
We then climbed over two mountain passes before dropping into our overnight stop in Teulada

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From Teulada we dropped down to the south coast at Porto Budello
The route then followed the coast eastwards ... at first rocky with numerous climbs and descents
then gradually flatter with long sandy beaches
At regular intervals we encountered defensive towers, most of which were constructed around the 16th Century
Approaching our overnight stop in Pula we diverted onto the peninsula which houses the ancient city of Nora
Nora was a Phoenician city in the 8th century BC, in the 3rd century BC it was taken over by the Romans

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After our cycling exertions, we spent our final day in Sardinia's capital, Cagliari
We visited the Botanic Gardens, the Roman amphitheatre, the Municipal Art Gallery
the Cathedral and several towers, as well as the harbour

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