How many days do you need for Sardinia by car?

For a request of eight days, the itinerary comes out at six or nine days depending on the route, with four to six places to sleep. The whole island needs more time.

What is the weather like in April in Sardinia?

It is mild, around 17 °C in the afternoon, and wind is the main limit of the season. It is a month for walking.

Sardinia by car: eight days in April

The region in a few lines

Sardinia is an island of dry mountains, limestone or granite coasts and hilltop villages. On the map, distances look short. On the ground, the roads of the interior are winding and slow. The routes in the itinerary start from Alghero (the classic and the offbeat one) or from Olbia (the one built on the request), and all three end in Cagliari.

In the east, the Gulf of Orosei, the Golgo plateau and the Gorropu gorge, in the Supramonte. In the northwest, Alghero, the cliffs of Capo Caccia and the island of Asinara; in the far north, the La Maddalena archipelago. In the centre, Orgosolo and its murals. In the south and west, Cagliari, the Piscinas dunes and the island of San Pietro.

What the season does

April is mild: around 17 °C in the afternoon, with days already long. The trails are passable and the great heat has not arrived. Wind is the limit the itinerary lists over the whole period.

Ground reality and weather. Two days of the offbeat route are built around the island of Asinara, and one day of the classic one around the La Maddalena archipelago. Both rely on a ferry with limited departures, whose timetable is not checked here. For Asinara, the itinerary notes that strong spring winds can cause cancellations. Better to know this before booking the nights that follow.

Eight days, what they allow

You asked for eight days; the itinerary comes out at six days for the classic route and nine for the other two. Six days make four places to sleep and five nights, nine days make six places and eight nights. Count on 760 to 980 km of road depending on the route, which is about 10, 14 and 16 and a half hours of driving over the whole trip.

Each route leaves a piece aside. The classic gives up the remote villages of Barbagia, the Costa Verde dunes and the Sulcis. The route built on the request skips the La Maddalena archipelago and the old town of Alghero. The offbeat one gives up Palau, the famous beaches of the Costa Smeralda and the Gulf of Orosei.

Three places in the itinerary set the tone. In the Supramonte, the classic route treks into the deep canyon of the Gorropu gorge. On the Costa Verde, the second hikes through the Piscinas dunes. In Barbagia, the offbeat one walks among the political murals of Orgosolo.

Three ways to fill these eight days

The classic, six days. From Alghero to Cagliari: the walk down to Neptune's Grotto, a boat tour around the islands of Spargi and Budelli, the coastal hike from Cala Fuili to Cala Luna, the Gorropu gorge, then the medieval Castello district and the flamingos of Molentargius in Cagliari. It gives up the interior villages of Barbagia, the Costa Verde dunes and the Sulcis.

According to the request, nine days. From Olbia to Cagliari, between coast and karst: the citadel of Castelsardo, the path to Cala Mariolu, the descent from the Golgo plateau to Cala Goloritzé, the Su Sterru chasm, the Piscinas dunes, then Chia, Capo Spartivento, the ruins of Nora and the beach of Tuerredda. It skips the La Maddalena archipelago and the old town of Alghero.

The offbeat one, nine days. From Alghero to Cagliari: the island of Asinara, the granite trails around San Pantaleo, the murals of Orgosolo and the oak forest of Montes, then Capo Sandalo, on the island of San Pietro. It avoids the famous beaches of the Costa Smeralda and the Gulf of Orosei. It drives more than the other two, about 980 km.

Going further

The three itineraries, with map, day by day and weather for each stage, are on the itinerary: three calculated routes. To leave on other dates or at another pace, have your itinerary reviewed for free or join early access. If you build this kind of trip for clients, the page for agencies describes the feasibility check tool.

How this page is made

The figures and places come from a calculated itinerary, not from a trip we lived. Driving times are calculated on the OpenStreetMap road network, April climate is that of the last five years (historical weather data from Open-Meteo), and the places are those of the itinerary. Sources and their limits are detailed on Our sources and tools.

What we have not checked: ferry timetables, opening times, availability and crowds. A point looks wrong or incomplete to you? Write to us, corrections are published.

Method — The orders of magnitude are those of the published itinerary at the time of writing (calculated route, historical April weather). No timetable or price is quoted.

Sardinia by car: what eight days in April allow