Cycling in Sardinia; a beautiful landscape all to yourself.

Sardinia; a beautiful Italian island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, just off Corsica. The island is about half the size of the Netherlands and has about 1.65 million inhabitants, a third of whom live in the cities. Outside of the cities, you feel like you’re in a pristine and pure landscape. Beautiful coastal towns with bays where the sea is crystal clear alternate with long beaches, and inland you come across charming villages where simplicity reigns supreme. The island has areas where it is flatter (you almost feel like you’re in the Netherlands with an Italian touch), and then the hills and the Gennargentu or Supramonte mountain range reappear, which dominate the east coast and the interior of the island with rock formations and picturesque valleys. It is an island where the landscape is very diverse. Cycling in Sardinia is fantastic – whether you like to cycle on the road or prefer to explore the unpaved paths. And whether you prefer the rugged interior or would rather seek out the beautiful coves.

Text and photography by Maks Groeneveld and Jeffrey Wiese – @outfor.adventures

Sardinia in the autumn

When Jeffrey and Maks and I made the crossing from Italy to Spain in late October, we decided to travel via Sardinia. As cycling and hiking enthusiasts, we planned two hikes and two days on the bike there. This month is perfect because it’s still warm and sunny. It’s even warm enough for a quick dip in the sea after a day of adventure. And what a difference when we look at photos from the high season on Google; the beautiful bays lose all their beauty due to all the tourism. In autumn you have the beaches and roads to yourself, and the climate is fantastic!

Sardinia has surprised us immensely. The fine Italian culture – but just a little bit more ‘calm‘ – and the great variety of landscapes are reasons why we will definitely be back here. In this article, we would like to share our findings and two cycling routes with you.

Cycling in Sardinia

This time we brought our gravel bikes. But we would really like to come back with the road bikes sometime! After a month of traveling around Italy, the roads in Sardinia were a real treat. Most motorways have good, smooth roads, and outside the high season it is extremely quiet on the roads. There are numerous beautiful routes where the roads meander through the hills or mountains. Not many hairpin bends, but plenty of nice long straight stretches and gradually increasing elevation changes; we love them. But if you prefer the hairpin bends and steep climbs, you can also find fantastic routes here. One of the more famous climbs is the Monte Limbara; it is over 10 kilometers long and has an average gradient of 7.1%. 

Travel tip: We learned from a local that the road between the towns of Tortoli and Dorgoli is beautiful. Incidentally, we had to drive this route with the camper that day, so we skipped the biking part. But we absolutely understand why they chose to do that. This road runs through the mountainous area of the Supramonte and offers beautiful views. We really enjoyed it from the camper bus!

Mountain biking in Sardinia

With the gravel bike you can go in even more directions. For example, you can tackle mountain roads where the asphalt is just a little less good, like The beautiful route to Perde Liana – a particularly rugged rocky massif located inland from the town of Tortoli. This is also a route we drove in our camper, but all we could think about was: what a beautiful experience this would be with a gravel bike! Although we were glad that the top was so accessible with our camper, we strongly recommend this route with a road bike. As you get closer to the top, the asphalt gets worse, with sometimes large holes in the road. A gravel bike is the perfect way to explore this kind of beautiful landscape.

From a local we learned that many beautiful gravel roads just end somewhere and that you have to drive them as a round trip. For ourselves, we have nevertheless found two beautiful routes with a good combination of gravel and asphalt. We share these routes at the bottom of this article.

Friendly people and dogs

Every gravel biker knows this; you set off on a gravel route in an unfamiliar country and end up accidentally near a farm, where you’re not sure if you can actually bike there or not. It’s often poorly signposted, and before you know it you have a number of dogs chasing you. We’ve experienced this in countries like Spain and Italy, but In Sardinia, island life seems to have made everyone more relaxed, and in that sense we have not felt unsafe for a single moment.. We drove by accident into a farm in the middle of nowhere, whose owner came driving up and started speaking in an incomprehensible Italian/English accent. With very poor Italian/English, we concluded that we could continue driving through his land. Behind that temperament lies a lot of friendliness and hospitality among those Sardinian people as well. Of course, there are plenty of exceptions, but these islanders seem a little more relaxed here. Just like the dogs – who live among the livestock for protection – that run towards you barking loudly, but stay at a distance and are not aggressive. We often stop when the dogs come, and then it’s already almost time to leave. It’s also quite a sight; those big white dogs with their alertness over the herd, in those peaceful valleys where you can only hear the bells of the cattle around you.

Making your own gravel routes in Sardinia

There aren't many gravel routes to be found in Sardinia yet. Fortunately, you can easily create your own routes. We use the app Komoot to walk all the unpaved paths properly. Avoid paths that run right along a driveway and check via Google Maps Streetview how the beginning of a gravel path looks like. Also, keep a plan B in mind and check the paved paths in the area; that way you can always get back on track if things go wrong.

Gravel routes in the north of Sardinia

The first route starts in Torralba and runs to Ittiri and back. It is also possible to start in Ittiri – this town is located just below the city of Sassari – but please be aware that you should not drive all the way to the starting point. The route starts with a nice stretch of climbing on the paved road. You pass a few beautiful villages, such as Thiesi, where you cycle past beautiful murals and colorful houses. Then it’s time for about 14 kilometers of gravel! The path remains flat until it becomes hilly, with sometimes a slight climb and a nice descent at the end.

Near Ittiri, you turn back onto the paved road, back to Torralba. From there, you climb for 8 kilometers to Bànari. In that village, you drive past a small – typical Italian – square with terrace where we of course took advantage of it as well. Shortly thereafter, you turn back onto the last gravel section. You can also continue cycling here on the road if you wish. It is about the same length and both routes offer beautiful views.

Check the first route here on Komoot.

The second gravel route

This route has a lot fewer kilometers, but trust us; with this one you’ll be in for a treat. The beginning of the route runs along a beautiful path along the coast, but don’t be afraid of a bit of hiking and biking every now and then. You’ll be rewarded with the most beautiful views over the sea and the vast expanse for yourself alone.

From our starting point – a camper site on the coast of the small village of Valledoria – we are hiking, biking, and enjoying the scenery for the first 5 kilometers. After that, you arrive at an idyllic bay. Do not let that discourage you too much, because from there it is a three-kilometer climb on the paved road with percentages up to 14% at the beginning. You continue driving for a while until you turn left. There you quickly find yourself back on the gravel paths. You almost feel like you are far from the traffic and you only encounter a few cows or sheep. It is a fantastic gravel landscape. You almost return to the sea, but you turn again to the southeast. There is actually still one final, beautiful stretch of gravel over an old railway track. After some technical sections on this route, this is a wonderful reward. It’s almost relaxing, this final stretch back to the coast. On the road you drive the last kilometers back to the parking lot.

Check the second route on Komoot here.

Conclusion

Whether you want to mountain bike or cycle (or of course mountain bike) in Sardinia, you can really go in all directions. It is a special island with on the one hand the mountainous landscapes with their special rock formations and real mountain villages, and on the other hand the real coastal towns with clear blue seas. Due to the diversity in the landscape, every cyclist can find fine and challenging routes here. And don’t forget to bring your swimming clothes; the beautiful coast calls for a swim after your ride!