‘You crazy! Crazy!’ A woman points at our bikes and down towards the hill we’ve just climbed, shaking her head. She turns, laughs and jumps in her red two-door Fiat, and disappears over the rise. What she didn’t know is that we’re 150 kilometres (km) into a 210km, week-long cycle around south Sardinia. She’s not wrong about the hill though, it was tough, but the views more than made up for the challenge of today’s 550 metres of climbing.
Today is day four of our UTracks self-guided cycle and it’s been the most scenic. We’re in the Teulada region, on our way to the coastal town of Chia, which is close to the southernmost point of Sardinia, and there’s no mistaking you’re in the Mediterranean.
Cliffs cleave into emerald waters and bathers lay on sugar-white sand under multi-coloured umbrellas. But crowds? There’s none of it. While the northern part of the island – known as a playground for the mega-wealthy with plenty of flash resorts – can be heaving with tourists in the peak season, southern Sardinia is the quieter cousin, making it the perfect place for those who prefer to pedal than pose on beaches.
The road less travelled
We start our Italian sojourn in Rome to get us in the right time zone, and then make the one-hour flight to Sardinia’s main airport, Cagliari. From here, it’s a roughly one-hour drive to the starting point of our cycle, the island of Sant’Antioco, which is connected by a causeway to Sardinia.
We drive past pink salt ponds and bucolic countryside, but the pièce de résistance comes when we check into our room at MuMA Hostel, where you can lay in bed and listen to the lap of the ocean and watch boats bob in the sparkling sea. That afternoon we jump on our bikes to test them out and acquaint ourselves with this picturesque village lined with pastel-coloured houses, where the smell of salt and fresh seafood fills the air.
The following morning, we have breakfast al fresco and load our pannier bags to officially begin our cycle. We are using a GPS tracker app, ‘Ride with GPS’, which we downloaded before our trip. It has maps of our rides each day of the week with information on elevation, miles and a description of where we’re going. Much like maps on the phone, it talks to us as we cycle, giving us directions, making it easy for any level of cyclist to use.
Day one is a gentle start, taking us to the village of Calasetta in the far north of Sant’Antioco, where we board a ferry with our bikes to Carloforte, the only town on the island of San Pietro. This ‘island off an island off an island’ is home to about 6000 people. Much like Sant’Antioco, it is lined with pastel-coloured houses and narrow cobbled streets, known as caruggi.
We cycle off the ferry and through the main street, lined with restaurants, and do a loop of the southern part of the island past vineyards, rolling fields dotted with farmhouses and roads lined with prickly pear cacti, which seems to grow everywhere.
The odd car whizzes past, but often we’re the only ones on the road. The cars that do pass seem to almost expect you here, and give you a wide berth. Back on the ferry to Sant’Antioco we check our distance on Strava and are surprised to see what felt like a short scenic ride was actually 48 kilometres.
The following day we ride a loop around the south of Sant’Antioco, reaching the top of a hill where we take in the postcard-worthy views of Maladroxia Beach through a mass of burgundy-coloured bougainvillea. This picturesque beach is too good to pass by and we head back down the hill to take a dip in the gin-clear waters and eat gelato, forgetting we’d have to make our way back up the almost vertical road. But it’s a short ride today, only 23.5 kilometres. We end the day doing 250 metres of climbing, which proves to be the perfect taster of the hills yet to come.
These first few days have given us a great insight into Sardinian life. We learn that the island is closer to Africa than Italy. It has its own language, “closer to Spanish than Italian” and while many Italians can understand it, they can’t often speak it. We become accustomed with the local food, including a pasta specific to this region called fregola, which looks much like sago, and is often served with clams in a fresh tomato base. We drink local beer, Ichnusa, which seems to be the beverage of choice everywhere we go (other than Aperol spritz) and we learn to become accustomed to the slower pace of life. Nothing here happens in a rush. Life is to be savoured, much like the food.
The secrets of a Blue Zone
The next day we reluctantly farewell Sant’Antioco and MuMA Hostel. More than a hotel, MuMA is also home to a museum and the Ceas Isola di Sant’Antioco (Environmental and Sustainability Education Centre), so you leave filled with knowledge about the important role the master shipwrights played in this region.
Today, we’re headed away from the seaside to the hinterland of the Teulada region. We pack our pannier bags and leave our suitcases at the accommodation to follow. A blessing of a tour like this means larger bags are transported for you to your next accommodation.
We cycle alongside vast fields of farmland and then wind the narrow streets of the abandoned medieval village of Tratalias. Once the main town in the Sulcis region, it was abandoned in the 1980s after the creation of an artificial lake where water seeped into the homes, forcing everyone to leave. Now it’s a tourist attraction, although there’s not a single person here when we cycle through the eerie streets.
Onwards we go until we reach our farmstay, Agriturismo Terranieddas, tucked deep in the hinterland of Teulada. Blink and you’ll miss the sign to this unassuming property, but the locals know it’s here, and when we have dinner that night, the small al fresco dining space is full. It’s a fixed home-cooked menu using ingredients sourced mostly from the farm, including the region’s specialty, suckling pig, and with carafes of local wine to match, we sleep soundly.
I am fascinated to learn this area is Sardinia’s newest Blue Zone. There are only five original ‘Blue Zones’ in the world (Sardinia’s central region was one of them), and Teulada is Sardinia’s latest region to gain the accolade (November 2023). The term was coined by author, explorer and longevity researcher, Dan Buettner, to describe the regions where people live the longest, healthiest lives.
With some time on our side, I head into town where I meet local historian and author, Salvatore Loi, and the head of the local council’s cultural sector, Francesca Bernardini, who tell me it took the local council ten years to prepare for the status. But they were confident they’d achieve it.
“It’s not just that locals are living to an old age here,” Bernardini tells me. “None of them have had any serious illness. It’s rare to see anyone with dementia or Parkinson’s.”
Loi’s extensive research had documented every centenarian, and those close to it. He found many similarities in the way they lived that could give away their secrets to longevity.
“People who kept goats lived longer,” he says. “So maybe there’s something in the fact they all worked from a young age on the land.”
Loi says they all also rarely ate meat, cooked bread and pasta from scratch, and while wine was always on the table, it was consumed in moderation. A tip I tuck away for post-trip.
The last stretch
The following day we cycle along the coastline to Chia, where the bluer than blue ocean forces us to take pause. Like the rest of the south of Sardinia, it’s a laid-back beach lifestyle with no crowds. We swim in the cerulean waters, wander the icing-sugar-like shore and dine on moreish handmade pasta and pizzas bigger than our plates.
There’s no village here – restaurants are dotted around the region, as is the accommodation. We find a local supermarket and buy some Sardinia wine to take home (and drink in moderation, of course), because there’s definitely something in the water here, or maybe it’s the wine. There’s a holiday feel here, the sun is out, and everyone is soaking it up. Dining al fresco, bathing on the largely empty stretch of beach, or chatting to each other on the street – a common occurrence among all ages.
On our last official cycle day, we leave Chia and ride up the coast past a medieval ‘savoy tower’ built in the 17thcentury, through tree-lined streets, and past seemingly endless beaches to the bunting-lined cobbled streets of Pula – and I think I may have just stepped into a fairytale.
Our hotel Villa Madau is in the heart of the city, overlooking St John Baptist Church. From here we sit on our balcony and watch as people wander the pretty square. We have booked a few extra days here, and I am grateful for it. If there is an award for Italy’s prettiest town, Pula would surely win. I spend hours wandering the cobbled streets, then sip Aperol spritz and watch the world go by in the little central square.
We also visit the nearby ancient site of Nora (4th-century BC). Excavations in the 50s revealed a wealthy imperial Roman city, with remains of a temple and theatre. We wander the ruins and learn about the way the Romans once lived, then bike back to the centre of Pula for more plates of pasta before we have to prepare to go home.
It’s a bittersweet ending, our legs are sore, but I am not ready to leave. I pine for the hills and those pretty views where fiats whizz tight bends. I long to go back and wander the abandoned village of Tratalias. I want to linger longer on the sparkling Mediterranean beaches with colours so vivid it’s as if a texter was taken to them. And I eye apartments in Pula and imagine myself living right here. Cycling by day and savouring the Sardinian cuisine by night.
When we are picked up the next day and leaving the cobbled streets of Pula, I am filled with hope that this southern region of the island retains its casual, quiet charm, because there are few places that offer such a special place for cyclists.
‘You must come back,’ our driver tells us as he pulls our bags from the car at the airport.
‘Oh, believe me, we will.’ I say. And I mean it.
Fact file
See Utracks for info on this and other cycle tours in Italy.
The cycle begins in Sant’Antioco, around a one-hour drive from Cagliari airport.
You will need a good level of fitness to complete the week-long cycle, however, e-bikes can be provided on request. The ride is also suitable for all ages.
Our cycle was a little more than 210 kilometres; however, you can cycle this in around 130 kilometres if you stick strictly to the GPS map.
Day 1: takes you from Sant’Antioco to the island of San Pietro
Day 2: is a circuit of southern Sant’Antioco
Day 3: takes you into the hinterland of Teulada – a Blue Zone
Day 4: sees you cycle from Teulada to the seaside region of Chia
Day 5: is a short ride around Chia
Day 6: takes you from Chia to the town of Pula
Day 7: is a look around the Pula region
