Sardinia Itinerary: 5, 7 and 10 Days

Sardinia is roughly the size of a small country, and the single biggest mistake I see people make is trying to drive all of it in a week. This Sardinia itinerary gives you three realistic routes instead: do 5 days in the north or south (pick one), do 7 days across one half with a couple of base moves, or take 10 days for a proper coast-to-coast loop. A car is assumed throughout. If you’re carless, jump to my Sardinia without a car guide instead.

This is the version I’d hand a friend who asked, “where do I actually sleep, and how far is everything?”

1. Sardinia itinerary at a glance

Here’s the quick decision table. The “route shape” column matters more than people think — a one-way drive needs you to drop the car at a different airport, while a loop returns you to where you started.

A few numbers to anchor everything below. As of 2026, it’s around 2 hours to drive Olbia (north) to Cagliari (south) on the SS131, a little under 2 hours coast-to-coast east–west, and roughly 12 hours of total driving to loop the whole island. There are no motorways or tolls in Sardinia, speed limits sit around 90 km/h on main roads and 50 in towns, and traffic clots up on the northeast coast in July and August. Treat every drive time I give as a realistic range, not a promise — summer beach traffic and one-lane coast roads will stretch them.

If you only remember one rule: don’t pack the car. A day with two hours of driving plus a beach plus a town is a full day. Three “must-sees” separated by an hour each is a day spent looking through a windscreen.

The three mistakes I see again and again: booking a beach-club day in the Costa Smeralda and a wild-south beach in the same five-day trip (they’re four-plus hours apart); assuming Sardinia has motorways, so 200 km must be “two hours” (it’s often closer to three on the coast roads); and changing hotels every single night. Pick the routes below precisely so you avoid all three. Each one is built around the drive times being real, not optimistic.

2. North or south Sardinia? Make this decision first

Before you plan a single night, choose a half. Sardinia’s two airports sit at opposite ends — Cagliari in the deep south, Olbia in the northeast (Alghero in the northwest is a useful third). Where you fly shapes the whole trip.

Go north if it’s your first time, you want the postcard Costa Smeralda water, and island-hopping out to the La Maddalena archipelago is on your list. The north has the famous turquoise and the glossy resort towns. It also has the worst summer crowds and traffic.

Go south if you want a real city to start in, fewer crowds, and a wilder, more local feel. Cagliari is a genuinely good city with a beach (Poetto) inside the city limits, and the southeast coast around Villasimius and Costa Rei holds some of the island’s best sand with a fraction of the Costa Smeralda scene.

My honest take: for a 5-day trip, north edges it for first-timers purely on the strength of the water and La Maddalena. For anyone returning, or anyone who likes a base city, the south is the better-value half. You don’t have to choose between their beaches in the abstract — my best beaches in Sardinia roundup ranks them — but you do have to choose a region, because doing both well needs the full 10 days.

The geography is the whole reason. The north and south aren’t a short hop apart — it’s that ~2-hour SS131 run between Olbia and Cagliari, and that’s before you add the coast detours that are the actual point of coming. So a half-and-half five-day trip spends a third of its daylight just relocating. Commit to one end, and you trade “I saw a bit of everything” for “I actually swam, ate well, and wasn’t exhausted.” That’s a trade worth making every time.

3. 5-day Sardinia itinerary (pick a half)

Five days means one region, full stop. Trying to “sample” north and south in five days is the windscreen trap. Here are two clean 5-day versions.

5 days, north (Olbia base, then Palau)

• Day 1 — Arrive Olbia, settle in. Pick up the car, drop into Olbia or push 40–50 minutes up to Palau. Easy first evening: walk, aperitivo, early night. Sleep: Palau (or Olbia).
• Day 2 — La Maddalena day trip. Car ferry from Palau to the archipelago runs frequently and crosses in around 15 minutes as of 2026 (check the operator for the day’s schedule). Beach-hop Caprera and the smaller calas. Back to Palau for the night. Sleep: Palau.
• Day 3 — Costa Smeralda beaches. Porto Cervo, Baja Sardinia, the Capriccioli beaches. This is short driving (15–30 minutes between stops) and long lounging — the day to settle on one stretch of sand rather than chase five. The big-name beaches here (Grande Pevero, Capriccioli) are gorgeous and genuinely packed in summer, so arrive early or pick a smaller cala nearby. Sleep: Palau or move toward Olbia.
• Day 4 — Capo Testa + Santa Teresa, or inland. The granite headland at Capo Testa near Santa Teresa di Gallura is a 30–40 minute drive and worth a half-day. Sleep: near Olbia.
• Day 5 — Slow morning, fly out of Olbia. One last swim, then the airport.

What to cut if you’re tight: drop the inland day (Day 4) and you’ve got a 4-day north trip that still hits La Maddalena and the Smeralda beaches.

5 days, south (Cagliari, then Villasimius)

• Day 1 — Arrive Cagliari. It’s about 7–10 minutes from Elmas airport into town. Walk the Castello district up top for sunset. Sleep: Cagliari.
• Day 2 — Cagliari proper. Castello, the Marina, and Poetto beach inside the city. No real driving. Sleep: Cagliari.
• Day 3 — Move to the southeast coast. Drive under an hour to Villasimius. Punta Molentis and Porto Giunco are the headline beaches, and the Capo Carbonara headland between them is an easy short walk for the long view. This stretch holds its own against anything in the north, with noticeably thinner crowds. Sleep: Villasimius.
• Day 4 — Costa Rei beaches. Cala Sinzias and the long Costa Rei sand are 30–40 minutes north of Villasimius. Sleep: Villasimius.
• Day 5 — Back to Cagliari, fly out. Under an hour back, with a margin for traffic.

What to cut: skip the Costa Rei day and base all five nights between Cagliari and Villasimius. For where each town actually suits you, see where to stay in Sardinia.

4. 7 days Sardinia itinerary (one half, done well)

Seven days is the sweet spot for most people, and it’s the length I’d book myself. The trick for 7 days Sardinia is still restraint: one half of the island, two or three bases, and you let the beaches and one or two towns breathe. Below is a northwest-to-east version that’s a genuine Sardinia road trip without being a forced march. Fly into Alghero or Cagliari; this works either way with minor tweaks.

• Day 1 — Arrive, settle in Alghero. If you land at Cagliari instead, the drive up is long (push it to a Bosa overnight, below). Alghero has a walled Catalan old town and an easy first evening. Sleep: Alghero.
• Day 2 — Alghero + Capo Caccia. Neptune’s Grotto and the Porto Conte park are ~30 minutes out; do the grotto by boat from the port if the cliff stairs aren’t your thing. Beach time at Le Bombarde. Sleep: Alghero.
• Day 3 — Bosa day or move south to it. Bosa is about an hour from Alghero (roughly 46 km) and is the prettiest river town on the island. Castle, colourful houses, a slow lunch. Sleep: Alghero (or Bosa if you want a change).
• Day 4 — Cross the island to Cala Gonone. This is your one big drive: around 2.5 hours direct, closer to 3.5–4 if you string east-coast beaches together (San Teodoro’s La Cinta is a good break). Sleep: Cala Gonone.
• Day 5 — Gulf of Orosei by boat. Cala Gonone is the launch point for the Gulf of Orosei — Cala Mariolu, Cala Biriola, the cave grottoes. A boat tour beats fighting for the famous Cala Goloritzé hike permit. Sleep: Cala Gonone.
• Day 6 — South toward Cagliari, beach on the way. Around 2.5–3 hours with stops. If you fly out of Cagliari, this is your repositioning day; break it at a Costa Rei beach. Sleep: Cagliari (or Villasimius).
• Day 7 — Cagliari, then fly out. Castello, the Marina, a final swim at Poetto.

Want the northeast instead of the east? Swap Days 4–6 for Palau, La Maddalena, and the Costa Smeralda, sleeping two nights in Palau. Same length, different half. Is seven days enough for Sardinia? Yes — for half of it, comfortably. For all of it, no.

What to cut if you lose a day: drop the second Alghero day and go straight to the cross-island drive. You’ll miss Capo Caccia but keep the best of both coasts.

5. 10-day Sardinia itinerary (the full-island loop)

Ten days is what you need to see “all of it” without living in the car, and even then you’re sampling, not completing. This is an anticlockwise loop from Cagliari, the way a lot of locals route it, with four bases so no single drive is brutal. It folds the 7-day route’s best bits into a longer arc.

• Days 1–2 — Cagliari. Two nights to actually enjoy the city: the four old districts, Poetto beach, the Sella del Diavolo headland, and the flamingos at Molentargius. Sleep: Cagliari.
• Day 3 — Drive to Cala Gonone / Ogliastra. Head up the SS125 east coast, roughly 2.5–3.5 hours depending on stops. Sleep: Cala Gonone.
• Day 4 — Gulf of Orosei. Boat day among the calas, or the Cala Goloritzé hike if you snag a permit. Sleep: Cala Gonone.
• Day 5 — North to Palau, with an inland detour. Around 3 hours if you stop in Barbagia — Orgosolo’s murals are a worthwhile break. Sleep: Palau.
• Day 6 — La Maddalena. Car ferry across (~15 minutes) and a full day in the archipelago. Sleep: Palau.
• Day 7 — Costa Smeralda + Capo Testa. Porto Cervo, Baja Sardinia, then the granite at Capo Testa. Short drives, long swims. Sleep: Palau (or shift toward Castelsardo).
• Day 8 — West along the coast to Alghero. Castelsardo on its cliff, then on to Alghero — figure 2–2.5 hours with the castle stop. Sleep: Alghero.
• Day 9 — Alghero, Capo Caccia, Bosa. Pick two: Neptune’s Grotto, a Nuraghe like Palmavera, or the run down to Bosa. Sleep: Alghero.
• Day 10 — Drive back to Cagliari, fly out. The fast way is back via Sassari onto the SS131 (around 2.5–3 hours). If your flight’s late, detour to Su Nuraxi at Barumini, the island’s most famous Nuragic site. Sleep: airport.

What to cut if you only have 8–9 days: trim a night in Palau or skip the Cagliari second day. The loop survives losing one stop; it does not survive you adding a fifth base.

What a sample 10-day driving day actually looks like

Take Day 5, the run from Cala Gonone up to Palau. On the map it’s a couple of hundred kilometres and the apps say roughly three hours. In practice you leave after breakfast, climb inland through Barbagia, stop in Orgosolo to walk the mural-covered lanes for an hour, grab a long Sardinian lunch somewhere unremarkable and excellent, and roll into Palau by late afternoon with time for a swim before dinner. That’s the whole day — one drive, one town, one beach. Try to bolt a second archaeological site and a third beach onto it and you’ll arrive in the dark, frazzled, having seen everything through glass. This is the rhythm every day on these itineraries is tuned to: move once, then stop moving.

6. Which loop direction and which base setup?

A loop runs fine in either direction, but anticlockwise from Cagliari (south up the east coast, across the north, down the west) has a nice rhythm: you bank the wild east-coast beaches early, hit the Costa Smeralda crowds mid-trip when you’re warmed up to them, and wind down in Alghero’s old town before the drive back. It also keeps your longest single drive — the cross-island leg — in the middle rather than on a jet-lagged Day 1.

On bases: four is the right number for 10 days, three for 7, and one or two for 5. Every time you move base you lose a half-day to packing, checking out, driving, and checking in. That’s the real tax on an over-ambitious route, and it’s why I keep nudging you to do less. For the trade-offs between each town as a home base, lean on the where to stay in Sardinia guide rather than re-deciding it here.

One more loop-direction note: if you’re flying in and out of different airports (say, into Olbia, out of Cagliari), you don’t need a loop at all — a one-way drive down the island is cleaner and saves backtracking. Just confirm the one-way drop fee with your rental company.

7. When to go, and how this changes the plan

Timing changes the itinerary as much as the route does. As of 2026, the broad picture:

• July–August: hottest water, every beach bar open, and the worst of it — packed sand, booked-out hotels, and northeast traffic that turns a 30-minute hop into an hour. If you must go in August, book everything early and lower your daily ambitions further. Ferry and beach-access details shift in peak season, so check the official operator and the comune sites close to your dates.
• June and September: the sweet spot. Warm enough to swim, calmer than the August crush. This is when the itineraries above feel relaxed rather than rushed.
• May and October: lovely and quiet, but the sea can be cold and wind-prone, and some seasonal boats and beach services aren’t running yet (or have stopped). The towns and the driving are at their best; the beaches are a gamble.

A practical August note: the routes above still work, but compress your daily reach. In peak weeks the famous beaches fill by mid-morning, parking fills before that, and some popular coves cap daily numbers or charge for access — Cala Goloritzé and a handful of others have permit or limited-entry systems that change year to year, so confirm the current rules on the official comune or park sites near your travel dates rather than trusting an old blog. Booking the La Maddalena car ferry and any Gulf of Orosei boat in advance is also wise in August. None of this breaks the itineraries; it just rewards starting earlier and aiming for one beach a day instead of three.

For the full month-by-month picture across the country, see the best months for an Italy trip. For broader Italy planning, the Italy itineraries hub and the Italian islands overview both put Sardinia in context, and if you’re tacking the island onto a mainland trip, the southern Italy itinerary pairs naturally with a Cagliari arrival.

9. Final thoughts

Pick a half, pick your number of days, and then resist the urge to add one more stop. A good Sardinia trip is mostly beaches and a couple of towns, with just enough driving to connect them — not a checklist of capes. Sort the beaches with the Sardinia beaches travel guide and the best Italy beaches, nail down your bases, and let the island set the pace.