Most people who book a week in this part of Sardinia plan to do one thing: lie on the beach. Then on day three the wind shifts, or the kids get bored of sand, or someone says the words let's go see something, and suddenly the question is what.
This is the answer. Fifteen day trips reachable from Badesi (or anywhere in the Gallura coast), ordered by drive time so you can budget by effort. Half are under an hour. Three are full-day commitments. One involves a ferry to France. None of them are bad.
Where it matters, we've also linked to our companion post on the 15 best beaches in North Sardinia — because three of these day trips are really beach trips wearing a sightseeing hat.
How to use this list
- Half-day trips (#1–#5) — leave after breakfast, back for lunch on the terrace.
- Full-day commitments (#10–#15) — early start, dinner out, home at sunset.
- Iconic stops — Castelsardo, La Maddalena, Asinara, Porto Cervo. Pick at least one per stay.
- Off the tourist trail — Tempio + Aggius, Vignola Mare hike, Prehistoric Gallura. Pick one of these too.
If you only have time for three, our default recommendation is Castelsardo + La Maddalena + one inland trip (Tempio or the prehistoric loop). It gives you a sea view, a boat day, and a glimpse of the Sardinia tourists never see.
1. Castelsardo — 25 min west
The closest "real" town to Badesi, and one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia — Italy's officially designated most beautiful villages. From the road it looks like one of those Tuscan hilltop towns transplanted to the sea: a tight cluster of houses winding up a rocky outcrop, crowned by the Castello dei Doria, the 12th-century fortress the town grew around.
The castle now houses the Mediterranean Basket Weaving Museum (Museo dell'Intreccio Mediterraneo) — much more interesting than it sounds, and the basket-weaving tradition you'll see ladies doing on doorsteps in the old town actually predates the Romans. Go up to the castle for the view across the Gulf of Asinara on a clear day, then wander down through the cobbled streets and have lunch in the harbour.
- Best for: a half-day trip, lunch with sea views, anyone who likes walkable old towns.
- Eat at: La Trattoria del Porto for grilled fish on the harbour; or Da Ugo (book ahead) for the local lobster spaghetti.
- Skip if: you don't like steep cobbles. The town is vertical.
- Combine with: a stop at Lu Bagnu beach on the way back if you want to swim.
2. Vignola Mare Hike — 25 min east + ~3 h walk
The best half-day walk on this stretch of coast. The path runs from Portobello di Gallura along the coast east to Vignola Mare and back — easy gradient, dramatic granite scenery, and the Torre di Vignola (a 16th-century Spanish watchtower) waiting at the eastern end as your turnaround point. About 3 hours round-trip at a relaxed pace.
The hike doesn't get crowded because most people who stop at Vignola Mare drive in for the beach. Walking gets you the bits between the beaches — small coves, granite scrambles, panoramic stops with the open Mediterranean on your left and rolling green Gallura on your right.
- Best for: walkers, anyone who wants to see this coast at human pace rather than 90 km/h on the SP90.
- Bring: water, sunscreen, sturdy trainers (no need for hiking boots).
- Best time: early morning in summer, or any time in May/June/September.
- End with: a swim at Vignola Mare beach and lunch at the small village.
3. Costa Paradiso coastal hike → Cala di Li Cossi — 30 min
Costa Paradiso is a unique stretch of coast — the granite goes pink, the scrub goes silver, and a 30-minute walk down a marked path from the village delivers you to Cala di Li Cossi, one of the most photogenic hidden beaches in Sardinia. No facilities at the beach (bring water and food), but the swimming is exceptional and the cove rarely gets crowded because of the walk.
The trail is straightforward — a coastal scrub path with some rocky bits near the end. Allow 90 minutes round-trip plus however long you want at the beach. Pair it with lunch at one of the village restaurants on your way back.
- Best for: walkers who want a beach as the reward.
- Skip if: you have small kids who'll struggle on the path, or it's already 30°C at 9am.
- Bonus: more on the beach itself in our beaches guide.
4. Tempio Pausania + Aggius — 50 min inland
The inland trip almost no beach tourist makes. Tempio Pausania sits at 566m altitude in the granite mountains of central Gallura — cool air, narrow stone streets, traditional cork and wool industries still active, and an entirely different Sardinia from the coast. Aggius, fifteen minutes further west, is a tiny artisan village with two small museums (the Museo del Banditismo — yes, the Bandit Museum — and the Museo MEOC of ethnography and traditional textiles) that punch way above their weight.
Pace it as a half-day morning loop: coffee in Tempio's main square, walk through the historic centre, drive to Aggius for the museums, lunch at one of the trattorias serving genuine inland Gallurese food (suckling pig, zuppa gallurese, cork-aged cheeses), back down to the coast for an afternoon swim.
- Best for: anyone tired of the beach, food enthusiasts, people interested in the real working Sardinia.
- Don't expect: bars, beach cafés, anything coastal. This is the mountains.
- Best season: ideal in summer because it's 5–8°C cooler than the coast.
5. Alghero — 1 h south-west
A walled Catalan-Sardinian city by the sea — the most European-feeling town in North Sardinia. Alghero was a Catalan colony from the 14th century onwards, and Catalan is still spoken as a living language here by some of the older population. The old town inside the walls is genuinely lovely: narrow cobbled streets, a cathedral, a Jewish quarter, and the bastions for sunset cocktails with Capo Caccia floating on the horizon.
Two add-ons make Alghero a great full day:
- Neptune's Grottos (Grotte di Nettuno) — boat trip from the port (~1h crossing each way) into vast sea caves carved into the cliffs of Capo Caccia. Touristy, but the caves themselves are spectacular.
- Anghelu Ruju — a 5,000-year-old prehistoric necropolis (38 rock-cut tombs), 15 minutes north of Alghero. Quiet, free of tour buses, deeply strange.
- Best for: a full-day cultural trip, anyone who's sick of just beaches.
- Eat at: Trattoria Lo Romaní in the old town for the local lobster spaghetti (aragosta alla catalana).
- Park: pay-to-park along Via Garibaldi outside the walls.
6. Stintino + La Pelosa + Tonnara museum — 1 h west
The standard reason to drive to Stintino is to see La Pelosa, the postcard beach with the Aragonese tower. Most visitors arrive at the beach, lie down, swim, and leave. They miss the rest of Stintino, which is a charming small fishing-village-turned-resort with a real history worth learning about.
The MUT (Museo della Tonnara) is genuinely good. Stintino was founded in 1885 by 45 fishing families relocated from Asinara when the island became a prison, and they brought their tuna-fishing tradition with them — the mattanza, the elaborate communal trap-and-kill of bluefin tuna once practised in this corner of the Mediterranean. The museum tells the whole story with original equipment, video, and old photos, and it takes about 90 minutes to do well.
Plan: morning at La Pelosa (book your permit ahead!), lunch in Stintino village, afternoon at the MUT, then back to Beach Base for sunset.
- La Pelosa permit: book at parcodiportoconte.it. Cap of 1,500 visitors/day in summer.
- Eat at: Sparteddu in the village for fish.
- Skip if: you can't book La Pelosa. Drive instead to Le Saline — same area, no permit.
7. Santa Teresa di Gallura + Capo Testa — 1 h east
The northernmost town in Sardinia, with views across the Strait of Bonifacio to Corsica on a clear day. Santa Teresa is small, walkable, and built on a granite headland that drops down to Rena Bianca beach via a stepped path. The town centre — Piazza Vittorio Emanuele — is the kind of small Italian square you sit in for a coffee and find yourself still there three hours later.
The day-trip move is to combine the town with Capo Testa, the granite headland 15 minutes' drive west. Capo Testa is a wind-sculpted, moonlike landscape of granite boulders and small swimming coves — short walking trails connect them and the bigger coves like Cala Spinosa are perfect for a swim. Bring water shoes; the entries from the rocks are sharp.
- Day shape: morning at Capo Testa, lunch in Santa Teresa, afternoon swim at Rena Bianca, dinner back home.
- Eat at: Ristorante Da Thomas for proper seafood, or any of the bars on the main square for a casual lunch.
The "extra day" addition: Bonifacio, Corsica. From Santa Teresa's port, ferries cross the strait to Bonifacio in 50 minutes (Moby Lines, Blu Navy — book ahead in summer). It's a lovely day trip if you've got a spare day on a longer stay — the cliff-top citadel is genuinely spectacular — but you'll lose 4 hours to crossings, so it's not a casual add-on. If you're committed: leave Beach Base at 7:30am, on the 9am ferry, lunch in Bonifacio, 4pm ferry back, dinner in Santa Teresa.
8. Vermentino winery day in Gallura — 5 min – 1 h east
Gallura is the only Sardinian wine region with DOCG status (the highest Italian quality classification), and Vermentino di Gallura — a crisp, mineral, slightly saline white — is the wine you'll be drinking with every plate of seafood here. Pace a winery day as a 3-stop loop, with the most famous names.
- Cantina Li Duni (Badesi, 5 min) — our local. Family winery in the valley, sea views over the vineyards. Daytime tastings are casual and friendly; their unique selling point is the evening "wine + stargazing" sessions in summer.
- Cantina Surrau (Arzachena, 1 h east) — the architectural showpiece. Modern building, art gallery, organised tasting flights with food pairings. Book ahead.
- Cantina Capichera (Arzachena, 1 h east) — the prestige producer. Their Vendemmia Tardiva is among the best Vermentinos in Italy. Tastings by appointment only and they do book up.
A working day-trip rhythm: Surrau in the morning (lighter tastings, food), drive to Capichera for the prestige flight in the early afternoon, back to Li Duni in time for sunset. Decide who's driving before you start.
- Cost: tastings range from €15 (Li Duni) to €40+ (Capichera) per person.
- Best for: anyone interested in wine, romantic days, slightly older travellers.
- Don't: combine with the Costa Smeralda trip in the same day. It's too much.
9. Prehistoric Gallura — Coddu Vecchiu + Nuraghe La Prisgiona — 1 h east
Sardinia is covered in nuraghe — Bronze Age stone towers that look like nothing else in the world — and tombs of giants, ceremonial mass graves with these striking carved stone slabs at one end. The biggest concentration is in central and southern Sardinia, but Gallura has two excellent sites you can do as a single morning trip, near Arzachena.
Tomba dei Giganti di Coddu Vecchiu is the more striking of the two — a 4,000-year-old Bronze Age tomb with a 4m-tall central monolith, set in an open meadow surrounded by olive trees. The atmosphere is what makes it: it's almost always empty, the wind moves through the grass, and you'll find yourself standing alone in front of something older than the pyramids of Giza.
Nuraghe La Prisgiona, 10 minutes' drive away, is the standard-issue example of a nuraghe complex — central tower, secondary towers, surrounding village ruins, well at the centre. Less atmospheric than Coddu Vecchiu but interesting for the scale.
- Cost: ~€7 each, combined ticket available.
- Hours: typically 9–13 and 15–19 (closed in the heat of the afternoon).
- Best for: history fans, anyone curious about pre-Roman Sardinia, photographers.
- Combine with: lunch in Arzachena (try Trattoria Antica Funtana) and the Costa Smeralda afterwards.
10. San Pantaleo — 1 h 10 east
A tiny village in the granite hills behind the Costa Smeralda, San Pantaleo is what the Costa Smeralda would have looked like before the Aga Khan got hold of it. Granite cottages, a small piazza dominated by an unlikely twin-bell-towered church, a handful of artisan shops and art galleries, and two of the area's best fine-dining restaurants (Giagoni and Il Pomodoro) for dinner.
The Thursday morning market is the right time to come if you can — it draws makers and stalls from all over Gallura and turns the small piazza into a different place entirely. Otherwise, San Pantaleo is a half-day trip best paired with something else (Porto Cervo nearby for the contrast, or the prehistoric sites for the cultural pairing).
- Best for: a Thursday market morning, dinner in a peaceful setting, anyone who wants the inland-Gallura aesthetic without the inland drive.
- Eat at: Giagoni for a special-occasion dinner; the Bar Centrale on the square for an afternoon spritz.
11. Porto Pollo — kitesurf & windsurf village — 1 h 10 east
Porto Pollo is a curiosity. A long, low isthmus of sand connects the Sardinian mainland to Isola dei Gabbiani ("Island of the Gulls"), creating two bays with completely different conditions: flat water on one side, choppy waves on the other, and the wind funnelling between them. The result is widely considered the best kitesurfing and windsurfing spot in the Mediterranean, and a small village of surf schools, board rentals, beach bars and casual restaurants has grown around it.
You don't have to surf to enjoy a day here. The vibe is relaxed and international (lots of German, Dutch, French), the beach is fine for swimming when the wind is light, the bars on the isthmus are perfect for an afternoon spritz with kitesurfers wheeling overhead, and the sunset over the bay is one of the area's best.
- Lessons: several schools (try MB Pro Center or Sporting Club Sardinia). Beginner kite/windsurf lessons run ~€80–120 for a half-day group session.
- Best for: anyone who wants to try kite or windsurfing, families with teenagers, anyone curious about a different North Sardinia sub-culture.
- Combine with: a half-day on the boat from Palau to La Maddalena — Palau is 15 min from Porto Pollo, so you can morning-boat-tour and afternoon-aperitivo on the isthmus.
12. Porto Cervo & the Costa Smeralda — 1 h 15 east
The famously expensive bit. Porto Cervo was developed from nothing in the 1960s by the Aga Khan, who fell in love with this stretch of coast and built a master-planned village that does a remarkable job of mimicking organic Mediterranean architecture. Designer boutiques line the Promenade du Port, a marina full of superyachts where €100m boats are tied up next to the cafés, and the whole thing is a genuine spectacle that's worth seeing once.
The trick is to enjoy it without spending a fortune. Park at the public lot near the church (free), wander the promenade for an hour (windows of Cartier, Dior, Hermès — pretend), get an aperitivo at one of the cheaper bars (a €10 spritz is standard), then drive 5 minutes to Spiaggia del Principe for the Costa Smeralda landscape without the price tag — it's covered in our beaches guide.
- Best for: a half-day for the spectacle, photographers, people-watching, anyone curious about the very expensive end of Italian summer.
- Eat at: definitely not in Porto Cervo proper unless you want to spend €100/head. Drive 5 min to Cala di Volpe village for cheaper restaurants, or save your appetite for San Pantaleo.
13. La Maddalena Archipelago by boat — full day (1 h drive to Palau)
The mandatory Sardinian boat day. The Arcipelago di La Maddalena is a national park of seven main islands and forty smaller ones off the north-east tip of Sardinia, with water in shades of turquoise that look digitally enhanced and beaches you can only reach by sea. Most boat tours run from Palau (1h drive from Beach Base) and last 6–7 hours, stopping at 3–4 swimming beaches.
The standard route: Spargi (with the famous Cala Corsara — three perfect coves of white sand), Budelli (for views of the protected Spiaggia Rosa, where you can no longer set foot but you can swim offshore), Santa Maria (lunch on board, often included), and a stop near La Maddalena town. Most operators include lunch and unlimited drinks; expect €55–75 per person depending on boat size.
- Booking: book the day before. Touristy operators (the big multi-deck boats with 100+ passengers) are fine if you want an easy day. Smaller boats (12–20 passengers) are dramatically nicer and usually €15–20 more.
- Best for: everyone, once. It's the iconic day trip.
- Skip if: you get seasick and don't want to take medication, or weather looks rough.
- Combine with: a stop at Porto Pollo on the way back for sunset (15 min from Palau).
14. Asinara National Park — full day (1 h drive + ferry)
Asinara was one of Italy's most secure prisons — high-profile mafiosi were held here for over a century — and was completely off-limits to civilians until 1998. Now it's a national park, and the result is the cleanest, emptiest, most pristine corner of Sardinia we know. There are no permanent residents, no roads (well, almost), no shops past the visitors' centre, and a small herd of wild albino donkeys that the prison wardens left behind.
You get there by ferry — most easily from Stintino (45 min crossing, several daily in summer; book ahead) — landing at Cala Reale, the former prison settlement which now houses the visitors' centre. From there, you choose your transport: organised park bus (cheapest), 4x4 jeep tour (most flexible), or — our favourite — rent an eBike and explore independently. The island is small enough to do a 30km loop in a day.
The standard day: ferry across at 9:00, eBike to Cala Sabina and a couple of other beaches, lunch at the visitors' centre restaurant (try the local lamb), donkeys at sunset, ferry back at 17:30.
- Cost: ~€20 ferry + €25–35 eBike or €40+ jeep tour, per person.
- Best for: anyone who wants the strangest, emptiest beaches in Sardinia. And albino donkeys.
- Skip if: you can't commit a full day, or you want creature comforts. This is a national park, not a resort.
15. Bosa — 2 h south-west
The longest drive on this list — and worth it. Bosa is a small town built along the Temo river (Sardinia's only navigable river), with pastel-coloured houses climbing the hill towards the medieval Castello di Serravalle. The architecture is unique in Sardinia, the river setting is unique in Italy, and walking through the old town feels like wandering into a different country entirely.
The drive itself is part of the trip. The road from Alghero south to Bosa hugs the coast for 45 km of switchbacks above the cliffs of the Sinis peninsula — wild, mostly empty, dotted with small lookouts where you stop and just stare at the water. Allow 2 hours for the drive each way; allow 4–5 hours in Bosa itself.
- Best for: a full-day commitment, photographers, anyone who's done the closer day trips and wants something visually different.
- Eat at: Sa Pischedda in Bosa Marina for the local malloreddus with bottarga.
- Skip if: you only have a long weekend — the drive eats too much of the day. Save it for a stay of 7+ nights.
Which one should I pick?
Honest matchups, by trip type:
- First-time visitors, only one day trip: La Maddalena boat day. Iconic, easy, memorable.
- Family with kids: Castelsardo morning + a beach afternoon. Or Stintino + La Pelosa.
- Foodies / wine people: Vermentino winery loop, ending at San Pantaleo for dinner.
- Walkers: Vignola Mare hike or Costa Paradiso → Li Cossi.
- History buffs: Prehistoric Gallura morning + Alghero afternoon (combine in one big day).
- A "different Sardinia" day: Tempio Pausania + Aggius. Mountains, cork, suckling pig.
- Adrenaline / teens: Porto Pollo for kitesurf or windsurf lessons.
- One memorable big day: Asinara — the strangest day you'll have here.
- The just-for-the-spectacle day: Costa Smeralda + San Pantaleo for the contrast.
- An ambitious extra day on a longer stay: Bonifacio (Corsica) via Santa Teresa, or Bosa.
If you're staying with us at Beach Base, the rough plan we recommend most often for a 7-night stay is: 3 beach days + 2 nearby day trips + 1 big day trip + 1 unscheduled day. So out of these 15: pick 2 from the closer ones (Castelsardo, Vignola Mare hike, Costa Paradiso, Tempio + Aggius, Stintino, Santa Teresa, Vermentino, San Pantaleo, prehistoric, Porto Pollo) and 1 from the bigger commitments (La Maddalena, Asinara, Costa Smeralda, Alghero, or Bosa).
The unscheduled day is non-negotiable. Some of the best afternoons we've had here came from cancelling whatever we'd planned and walking down to Li Junchi at 4pm with a book.
Photo credits: most images on this page are licensed from Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons (CC BY / CC BY-SA / CC0). Photographers credited: Gianni Careddu, Capra Sabrina, Gzzz, and the contributors to the Wikipedia articles for Costa Paradiso, Tempio Pausania, Alghero, Stintino, Santa Teresa, Vermentino di Gallura, San Pantaleo, Porto Cervo, La Maddalena, Asinara, Coddu Vecchiu, and Porto Pollo. We're in the process of replacing these with our own photography.