Rail Wonders of Sardinia

Day 1 Wednesday 7 October

We have options of two late afternoon flights from London Gatwick (Easyjet) and London Heathrow (BA) to Olbia Airport. There are also indirect flights from Bristol and Manchester. Transfer by road (50 minutes) in our tour bus to our hotel near the village of Tempio Pausania. An overland option via Eurostar, a night in Turin, and ferry (from Genoa) is also available.

Rail map of Sardinia (by David Bowker) – Click to enlarge – Creative Commons License

Day 2 Thursday 8 October (B,L)

Nearby is a fascinating narrow-gauge railway line that used to run from Palau on the coast to Sassari. Sadly, only a short section of this line is still open and only for special “green train” rides in the summer months. But it is still an interesting and scenic ride. Our narrow gauge loco-hauled vintage train over the line from Luras to Tempio Pausania. This will be a special train just for our group.

We can also visit the depot at to see the vintage vehicles that are stored here. Lunch by the Nuraghe Majori after which we have a guided tour of this, one of the 10,000 stone towers built on the Island during the bronze age.  At the time of writing we are hoping that more of this line will have reopened by our 2026 visit. Welcome dinner.

Day 3 Friday 9 October (B)

Today we leave Tempio; our private coach will take us by road to  the  Elephant Rock and to the enchanting hamlet of Castelsardo.  A local bus will take us  to the old town and castle which are located high on a peninsula. We will break here for some lunch before driving along the coast to Sorso for a short NG train ride into Sassari (15 minutes)

Enthusiast option: Visit the Sassari ARST rail depot. Only the outside yard is open for visits, there you will see 2 Breda 1930: Wally and Elsa! The names were given to them by the owner of the railways, count Pasquini, he named them after his 2 lovers! Free time to ride the Sassari tram system end-to-end and then the standard gauge train to Porto Torres Marittima. Where you will rejoin  the bus and the rest of the group for the transfer to the hotel in Alghero.

Cultural Option: Our bus and a professional guide will take us to the Basilica Santissima Trinità di Sarcargia, the most important Romanesque site on the island dating from 1116, and Nuraghe Santu Antine. If there is time we will also have a guided walk through Sassari.

Evening train to Alghero for the first of our two nights at the excellent Hotel Alma di Alghero.

Day 4 Saturday 10 October (B)

Enthusiasts:  Today you  transfer by private coach  to Ozieri/Chilivani,  south from Sassari,  to catch the standard gauge train to Sassari, a 45 minute journey. From Sassari  we  then  take the narrow  gauge train back to Alghero.

Culture option: Free day for your own relaxation. A boat ride and a visit to the cave Grotta di Nettuno are recommended. We stay at Hotel Alma di Alghero.

Day 5 Sunday 11 October (B)

Transfer by road southwards along the spectacular coastal road to Bosa Marina, dominated by an imposing medieval castle, where we board another loco-hauled narrow-gauge train to Sindia and then by bus to Macomer,  a junction with both the FS standard gauge railway and another FdS narrow gauge line to Nuoro, the largest city in the interior of the island. Our train should consist of diesel loco type LDe in brown livery with a parcels coach and a beautifully restored “bauchiero” coach dating from 1913 made from varnished wood (but not guaranteed). The journey starts virtually “on the level” along the coast for a while and then twists and turns for a considerable distance to gain height, still giving splendid views of the coast. Lunch will be in a local restaurant in Macomer. Overnight in Macomer.

Day 6 Monday 12 October (B)

After breakfast we’ll check out of our hotel and leave Abbasanta by  our coach and drive  to Macomer where we will be given a guided tour of the depot, including workshops to see their excellent restoration work.  After visiting,  at 12,25 we will board our train to Nuoro, a journey of 1 hour and a half.  We then continue by road to Laconi to board our special private vintage train on the normally “closed”, highly scenic, narrow gauge line to Arbatax. Overnight in or near Arbatax.

Day 7 Tuesday 13 October (B)

After breakfast we’ll leave Arbatax by our coach and head inland for about 2 hours and a half to Laconi for our own special train to Mandas at 13,00 arriving at 15,07.

From Mandas we will transfer by coach south to the city of Cagliari, where your overnight accommodation for the next three nights iwill be.  Cagliari has been the capital city of Sardinia for over 2,000 years; today, it has a still-busy, working port and a large student population, grand boulevards, neo-Gothic palaces and art-nouveau cafés.

Day 8 Wednesday 14 October (B)

We start today with a guided visit of the small FS (or standard gauge) railway museum.  (guided) After visiting, our coach will take you to the archaeological site of Nora, 25 kilometres from Cagliari. Nora is an ancient Roman town located on a peninsula and the ruins function as an open-air museum with mosaics and the remains of the theatre and several buildings. We return to Cagliari for lunch and at 15,30 we’ll have a guided tour of the old city with a professional local guide.

Day 9 Thursday 15 October (B)

Today our coach will take us to Carbonia, the city founded by Mussolini in 1938 to provide housing for the workforce of the nearby  coal mine Serbariu (Carbone means coal in italian)  There you’ll  be taken on a guided tour of  the very interesting coal museum at an old coal mine; it is also possible to go underground via drift to a large recreated mine gallery faithfully showing three generations of mining.

In the afternoon, we will also visit the narrow-gauge museum in Monserrato, a village nearby Cagliari.

Day 10 Friday 16 October (B)

We take the FS service train from Cagliari to Golfo Aranci, a four-hour ride from the south to the north of the island, then transfer by road from Golfo Aranci to Olbia airport for the evening flights back to Gatwick (direct) or Manchester (via Munich). For those flying back to Heathrow or Bristol you have a night in Golfo Aranci before your direct flights from Olbia on Saturday17 October. Gatwick and Manchester customers can opt for an extra night here should you wish. Flights to Gatwick are at 10:25 or 17:10 and to Manchester there is a direct flight with Jet2 at 10:35 but is quite expensive.

Hotels – TO BE CONFIRMED

Tempio Pausania – Pausania Inn (2 nights)
Alghero – Hotel Alma de Alghero (2 nights)
Macomer – Regio Hotel (1 night)
Arbatax – TBC (1 night)
Cagliari – Hotel Italia (3 nights)

Flights

Direct flights from Bristol, Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester with Easyjet.