SARDINIA: ALL YEAR ROUND CYCLING DESTINATION
A MINE OF MEMORIES
PLUNGE INTO THE SAVAGE AND ROMANTIC BEAUTY OF SOUTH WESTERN
SARDINIA, AMONGST ABANDONED MINES AND EMPTY BEACHES. RIDE THIS SELF
GUIDED BIKE TOUR IN TOTAL FREEDOM, AT YOUR OWN PACE, ENJOYING EVERY
SINGLE SPOT OF THIS WONDERFUL LAND.
Features: self guided tour without guides. We transport your luggage everyday from one hotel to
the following and we provide you with a detailed road book and maps. You can organise your day
as you like, independently.
Starting point: San Salvatore Sinis, Oristano
Finish: Pula, Cagliari
Duration: 8days/7 nights, 6 cycling stages
Departures: everyday of the year, all year round
Price: 798 € per person
High season supplement: 150 € (from 1/7 to 31/8).
Single room supplement: 100 € (200 € in case of a person
travelling alone)
Bike rental: 80 € (hybrid bikes, 24 speed gear aluminium frame,
rear panniers). Additional rental days: 10 € per day.
Activity level:
3 easy stages, 2 medium difficult stages, 1 challenging stage.
Services provided:
accommodation for 7 nights in 3 star hotels (except for Nebida: 2 stars),
7 breakfasts,
6 dinners,
welcome meeting,
2 transfers to avoid mountain roads and shorten the mileage,
baggage transportation from hotel to hotel,
supply of road book and maps,
7 day telephone assistance.
Not included: admission to museums and archaeological sites, tickets for ferries to Carloforte and
Sant'Antioco, the last dinner in Pula.
Programme
1st day
Welcome meeting with local representative: explanation of the route and bike delivery.
2nd day 1st stage San Salvatore Sinis-San Salvatore Sinis (52 km)
Travel through the fascinating Sinis wetlands where you will see colonies of pink flamingos and
finally reach one of the most beautiful spots on the island: the white quartz beach of Is Arutas and
the Phoenician ruins of Tharros.
3rd day 2nd stage San Salvatore Sinis – Arbus (46/53 km)
After a transfer to Arborea, you will cycle through the natural beauty spots of the Costa Verde,
some of the most savage scenery on the island, to the Piscinas beach with its sands dunes over 50 m
high - the highest in Europe.
4th day 3rd stage Arbus - Nebida (49 km)
This leg takes you back into the ancient mining past of Sardinia, as we pass the fascinating
abandoned mines of Ingortosu and Planusartu. After the golden beach of Portixeddu and looming
mass of Pan di Zucchero cliff, you admire the old ore washery at Nebida: nestling in the varied
colours of the Mediterranean bush, it looks out over the sea at the end of a long descente down 540
steps.
5th day 4th stage Nebida - Calasetta (43 km)
After a beautiful descent to Fontanamare, you will reach Portoscuso, and board on the ferry to
Carloforte, where locals still fish the Red Tuna fish. From Carloforte, continue to the island of
Sant'Antioco and end your day in Calasetta.
6th day 5th stage Calasetta - S. Anna Arresi (43 km)
Today, you pedal through the meadows, green in springtime and golden yellow in the summer, of
Sant'Antioco. At Tratalias, visit the Pisan sanctuary, one of the most important monuments of the
Sardinian Romanesque period. Riding along the lake Monte Pranu, savour the quiet peace of the
rolling plains of Sulcis.
7th day 6th stage S.Anna Arresi - Pula (60 km)
Final catwalk of your tour is the beautiful Costa del Sud with its gleaming white beaches, unspoilt
natural landscape and imposing cliffs: Cape Malfatano with its 16th Century tower and Cape
Spartivento. At Nora you will visit the ancient Phoenician settlement.
8th day
After breakfast, end of services.
Transfer rates (minimum 2 persons):
Cagliari - San Salvatore Sinis 50,- € per person
Oristano - San Salvatore Sinis 20, - € per person
Pula - Cagliari 30,- € per person
Pula - San Salvatore Sinis 55,- € per person
General Information
Our "A Mine of memories" self-led tour give clients the freedom to enjoy the route at their own
pace and you will be able to ride + enjoy the beautiful beaches that Sardinia can offer + do some
sightseeing. Everything is indicated in the road book you will receive at the tour start. The tour
takes place in South-Western Sardinia, that is outside the mass tourism routes and still unspoilt.
The standard duration of the tour is 8days/7nights/6 bike stages, but you can make it longer, opting
for some rest days.
Difficulty: the mileage is about 50-60km per day, which is not much at all if you consider you have
all day to do it. Terrain: out of six stages, 3 are flat (1st stage, 4th and 5th), two are undulating (2nd
and 6th) and one is hilly (3rd). Overall grading (1=easy, 5=challenging): 3.5
Climate
Sardinia enjoys a mild Mediterranean weather that allows comfortable cycling all year round.
During the summertime months (July and August) daytime temperatures may reach 40 degrees
Celsius. Prevailing wind is mistral blowing from north-west. This the direction of our route also,
though it is unlikely it will always be in your back. The following table gives average temperatures
and days of rainfalls per month.
Jan.
Feb.
Mar
April May Jun
Jul
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
high° C
14
14
17
19
22
27
30
30
27
23
19
17
low° C
6
6
7
10
13
13
16
20
18
14
10
7
days of rainfalls
8
7
6
7
6
2
1
1
4
7
9
9
Traffic: not an issue: Sardinia has a population of 1.6million inhabitants, spread over 24.000sqkms.
These statistics make it one of the least populated regions in Italy. On the top of this, we select
secondary roads, where you might meet one car every 5-10 minutes. The most frequent comment of
our clients is about the remoteness and wilderness of the areas crossed.