Sardinia - Paradise In The Heart Of Mediterranean

Situated in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Sardinia is mainly a mountainous region, without high peaks, with a vast and charming, yet bittersweet, natural environment. In fact, the presence of man does not seem to affect this territory; great surfaces still preserve their natural composition, luxuriant woods with even millenary trees, small desert areas and marshes inhabited by deer, wild horses and rapacious birds.

Sardinia has some of the dreamiest beaches you’ll find, the sand is really white, and the sea the bluest blue. Imagine dropping anchor in Costa Smeralda’s scalloped bays, where celebrities and supermodels frolic in emerald waters; playing castaway on the Golfo di Orosei’s coves, where sheer cliffs ensure seclusion; or sailing to La Maddalena’s cluster of granite islands. Whether you're walking barefoot across the dunes on the wave-lashed Costa Verde or lounging on the Costa del Sud’s silky smooth bays, unroll your beach towel and you’ll never want to leave.

Among its wonders, Sardinia offers the visitor the Nuragic complexes scattered all over the territory. These monuments are unique to the world, testifying to an ancient culture that - though it endured from the 16th to 15th Centuries B.C. still reigns rather mysteriously. The Nuragic constructions were built using great blocks of stone and developed around a central cone-shaped tower that communicates strength and power. These are archaeological sites where it is possible to grasp the archaic charm of ancient rituals and domestic life. Of these many constructions, the Barumini complex, in the Province of Cagliari, is among the sites in the UNESCO World Heritage List

As DH Lawrence so succinctly put it: ‘Sardinia is different’. Indeed, where else but here can you go from near-alpine forests to snow-white beaches, or find wildlife oddities such as the blue-eyed albino donkeys on the Isola dell’Asinara and the wild horses that shyly roam Giara di Gesturi.

The island is also a culinary one-off, with distinct takes on pasta, bread and dolci (desserts), its own wines (Vermentino whites, Cannonau reds) and cheeses.

A voyage over an emerald sea, past characteristic coves and beaches of snow-white sand … this is Sardinia, an island that strikes its visitors with natural contrasts, the lights and colours of a region that boasts old traditions and wild and pure nature.

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Source(s): Lonely Planet & Italia