How to get to Sardinia. Road from Rome to the ferry

Since Sardinia is an island, the best way to get to the cities of mainland Italy, as well as to some cities on neighboring islands, is by ferry. Accordingly, ferry service is well developed on the island, and the ferry Sardinia - Rome, connecting the island with the capital of the state, is one of the most popular routes. Ferries from Rome to Sardinia depart from the Roman port of Cittavecchia, a suburb of the Italian capital. They proceed to the main Sardinian cities - Cagliari and Olbia.

There are also connections with other Italian cities, for example, on the Genoa - Sardinia route, a ferry runs once a day from May to September (departs from Olbia and Porto Torres); ferry Naples - Sardinia departs from Cagliari twice a week; the ferry from Livorno to Sardinia arrives at the port of Olbia; on the route Sicily - Sardinia the ferry arrives at the port of Cagliari.

There are also flights to neighboring countries. Thus, the ferry Barcelona - Sardinia departs from the capital of Catalonia and arrives in Porto Torres; Also in this city the route Corsica - Sardinia ends, the SNAV ferry company, and you can also sail to Corsica from the port of Santa Teresa di Gallura.

Below is a little more detail about ferries to Sardinia.

Ferries from Cagliari

As a rule, ferries departing from Cagliari make a stop in Olbia and then continue along the route.

For example, luxury ferries run to the port of Civitavecchia in Rome. There are cabins with lying berths, as well as chairs with reclining backs. Tirrenia ferries depart from Cagliari to Naples twice a week. Travel time is approximately 14 hours, prices start from 50 euros.

A ferry departs once a week from Cagliari to Palermo on the island of Sicily. The journey time is about 12 hours, and the ticket price starts from 44 euros (including taxes and fees) for a seat on the deck and from 115 euros for a seat in a cabin.

Ferries from Olbia

One of the busiest ports in Sardinia is in Olbia, as the city is located so close to the mainland.

A ferry runs twice daily from Olbia to the port of Civitavecchia in Rome. The journey takes from 5 (day ferry) to 8 (night ferry) hours. Ticket prices start from 42 euros, and this is for a seat on the deck. A cabin, of course, will cost more.

Ferries leave Olbia for the port of Genoa once daily from May to September. Ferries depart in the evening. Travel time is about 11 hours. Thanks to the convenient schedule, this route is used by many tourists who want to do shopping in Italy. Two cruise ships with cabins of different comforts ply along this route. There are both cabins with beds and with folding chairs. The fare varies from 46 to 160 euros.

From April to October there are two ferries from Olbia to Livorno. The travel time is about 6-7 hours, and the ticket price ranges from 50 to 110 euros, depending on the flight.

Two ships sail from April to October between Olbia and Piombino. One is a regular small ferry without cabins and the other is a large cruise ferry. The schedule for these flights is variable. It is advisable to clarify this upon arrival at the port.

Ferries from Porto Torres

A ferry departs once daily during the summer months from Porto Torres to Genoa. Two ferries ply this route. Travel time is 12 hours. Prices range from 70 to 230 euros.

The city of Porto Torres connects Sardinia with Corsica. Thus, the SNAV ferry runs between the ports of Porto Torres and Bonifacio.

There is a ferry service between Porto Torres and Barcelona. Ferries depart from Barcelona in the evenings and arrive in Sardinia in the morning. Travel time is about 12 hours. The cost of a one-way ticket is from 80 euros and above, depending on the cabin class.

Ferries from Santa Teresa di Gallura

From the port of Santa Teresa di Gallura, a ferry departs four times a day to the city of Bonifacio in Corsica. Travel time is only 50 minutes. In this regard, the ferry is not equipped with sleeping berths or airplane seats. You can carry a car or motorcycle on this route. The cost of a one-way ticket is about 30 euros. Tickets for transporting a passenger car and motorcycle must be paid separately.

This airport is located in the northeast of the island. If your chosen vacation spot is marked in yellow on the map above, then first of all you should consider flying to this particular air harbor.

Convenient flights from Russia

For those who get to Sardinia directly from Russia, information on the following flights will be useful:

1. Italian Air Italy operates direct flights from Olbia to Moscow and back once a week on Saturdays and Sundays, respectively.
2. Air Baltic flies to Olbia from Moscow and back on Saturdays. Flight with a very fast and comfortable transfer in Riga. The total travel time one way is 5.5 hours. Navigation for 2019 is already open, I advise you to hurry up and purchase tickets if you want to save money. Aviasales already has the opportunity to book a flight.

Tickets and schedules can be viewed on the official website of the company - the carrier Mobilines

Due to its geographical location, the most convenient way to get to Olbia is by ferry. Ferries to this port of Sardinia go the fastest, on average from 5 to 7 hours. To other cities of Sardinia, the travel time will be more than 10 hours. Below is a schedule of the best routes:

Duration: 6.30 hours - 9 hours (Day), 7 hours - 9 hours (Night)
The flight operates all year round
Transport company MOBY

Duration: 5 hours - 5 hours 15 minutes (Day)
The flight operates from June 1st to September 17th
Transport company MOBY

Duration: 5 hours 30 minutes - 6 hours 30 minutes (Day), 6 hours - 8 hours (Night)
The flight operates all year round
Transport company Tirrenia

My husband and I visited all the sights in this wonderful city. We don’t like to stay in one place for a long time; we urgently need to change our place of rest. After living in Rome for a little while, we began to choose where else to go. We chose the island and didn’t regret it one bit, the view is simply mesmerizing, the impressions will last for a very long time. We had little choice as to how to get there, we chose the ferry. You can also fly to Sardinia by plane.

On a ferryboat

To get from Rome to Sardinia you need to get to the city of Civitavecchia, we decided to get there by train. Civitavecchia is a port city in Rome, located 80 kilometers northwest of Rome.

Arriving at Termini railway station, we learned that trains on this route run quite often on the Frecciabianca and Regionale lines. The first train goes to the main bus station in Civitavecchia at 05:26, the last train goes at 06:40. Trains run several times an hour, every day. Travel time is from 40 minutes to one and a half hours. We left at 14:12, were already there at 15:13, travel time was about an hour. We bought a ticket in advance through the official website; if we had not taken it right away, we would have had to stand behind it for about an hour. Ferries from the Tirrenia Navigazione company operate from the port of Civitavecchia; the schedule depends on the time of year, with an average of two ferries per day. In August the influx of tourists is very large, a couple of flights are added there.

Ferry Tirrenia Navigazione

The ferry arrives at the port at:

• (Cagliari)
• Arbatax
• Olbia

Travel time:

• To Sardinia (Cagliari), 13 hours
• To Arbatax, 10 hours
• To Olbia, 5 hours, 30 minutes

Having reached the port, we were put on a ferry and on it we got to the port in Sardinia (Cagliari). Of course, it’s faster by plane, but I think it’s worth taking a ferry, you’ll get an unforgettable experience, it’s impossible to describe the view.

Ticket price

A train ticket costs on average from 5 euros to 12 euros. The price to Sardinia (Cagliari) by ferry is from 47.45 euros, up to 53.07, other prices can be found on the official website.

Buying a ticket

Train tickets can be purchased on the carrier's official website. You can purchase ferry tickets, and you can also choose a time convenient for you.

By plane

You can fly to Sardinia by plane. Alitalia airlines fly from Fiumicino Airport.

Alitalia airline plane

All direct flights begin at 08:15, the last flight at 21:50. They fly every hour or two. Planes land at Cagliari-Elmas airport. The flight time is just over an hour.

Ticket price

The ticket price is 78.02 euros.

Buying a ticket

You can buy a ticket at the airport ticket office, as well as on the Alitalia website.

For me, as a traveler, it was better to travel by ferry than by plane; if we had flown by plane, we would not have received so many emotions.

How to get from Rome to Sardinia

Option 1: Flight from Rome FCO airport to one of the two airports in Sardinia: Olbia (OLB) or Cagliari (CAG).

You can choose and book an air ticket, and then compile the tour as your heart desires: Departure from Rome to Sardinia, and arrival back to the continent in the Milan area...

From Moscow on the Mobi website the following were purchased:
1) ticket Piombino — Olbia= parking space up to 4 meters in the hold + 2 people without space
2) night ferry ticket Olbia — Livorno(Livorno) = parking space up to 4 meters in the hold + 2 people in a cabin with a window (outside) since we had to go at night, and at night we need to sleep.

In fact, I will not recommend this agrotourism, and I will even write comments in the reviews about it: where is the promised free WiFi? And in general this Wi-Fi? And there is no need to point to a non-working router - its performance is not my problem.

Road from Rome to the ferry

Slowly drove from Rome airport - Fiumicino to the ferry pier in Piombino in one hour. I drove with short stops, because my eyes were drooping after a sleepless night (an early flight from Moscow, damn it!).

I was following the navigation, and closer to Piombino large signs appeared with a blue whale on the entire board - a sign Moby Ferry Company.

Following these signs we went to the ferry departure point - to the port. We had a printout from the Internet about booking ferry tickets. The printout contains the reservation number.

At the port I see a tail of cars waiting to be loaded and people in yellow vests. I show you the printout. The controller (and they are the ones in vests) enters my reservation number into a portable terminal and prints out a sticker that is placed on the windshield. After this, a sign sends you to the loading queue.

Anyone who has ever traveled on a ferry with a car knows that before loading, cars are lined up in order of arrival at the place. When the time comes for loading, the cars are launched into a stream, which creeps into the belly of a metal giant with cartoon characters painted on the sides of the vessel.

What's on the ferry

So, the car was parked. We went upstairs to the passenger deck. Or rather, there are several passenger decks: the 9th floor is an open deck (you can smoke in special places) with a bar and a swimming pool.

8th floor: the back is a bar with drinks and fast food. In the center there is a children's playground, further to the bow there is a self-service canteen with restaurant prices.

Next is an a la card restaurant, and in the bow is a bar with a piano and a stage for performances of vocal groups, which as soon as they open their mouths you want to throw overboard, and in the worst case, slaughter, dismember and pickle like cucumbers in a barrel.

We got acquainted with the ferry. Now some advice: go to the self-service canteen, take food and wine, sit out of sight (there is an excellent place on the side where your presence is not visible to prying eyes because of the open door, and stay for a long time: the drive is 4.5 - 5 hours.

After drinking the bottle, you can lie down - there are sofas along the wall. By this time, everyone who has eaten is kicked out of the hall and it is hung with red cords. What European would climb where the red cord hangs? That's right - none.
Another tip: the air conditioning is blowing. Bring a windbreaker or pullover.

Sardinia

That's on the horizon Alba. We are met by a motorboat with a pilot, who jumps on board as we go - fortunately, the sides of the elephant and the pug are on the same course.

The dark blue water of the bay is cut by white lines of ship tracks. She's really blue...
Let's go in. We turn around. The gates open. And here she is - Sardinia…

It’s true that it’s already getting dark, and having given the GPS navigator the point of our overnight stay, we’re rushing south. The road is excellent, there is a free highway and we can get to our agritourism in an hour. Along the way, the hills, brown with burnt grass, stand out.

The landscape is wild: in the rapidly gathering twilight, only occasionally does a light flicker in the window of some house on the hill, but it is deserted and lifeless. — And where is it interesting that they grow grapes and graze lambs? But there is still more to come.

Menu at the agriturismo restaurant

In agriturismo, for the first time in Italy, I encounter an integrated approach to food. That is, at first we simply don’t get it, and the service staff, who don’t know English at all, also won’t understand what we want.

And we want to see the menu. But it turns out that the agriturismo in Sardinia does not have a menu. There is a set dinner: first course, second course and compote. That is, appetizer, pasta, meat, fruit. The complex also includes a 0.5 jug of local wine.

We really wanted to sleep, so after feeding the salami served to us as an appetizer to the owner’s dog (which caused the displeasure of the waitress feeding the pedigree dog), we leaned more heavily on homemade wine.

It seemed soft and pleasant to the taste. However, I assume that I will be trampled by wine connoisseurs who know their names, years and collect wine corks. But for me, the more neutral and drinkable the wine, the better.

The pasta was from the “pasta with holes” series in meat sauce, and for the second meat: peasant-style grilled pork (it was a piece of carbonate, so it was dry) and beef beaten into a flatbread. You can guess that dinner didn’t surprise us...

In the morning, opening the window, I appreciated the “view” from it - a rusty harrow abandoned in the middle of a poorly maintained lawn of faded grass symbolized the involvement of this establishment in agritourism...

Agritourism in Italy

Retreat
I noticed from my last visit to Italy that now everything anyone wants is called agrotourism.

The main thing is to put the old cart in a visible place and scatter the tools of agricultural labor throughout the territory, and you are in the kings: now you are an agritourism and can sleep peacefully in your house, which is located somewhere on the seashore. And the hired staff will throw dust in the eyes of agritourists.

I'll tell you what, in my opinion, is worthy of the title:
- farmhouse. The owner must live on the territory of his plot of land. He builds separate houses for guests or lets them into part of his own.
- farming (vegetable garden, vineyard, animal, poultry). If you don’t have your own production, then you have to buy farmers’ products first-hand.
- restaurant. Products for it must be farmed, as I indicated above

If all three points are present, then the establishment has the right to bear the title of agriturismo. In another case, it’s a country house, B&B and whatever…

Continued in the next part: . Follow the updates on the website

There is an opinion that Sardinia is an incredibly expensive pleasure and many people refuse to travel in advance if they do not have significant savings in their arsenal, but in vain. In Sardinia you can relax both expensively and on a budget, but you certainly shouldn’t give up the divine beauty of this island. Moreover, you can get to the island and stay for not that much money. But more on that later.

Grade

First of all, a few words about Sardinia so that all doubts about visiting one of the most beautiful places in the world will disappear. The Greeks and Phoenicians believed that the shape of the island represented the imprint of a divine foot. There is something in it: Sardinia is a piece of heaven on earth. The island captivates with its unique natural beauty: emerald, clean sea shores with snow-white or golden sand, centuries-old green pine trees, granite red rocks, colorful oleanders (even along the roads), palm trees, gardens... The topography of the island is mostly mountainous, and between the mountain ranges - narrow river valleys.

The natural isolation of the island has led to the fact that local culture and customs differ from the traditions of continental Italy: the Sardinians have a slightly different language, and cuisine.

Staple food Sardinians count bread. Its composition depends on the region of the island, and there are at least a hundred species. The ideal accompaniment to bread is Pecherino (goat) cheese. Next in popularity are pasta and spaghetti, and on holidays, baked pork and lamb are popular.

The northern coast is considered more expensive. There is located the most fashionable and expensive resort not only in Italy, but throughout Europe - Costa Smeralda - “Emerald Coast”. This is a VIP atmosphere and top-class hotels. About a few decades ago, Sheikh Karim Aga Khan stayed on the northern coast of Sardinia, whom The beauty of these places struck him, so he bought 50 km of coastline to build a luxury resort for millionaires with the centers of Porto Cervo and Porto Rotondo. The cost of a 5-star hotel in Porto Cervo is an average of 20 thousand UAH per night.

Southern Sardinia offers enough inexpensive club-type hotels. From Cagliari, you can follow both the direction of the southeast coast (Villasimius, Costa Rei, Ogliastra) and the southwest (Pula, Chia, Tuerredda, Costa Verde). In Cagliari, accommodation in high-level hotels is 3-5 thousand UAH. The cost depends on the season, hotel level and region. There are hotels (3*) for two per day with breakfast for 65-70 euros. An inexpensive accommodation option is renting an apartment (from 50 euros).

It is worth noting that at the end of September, prices for accommodation are much lower than in the season.

Getting to Sardinia Possibly by plane. The island has 3 international airports: Fertilla in Alghero, Costa Smeralda in Olbia and Elmas in Cagliari. Flight price (Ukraine-Italy) - from 5 thousand UAH. You can also take a bus (price from 2.5 thousand UAH) to Rome, and then by sea to Sardinia. Ferries go to the island from the cruise port of Civitavecchia. They depart to several ports in Sardinia: Olbia, Arbatax and Cagliari. From Civitavecchia to Olbia, the journey takes from 5 (day ferry) to 8 (night ferry) hours. Ticket prices range from 40 to 60 euros. The duration of the crossing to Arbatax is from 10 hours, from 30-50 euros. Travel time to Cagliari takes approximately 13 hours, the average ticket price is 50 euros. You can also drive your own car to the port and transport the car to the island.