Sardinia, Italy

Useful information

Getting there:
Sardinia lies to the west of mainland Italy and is the second largest island on the Mediterranean. The easiest and the cheapest way to get there is by air. There are cheap flights available to Alghero airport. The best way to travel around the island is to hire a car. The mayor suppliers for the Alghero airport are Hertz and Europcar. 
 

Seasons:
Best climbing seasons are from late September to the end of November and from March to the end of May. Climbing in winter is also possible, although December to February can be cool and snow may be on the very tops of the mountains at around 4-5000ft. The summer is very hot. The sea is warm from May to October.

Where to stay:
Camping is a good option in Sardinia. There is a nice large campsite at Cala Gnome but it’s closed out of season and pretty expensive. A really good spot is to camp at the Refuge ENIS Monte Maccione above Oliena. There is also possibility of hiring apartments at reasonable prices out of season. The websites www.sardiniapoint.it and www.sardiniaclimbs.com both have accomodation listes, has a number of properties in the village.
Wild camping is not allowed in some regions.

Shops:
Cala Gaone has a small but well-stocked supermarket, but it is best to shop in Dorgali which has a number of supermarkets. Also Isili has a number of supermarkets and restaurants.

Guidebooks:
Two mostly recommended guidebooks to the climbing in Sardinia are Pietra di Luna (a selected guide to the whole island, now available in either Italian, English or German. 120 crags, 391 pages, a mine of information for Euro 30.00) and Gennargentu, Ultimo Paradiso (selective guide to the sport climbing on the eastern side of the island, in Italian and English) – both by the same author, Maurizio Oviglia. The local guide Arrampicare a Cala Gonone gives the most comphrehensive info to the area, but it’s in Italian. There are two English language, topo-based MiniGuides available on www.rockfax.com. There is also a very good web site dedicated to climbing in Sardinia on www.sardiniaclimbs.com