I spent a long weekend in Alghero, Sardinia, and it was such a lovely city! The city blends intriguing history, striking coastlines, and relaxing beaches into one perfect package. Whether you are exploring the old town or snorkeling in the crystal blue water, there is something for everyone. Alghero invites you to explore its past, but also welcomes you to slow down. That balance is exactly what makes this city special. Here is my guide to thirteen fun things to add to your Alghero itinerary. 

If this is your first time visiting Italy, check out my essential tips here. After travelling to Italy several times, I still find myself making the same small mistakes. Trust me, these are things you will want to know before you travel.

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Yes, absolutely! I highly recommend visiting Alghero. Sardinia offers gorgeous, clear blue water throughout the island, and Alghero is at the top of the list of places to visit.

The city has rich history, beautiful marine life, and gorgeous coastlines all make it worth the trip. As a bonus, Alghero has an airport only about 20 minutes from the city center which makes travelling super easy.

Alghero is located on the northwestern coast of the Italian island, Sardinia. The city is in the province of Sassari, along a stretch of coastline called the Coral Riviera. Locals call it Riviera del Corallo, due to the unique red coral found in the coastal waters.

The island of Sardinia is located in the Mediterranean sea between Italy and Spain, with the island of Corsica to the north. Alghero has a lot of Catalan influence, due to being conquered by the King of Aragon in the 14th century. Many locals still speak Algherese, a dialect rooted in Catalan. The blend of Sardinian and Catalan culture makes Alghero feel wonderfully unique.

Sardinia is famous for its crystal blue water and pristine beaches, so the The best time to travel is during warmer months when you can swim.

Summer

July and August bring peak summer heat, with temperatures reaching 31–35°C (88–95°F). These months also bring the biggest crowds. You will need to make reservations for hotels and restaurants in advance during these months.

Shoulder Season

I recommend visiting during shoulder season instead, from late May through June, or September into early October. The weather still stays warm enough for swimming, usually around 25–28°C (77–82°F), just without the intense heat.

Crowds thin out too, since children are still in school during these months, which means discounted rates for hotels. I visited in May and honestly, it felt like the perfect time to go.

The weather was amazing, we scored a beachfront hotel at a discounted price, and we never needed a single reservation at any restaurant. Read more about travelling to Sardinia in May here.

Winter

Although I love travelling to warm destinations in the winter months, I honestly don’t recommmend visiting Alghero in the winter.

Several hotels, restaurants, and shops are closed during the winter months. Things that do stay open have limited hours. Additionally, the weather is a bit too cold to swim or take boat rides.

There are several great options in Alghero whether you want to stay in the old town or beachfront. Here are 3 options that I would recommend:

Panorama Guest House – Perfect location in the Old Town

This hotel is located right in Algheros historic old town. You can step outside your door and be right in the action. Shopping, restaurants and gelato are only steps away.

It also has easy access to the bus to get anywhere you want. There is a sun terrace with ocean views which is a perfect place to relax at the end of the day. Each room has air conditioning, a TV, and a desk. There is also daily breakfast available. Click here for pricing and availability. 

Hotel Giardino La Playa – Beachfront hotel near San Giovanni Beach

If you want to be able to walk to the beach then this is the perfect hotel. The hotel is only 100 metres from San Giovanni Beach. There is also an outdoor pool with sun loungers. Each room has air conditioning and a balcony.

There is a bar onsite and daily breakfast available. The old town is only about a 30 minute walk or a 7 minute bike ride from the hotel. Click here for pricing and availability. 

Hotel Calabona – Private beach access

If you are wanting a quieter vacation, I would consider the Hotel Calabona. It is located south of Alghero and has access to a private beach, which is great to avoid over crowded beaches in the summer.

The private beach has free sun loungers and umbrellas for guests. The hotel offers panoramic sea views and also has a large outdoor pool with several sun loungers. Each room has air conditioning and a balcony.

Upgrade your room to one with full sea views or a terrace. There is daily breakfast available with an onsite bar, restaurant and fitness centre. Click here for pricing and availability. 

If you plan to stay in Alghero the entire time, you do not need a car. I spent three days in Alghero without one, and I never once needed it. Alghero is a small town, so you can walk or bike to where you need to go.

There is also great public transportation so hopping on a bus is super easy. Taxis are fairly cheap, which makes them a nice option in a pinch.

Most bus routes cost just €1 for one way or €2.80 for a full day pass. These routes reach several popular spots around the city, along the coast, and out to the Alghero airport. I took the public bus to the airport myself and it was almost as fast as a taxi. 

Alghero also has a “beach bus”, a privately owned bus service that runs to several popular beaches. It costs €8 for a full day with unlimited stops. This option works great if you want to reach spots the regular bus routes do not cover.

One of my favorite things to do in any new city is simply get lost while wandering. The old town of Alghero is a great place to do just that. It has small alleys and interesting shops waiting around every corner. My advice is to go off the beaten path. You never know what gems you might stumble upon.

I would also consider taking a walking tour too. It is a great way to learn about the history of the city and discover details you might otherwise miss. Walking tours make a great way to start your trip. They give you context for the entire area. Plus, they help you get familiar with the city fast.

Alghero holds several beautiful churches, but the Church of Saint Michael (Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo in Italian) became my favorite. At first the church looks very plain, but then when you get the perfect angle you can see the colorful tiled dome.

Bright colored tiles cover the dome in a striking diamond pattern. It reminded me a lot of the tiled roofs I saw in Budapest. This unique feature alone makes the church worth a visit.

As a history lover, I love that Alghero’s original city walls still stand today. The fortress was first built in the 13th century and then additional bastions and towers were added in the 16th century.

You can walk along the ramparts in several spots and into the towers and bastions along the way. One of our favorite things to do was grab gelato and stroll along the ancient city walls.

There are several gelato shops all over Alghero, but I personally loved one called Gelateria 9 ¾. This gelataria is Harry Potter themed and has unique flavours named after characters and things in Harry Potter. It is definitely worth the stop.

I found Alghero to be incredibly bike friendly. There are dedicated bike lanes along the coast and through parts of town, with plenty of spots to lock up along the way. I recommend renting a bike for a few hours and riding along the coast.

The views are amazing and it is a great way to get to beaches that are further away from town. You could also consider a sunset ride along the beach, which would be gorgeous.

There are several places in Alghero to rent bikes for the day. Our hotel had cheap bike rentals, so I would check with the place you are staying if they have bikes to rent.

If I had to recommend just one thing for your trip to Alghero, it would be a boat tour along the coast. Whether you choose a full day or just a few hours, it is completely worth it. The coast of Sardinia is absolutely stunning with tall limestone cliffs and clear blue water. 

I booked a semi-private boat tour that took us along the coast and stopped at several swimming spots for snorkeling. It ended up being the highlight of our entire trip. (Click here for the specific tour I did). Our guide was a local to Alghero and shared insights about the area and a bit of the history. Since we rode in a smaller boat, we got to enter a few caves that larger boats simply cannot reach. As we returned back to Alghero, we even spotted dolphins, which was a lovely surprise.

If snorkeling interests you, check whether your tour includes gear. Ours did, though I noticed some tours charge extra for snorkeling equipment. You can also book a bigger boat for a cheaper price. Just expect fewer swimming stops and no cave access, compared to a smaller boat.

Porto Conte Natural Park is about 20 kilometers north of Alghero. It is fairly out of the way, but there is a public bus (line 5) that goes out to the park a few times per day.

The bus takes about 40 minutes from Alghero to Tramariglio or 50 minutes to Capo Caccia. Alternatively you can take a taxi which would be about 30-40 minutes from Alghero.

If quiet nature walks and gorgeous white cliff views sound appealing, add this park to your list. There are several beautiful hiking trails that you could spend a few hours or a whole day.

Neptune’s Grotto is located in the park near Capo Caccia, which is a popular spot to visit.

I was not able to visit Neptunes Grotto on my visit due to time, but I have heard that it is absolutely worth visiting. Neptune’s Grotto, also known as Neptune’s Cave, is a large, complex cave system in Porto Conte Natural Park near Capo Caccia.

You can reach the grotto two ways. Go by land, via stairs at Capo Caccia. Or go by sea, via boat from Alghero. The boat option takes about 40 minutes each way and makes for an easy day out because you avoid the stairs.

The stairs option takes about 20 minutes from Capo Caccia. The famous Escala del Cabirol is 654 steps down the cliff face to Neptunes Grotto. The stairs have no shade the entire way, so going down might be easy but returning back up might be a bit more strenuous.

Once you reach the cave entrance, you can only enter with a guided tour. Make sure you reserve your spot in advance. Keep in mind, rough seas can force the cave to close. If you love caves, do not miss this one. 

Photo by Levi Hoonings on Unsplash

I love seafood, and whenever I travel near the ocean, I always eat as much seafood as possible. Sardinia being an island and surrounded by ocean has some amazing seafood. The island is known for tuna, sardines, squid, clams, and sea urchins.

If you are wanting to try a local dish, try fregola with seafood. It is a traditional dish similar to paella, but instead uses semolina pasta in a tomato based sauce, usually with clams mixed in.

You could also try spaghetti with bottarga, made from cured mullet roe sliced thin over the pasta. There are several great restaurants around the city that serve fresh seafood.

In my opinion, you cannot visit Alghero without spending at least a little time at the beach. There are several great beaches close to the city, like Lido Beach or San Giovanni Beach to the north or Las Tronas beach to the south. For even better options, venture further out to Maria Pia Beach, Le Bombarde, or Lazzaretto Beach. You can reach all of these beaches via bus. 

There are also several beach clubs along the coast which are great for grabbing food or drinks, or even to rent umbrellas for the day. We spent one afternoon at Bahia Beach Club on San Giovanni Beach, and it was fabulous.

I will not pretend to be a wine connoisseur or even to know much about wine, however some friends of mine did a wine tasting tour in Sardinia and loved it.

Sardinia produces a huge amount of wine and there are several wineries scattered across the island. It truly is a paradise for wine lovers. There are wineries close to Alghero which are easy to visit with a tour.

Something I learned while visiting Sardinia is that the northwest region, where Alghero is located, is nicknamed the Coral Riviera. This name comes from a rare coral that can only be found in this specific part of Sardinia.

The coral is a deep red color and has been used to make jewelry since the days of ancient Rome. Due to its rarity, strict laws now govern how people harvest the coral. Still, local artisans use it in handmade jewelry, which you can find in shops throughout the city. If you want a unique souvenir, this makes the perfect gift.

Want to learn more about this unique coral? There is a Coral Museum, which dives deeper into the coral’s history and how people harvested and used it throughout the centuries.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to visit Nuraghe Palmavera, since it is a bit more inconvenient to reach from Alghero. As an armchair archaeologist, I regret missing it, because this place looks incredible.

A nuraghe is a type of ancient megalithic structure found specifically in Sardinia. The buildings were constructed during the Nuragic Age, between 1900 and 730 BCE. There are still more than 7,000 nuraghes across the island today.

This particular nuraghe near Alghero is unique because it is part of a larger site. There is a whole ancient village, including several towers, at the site that were built across multiple eras in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Today, you can walk through the ruins and see how the architecture and building techniques changed over, which is so cool!

You can reach the site via the Line 5 bus from Alghero, which takes about 50 minutes. The bus only runs a few times a day, so check the timetable ahead of your visit. 

Dolphin tours are among the most popular activities in Alghero, thanks to the wild bottlenose dolphins that inhabit the area. The best season to spot the dolphins is from May through October, when the sea is calm and warm.

Dolphins stay in this area to hunt and mate, living near the Sardinian coast basically year round. If you want to see dolphins, Alghero happens to be one of the best places to see them.

I recommend going either early morning or at sunset, since that is when dolphins are most active. This specific tour you will see dolphins and get the chance to snorkel and see marine life under the sea.

Alghero absolutely earns a spot on your Sardinia itinerary. It is one of the few places where history, beaches, good food, and boat trips all sit within a short walk, and have an international airport only fifteen minutes away. Whether you spend a few days here or a whole week, you will always find something new to do.

Do you need a car in Alghero? 

The short answer is no. Alghero is a small town, so you can reach everything on this list by walking, biking or taking the bus. Buses might run less frequently than in bigger cities, but they still get you everywhere you need to go. I would recommend looking at the bus schedules to plan your day. 

For farther locations, taxis are a great option because they are quite affordable. If you plan day trips or want to explore further beyond the city, a car might come in handy, but not necessary.

How many days do you need to visit Alghero?

I recommend at least two to three full days to fully enjoy Alghero. Alghero is one of those cities that needs to be explored at a leisurely pace, so do not rush it.

If you want to fit in everything on this list, plan for at least four or five days. And if you want to add day trips to Bosa, Sassari, or La Pelosa, I would account for a full day for each of these locations. 

Is Alghero expensive to visit? 

In my experience, Alghero is very affordable overall. I visited slightly before summer season though, which meant I got discounted prices for our hotel. See my post here about visiting Sardinia in May.

Even during summer it seems like pricing is generally fairly reasonable for a beach destination. If you want to stick to a budget, I would avoid visiting during August. Alghero gets very crowded in August due to everyone visiting during summer break when school is out. This means that prices skyrocket during this month.

Looking for more travel inspiration? You may also enjoy these posts:

Is it Worth Visiting Sardinia in May?

33 Essential Tips for Travelling to Italy

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