After having traveled this coastal route once before in a southerly direction from Fluminimaggiore, we made a new beautiful trip last weekend. This time we travel north, along the still relatively unknown but fantastic west coast of the island. Along the way you can fully enjoy beautiful views, nature, rugged cliffs and spectacular deserted beaches. Silence is very important here!

Late in the afternoon we depart from Cagliari to Arbus, where we arrive after an hour's drive. Here we are guests in an authentic agriturismo surrounded by greenery. Upon arrival, the large, newly installed fountain is immediately noticeable. Small children can bathe here. Dog Nuvola neatly accompanies us from the parking lot to the entrance, where host Marco is waiting for us to hand over the key from our room.

We spend the last sunny hours of the day relaxing at the other pool, while enjoying a glass of white Vermentino. After a quick shower, Nuvola is waiting for us at the door of the room. As soon as we are outside she walks away and out of curiosity we follow her. Less than 5 minutes later we are standing at her litter with newborn puppies. Awesome!

At half past eight we can sit at the table. A few meters long table is ready for use and all guests are seated at the now “international table”. Tasty starters, main courses and desserts follow, prepared by Marco's mother. A top chef! Bottles of water and wine are on the table and coffee with liqueur complete this pleasant evening.

A new day. Unfortunately a bit cloudy, but the temperature is fine. In the breakfast room, again at the long and well-filled table, the voices are first tested with a “happy birthday to you”. A German lady has her birthday today and bought a nice cake for the other guests early in the morning. You don't experience something like this every day! We say goodbye to Marco, Nuvola and puppies and all other travelers to continue our tour of the western coastline.

From Arbus we follow the road towards the sea. On the way it becomes clear to us why this region of Sardinia is also called the "Costa Verde" (green coast). After about 20 minutes we reach the old mining community Ingurtosu. The town, characterized by a neo-Gothic building, used to house the mines' administration.

In the abandoned village of Ingurtosu lead, silver and zinc used to be mined. Remnants of these mines are still clearly visible today. Immediately after the "ghost village" we leave the asphalt road to continue the ride via an easily accessible dirt road towards Piscinas.

After a few bends - with wood on both sides of the road - we see the ocher-colored dunes of Piscinas in the distance. They are the highest dunes in Europe, with peaks reaching a height of 100 meters; incredibly beautiful!

Once we arrive at the sea, we park the car to take a look at the beach. With the beautiful dunes on the background, we look out on a wide sandy beach, which has two cozy beach bars where you can also eat well. The sea here is quite rough today, but certainly impressive to have seen.

After a cup of coffee we take a seat in the car and luckily the sun is slowly showing itself a little more often. We drive a short distance back to continue the coastal route towards Torre dei Corsari. After a first bend we are in front of the small river that flows from Monte Vecchio to Piscinas: Rio di Piscinas. The water is fairly low so we cross through the water to the other side of the road.

The route towards the small town of Torre dei Corsari is beautiful. With only the occasional oncoming car, we fully enjoy the spectacular views. The imposing cliffs, the abundance of greenery and the deserted bays are worth a photo stop!

In the early afternoon we drive via Terralba and Marrubiu the last part via the SS131 to Cabras, one of the most important fishing villages in this region. The best bottarga on the island is produced here. Bottarga is made from salted and then dried roe from the mullet. This is used in pasta dishes, among other things, to provide a special taste. The fish migrate every year to the lagoon, the stagno of Cabras, to reproduce there.

Cabras is located on the Sinis peninsula, known for the thatched fisherman's houses in the seaside town of San Giovanni di Sinis and the archaeological site of Tharros. Since the temperature has risen considerably, we decide to spend a few hours on a paradise beach of Sardinia, Is Arutas.

The kilometer-long beach of Is Arutas is also known as the rice grain beach. It consists of very fine round grains of quartz with colors ranging from pink to light green to pure white. Very special! Although our visit is during the weekend, it is wonderfully quiet on the beach.

Around half past six we drive to Hotel Sa Pedrera , on so ' n 6 kilometers from Is Arutas. This small-scale 3-star hotel consists of 14 rooms around a green courtyard. Here too, silence dominates and owner and chef Carlo knows how to spoil us with fish specialties in the evening.

After breakfast we rent bicycles to discover 2 other beautiful beaches. The first destination is Maimoni beach, about 7 kilometers away. The last stretch to the beach is via an unpaved road along grain fields, but with a wonderful breeze from the sea, also easy to do by bike.

Maimoni, the family beach in this area, is again a very long sandy beach. It is now Sunday but that is not noticeable here; there is plenty of room! The beautiful turquoise sea invites you to take a refreshing dip. Please note: although this beach is called “the family beach”, the beach does not slope gradually! The water is immediately deep - in our opinion, not immediately suitable for the little ones.

We cycle to the other beach on our list: the beach of Mari Ermi, just past the beach of Is Arutas. Again a very long but slightly narrower beach, which also consists of "rice grains" and crystal clear water. In our opinion, this beach is certainly not inferior to Is Arutas!

At the end of the day it is unfortunately time to return the bikes. In the car we decide to drive back via the fastest route. After an hour of driving we are back in Cagliari, with many new photos and great memories of this beautiful weekend, far away from the crowd!

Looking for a unique self-drive tour Sardinia? Tell me about your holiday wishes, to create you a perfect round trip in Sardinia.

Marieke
Sardinia4all