Self-Guided Gravel Bike Journey in Sardinia

Itinerary

• Day 1: Welcome to Cabras area

  Transfer to your first accommodation in Cabras, Hotel Aquae Sinis, and settle in prior to a meet & greet for a bike fitting. It’s possible to do a ride loop, depending on your arrival time. Other than that, spend the day at your leisure.

  You can explore the Cabras coastline, where the turquoise sea and white sand beaches invite you for a swim—check out Is Arutas, Maimoni, and Mari Ermi. Alternatively, you can wander around Cabras and enjoy your hotel facilities.

  Accommodation: Hotel Aquae Sinis

  
• Day 2: Tharros archeological site & the Sinis Peninsula Loop

  Start your gravel bike adventure from Cabras and its inviting views of the Lagoon, the Spanish tower and the Roman bridge. Today’s ride takes you on mixed paved, salty, dusty and sandy flat fields with slight elevation, perfect for gravel offroading. Heading towards the peninsula of Sinis, just between the Lagoon of Cabras and the Gulf of Oristano, you’ll find many prehistoric discoveries like quaternary tombs, Nuragic towers, Nuragic wells, Spanish towers, and even a reconstruction of a neolithic village.

  Pushing through the sandy agricultural trails, you’ll soon see the Mediterranean Sea with its white quartz pebbled beaches of Mari Ermi, Is Arutas, and Maimoni. You’ll have the chance here to visit incredible sites, such as one of the oldest churches in Sardinia (in San Giovanni di Sinis) as well as ancient drawings and frescoes in the Hypogeum of San Salvatore. Some spaghetti westerns were filmed here. Head back through eucalyptus fields across the bridge, where the sea meets the Lagoon once again.

  Accommodation: Hotel Aquae Sinis
  Meals: Breakfast
  Distance: 60 km / 37 miles, 57% unpaved road

   

  
• Day 3: Lagoons to the town of Guspini

  Starting from Cabras, go south along the Gulf of Oristano, passing by farmlands and lagoons. Inland from the Green Coast, the massif Mont Arcuentu separates you from the sea for the length of its 8 kilometers. Once you pass Oristano, you will encounter other lagoons such as the Lagoons of Santa Giusta, of Arborea, and of Terralba. You will also pass the most important river in Sardinia, the River Tirso, stretching 152 kilometers from the central mountainous region to the beaches of Arborea.

  Arborea was a marshy lowland, drained, farmed and inhabited by farmers from Veneto and Friuli in the 1920s, and is still an important agricultural region for all of Italy today. Here you will see mostly agricultural lands and their many little villages until you reach the lagoons of Terralba and the fishing village of Marceddì. From Marceddì, you can admire the lagoons as you cross the bridge that will take you to Sant’Antonio di Santadi where rolling hills will take you along Mont Arcuentu all the way into Guspini.

  Accommodation: Hotel Tarthesh
  Meals: Breakfast
  Distance: 68 km / 42 miles, 62% unpaved road

  
• Day 4: Piscinas beach & Portu Maga Loop

  Start your day with a warm up around a basalt columned volcanic cone. Passing through the center of Guspini, continue onto a spectacular panoramic climb overlooking the town and the surrounding plains. You are heading towards Montevecchio along an old trail way used by the miners. Head down towards the dunes and beach of Piscinas, following creeks and streams with more mining sites all the way down to the river.

  The sandy dunes and river outlet consume the roads and flora along the coast, almost all the way to Portu Maga. That’s where you will head back up and over the mountain of the Green Coast known mostly to locals. This old rolling and twisty mountain road will take you back to the mining village Sa Tanca and to Montevecchio which has been mined since Nuragic times. Roll down the mountain and go back to your accommodation in Guspini, where you can relax by the pool with a refreshing drink in your hand.

  Accommodation: Hotel Tarthesh
  Meals: Breakfast
  Distance: 66 km / 41 miles, 40% unpaved road

  
• Day 5: Su Nuraxi UNESCO World Heritage site, Barumini & town of Gesturi

  Today you’ll step away from the seaside, go through the Campidano flats and towards central, hilly Sardinia. Warm up until you go offroad, through olive orchards, agricultural, and eucalyptus fields. The first major city you will pass through is San Gavino Monreale. Gravel roads will then take you through fields of the Campidano, where grain cultivation, vineyards, olive orchards, and almond orchards are riddled with ancient Nuraghi.

  Once you pass the flats of the Campidano, rolling hills of the Marmilla and megalithic structure of Cuccurada welcome you. You’ll find yourself between two high plateaus. On your left, the high plateau of the Giara dominates, but soon you’ll see the UNESCO World Heritage site of Su Nuraxi, Sardinia’s most intact and best-preserved example of a Nuragic village with a central tower which can be visited with a guide. From there, you will cycle around Barumini and into the olive orchards heading a bit north just under the high plateau of the Giara. Plenty of good gravel paths take you up and around the heels of the Giara to Gesturi, where you will find your accommodation in a typical Sardinian village.

  Accommodation: B&B Cortis Antigas
  Meals: Breakfast
  Distance: 58 km / 36 miles, 61% unpaved road

  
• Day 6: Loop on the Marmilla Area

  Starting from Gesturi, ride towards Gergei through olive orchards and gravel roads with Mount Trempu on your left. Then you’ll reach Is Corropus, a lovely area featuring streams, small waterfalls, and natural pools, all surrounded by a dense maquis. Continue going through endless rolling hills and small villages such as Escolca and Serri, until you reach Lake Barrocus. Pedal over a natural isthmus of the lake onto its bigger island to get back onto the main road. From there, you’ll see the smaller island with San Sebastiano church built on top of it.

  The road continues to alternate between gravel and asphalt all the way to Genoni, from which you can reach the high plateau of Giara. The most popular sight there are the small wild horses which roam freely. You will also come across Nuragic villages and towers between oak forests. Free-range cattle and tree-climbing goats can also be seen. Lodging: B&B Cortis Antigas

  Accommodation: B&B Cortis Antigas
  Meals: Breakfast
  Distance: 61 km / 38 miles, 41% unpaved

  
• Day 7: Departure

  After a farewell breakfast with your team, the tour has come to an end. If you’d like to stay longer in the area, just ask your guiding company for some recommendations!

  Meals: Breakfast