We spent a week in Alghero in 2006, we were looking for a holiday and our local paper who organize readers holidays in conjunction with Newmarket Holidays were offering holidays direct from Aberdeen to Sardinia. Obviously hadn’t been selling to well as they were being discounted quite heavily. I called to inquire about booking flights only but they were keen to sell it as a package but suggested I call back in a week to se how sales were going and if they were still slow they would be willing to offer flight only. When I called back a week later there were still lots of seats available on the plane so I was offered flight only and was also told that there was an £50 per person discount on the price and she provisionally reserved us a couple of seats as I said I would have to speak to Mrs H before booking. So we decided to go for it and called back to book, I spoke to someone else to confirm the booking and confirmed the price I was offered with the £50 discount and just before I paid the person said oh I see this flight qualifies for a £50 discount per person so se deducted another £60 per person off the cost so we ended up paying about £70 each for the flights.


We spent ages looking for accommodation in the town of Alghero but the choice was very limited. and the prices were quite high. We ended up booking the Hotel Florida for our weeks stay.


Alghero airport had just been upgraded to an International one and they were hoping to attract more tourists. The terminal was brand new and with only a handful of flights a day was a sheet joy to use. We had collected our bags caught a taxi and were in our hotel within half an hour of landing there. I know Ryanair now fly there as well a Thomson doing packages there so I would expect things to be a bit busier now.


Our hotel the Florida was a real blast from the past. It along with a handful of others were built in the late sixties as part of a drive to attract tourists to the area. Other than those hotels there are a few other hotels dotted around the town. You never feel like you are in a resort. Alghero is a working town that caters for a relatively small number of tourists. Obviously it could be much busier now with many more hotels to accommodate the extra visitors brought by the new airport. Alghero is a small town built around a working harbour and a beach which runs along a large bay. There is an old town which remains relatively unspoilt and is wonderful to wander around.



The Hotel Florida was a bit on the basic side, the rooms were quite small with a tiny bathroom. The walls were very thin and you could hear your neighbours very easily.
We were on B&B basis and the breakfasts were pretty basic. It was coffee which you helped yourself to from a machine and a few rolls/pastries there was butter jam cheese and ham and that was it. There were very few seats in the bar area so if it was cooler at night (and it was a couple of nights) other than outside on the terrace there was nowhere to sit. The hotel was very well kept and clean and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. The pool was nice and there were plenty of sun beds. Despite its shortcomings we enjoyed our stay at the Florida, it was across from the beach in a quiet area. There was some renovation work to the hotel next door going on but it didn’t effect us in any way. It was a 15 minute stroll into the centre of town along the seafront.



Being our first trip to Italy we were looking forward to the food as we had heard so many people going on about how good the food is in Italy. Unfortunately we found the food on offer in the restaurants to be of very average to poor quality. I don’t think we have ever had so many poor meals, the food was always virtually cold and on the whole was very bland. One evening we noticed a small restaurant in a residential area close to our hotel which had a queue of local people outside. So we decided to give it a try. It was Friday night and the place was heaving and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a seat and then it was ages before we got served but it was worth the wait. The food was hot and bursting with flavour and very reasonably priced. The place itself was very no frills but the welcome was very warm and the place had a real buzz to it so went back again the next two nights.



We hired a car for 3 days and toured around the North West of the island. Sardinia is very unspoilt and beautiful and surprisingly green with lots of flowers growing and butterflies everywhere. Once you head out of Alghero any signs of tourism disappear and you are in a rural working landscape. The roads were some of the best I have driven on, the surface was very smooth and there was virtually no other traffic. The coastal drive from Alghero to Bosa was spectacular and well worth hiring the car for alone.


The Hotel Florida a real blast from the past obviously built in the late sixties/early seventies




A view of the pool from our room.






The Beach across from the hotel





Alghero along the bay



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Alghero, a quaint old town


















Our mode of transport






The Coastline around Alghero


















The smooth sweeping coastal road to Bosa







Heading up into the hills











What the locals think of road signs

I thought you said you hired a car? That's half a car ain't it?
Seriously, I loved that. I love those narrow streets that you can find, they look like something off of a Disney film set.
Great stuff hayzer :-bd:

mark2spark wrote:

I thought you said you hired a car? That's half a car ain't it?
Seriously, I loved that. I love those narrow streets that you can find, they look like something off of a Disney film set.
Great stuff hayzer :-bd:

Thanks mark

The car was fantastic especially in the narrow streets of the Sardinian towns, you could also park very easily at 90 degrees to the pavement as it is so short

Another great review from you H matched with those stunning photos of yours, Sardinia is a place I have never been to thanks

Didn't British Leyland do a model called an Alghero

Yet another honest & factual review with great photo's, you are an expert at this reviewing lark H. With Mark on the car front, was that just the front of one car, with a couple of added wheels.

Honestly the car was fab so much fun to drive and perfect for what we needed. It wouldn't be any good if you had luggage though

Or if you were 6 foot 5 like me. Then again it was a Cabriolet. :bs$:

Good review H - you looked like a young boy in that car (you'll be buying one next week now!

Loved the coastal shots and the narrow streets of Alghero - did you come across any small coastal towns/villages on your travels that you thought you might have liked to stay at?

Hi TB

There were very few small coastal towns where we were on the North West cost. Alghero itself was very nice and Bosa was very much an working town but all the more appealing for that. There were a few really nice villages up in the hills but you really need to have a car to get to them. On our first drive up in the hills we drove through a couple of towns and as it was siesta time were totally deserted. Even at their busiest you virtually saw nobody out and about. I wish I had taken more pictures as I seem to have very few of Sardinia

Hayzer wrote:

Hi TB

There were very few small coastal towns where we were on the North West cost. Alghero itself was very nice and Bosa was very much an working town but all the more appealing for that. There were a few really nice villages up in the hills but you really need to have a car to get to them. On our first drive up in the hills we drove through a couple of towns and as it was siesta time were totally deserted. Even at their busiest you virtually saw nobody out and about. I wish I had taken more pictures as I seem to have very few of Sardinia

Very unlike you H, & that was before the lost camera.

Thanks H!

I might have a look at some of the Sardina Forums on (cough cough) TA.

How expensive was it re eating out etc?

theboss wrote:

Thanks H!

I might have a look at some of the Sardinia Forums on (cough cough) TA.

How expensive was it re eating out etc?

Hi TB, I can't actually remember how expensive it was to eat out but I do remember felling a bit aggrieved at the prices we paid for such poor quality food in the main. It did seem relatively expensive at the time and that was with the euro exchange rate at 1.5 to the pound.I did some research on TA but mostly Virtual Tourist before we went and there were lots of people warning of the cost and quality of food on offer in the tourist areas.

As I said that was 6 years ago and before the budget airlines started flying into Alghero. I would expect the area has seen a huge increase in the number of UK tourists since then. I have no idea if this has had any effect on the town I suspect some restaurants may have seen it as a good opportunity to cash in and may have changed their menu to suit the British palate. Sadly I suspect the low cost airlines will have brought many tourists to the area that would never have considered Sardinia previously. I had read of the dreaded stag weekends heading there as the flights were so cheap.

[quote="Mick"]

Hayzer wrote:

Hi TB

Very unlike you H, & that was before the lost camera.

Funny you should mention that Mick, it is exactly a year to the day I lost my camera.

The guys were trying to arrange another day out and suggested a walk around Stonehaven (a local coastal town) followed by a visit to the Stonahaven Real Ale Festival

Sadly I am on call this weekend covering for one of my colleagues but I reckon it could have turned out rather messy

Great review and pics mate and a well deserved rep from me

Sardini has always been expensive Boss, we have baulked at the brochure prices in the past

I know we had a look at it a few yrs ago - villa with pool, A/C, seaview and found that there was very little on offer to meet our requirements - there were more villas that had been converted into several apartments etc and more often in a rural setting, whilst we wanted to be near a village/small town. I recall thinking that it wasn't good value for money . .

Maybe Corsica would be better value, my son did some repping for these people briefly and said their villas were nice

http://www.corsica.co.uk/?gclid=CLjS5Pu5n6wCFcod4Qod3mQTAw

Thanks DB - I'll def have a look at that later - goalie guy has a match and smallie guy has soccer training . . . .

One of the advantages of a cruise is sampling new places to see if they warrant a return for a longer holiday.One of the ports on our first cruise was Palau,Sardinia.We took an excursion to Costa Smeralda apparently Sardinia's Millionaires' Playground.It was a really beautiful area and it would be nice to return for a holiday but it was the most expensive place for food and drink I have ever been to.Even more expensive than Dubai-and that's saying something!

Also stopped on a cruise a year ago in Ajaccio,Corsica and prices were more reasonable there.Although we went on a bus tour of the surrounding area of Ajaccio the weather was cold,wet and windy so we didn't see it at its best.Moral-don't cruise Med in November.

Thanks WS! :C*J: