The mysterious charm of Nurra

Panorama dalla torre del Falcone - Stintino

The mysterious charm of Nurra

Here, each town has its own history and distinctive features and the coastal stretches offer you surprises, such as towers, cliffs and villages. When exploring this territory on foot, you will notice all of its nuances and you will be won over by its secrets

a journey amidst rocks and sea

Every people left something here: traces of buildings, artefacts, names of streets or places, traditions and legends. From Alghero to Porto Torres, different universes cross each other in a few square kilometres. Along the coast, dotted with watchtowers, your journey is a combination of picture postcard natural scenery and stories from a past, each of which somehow continues to live in the present.

Itinerary: 99.5 km

Journey time: 21 hrs spread over five days

Poglina

‘La Speranza’ (Hope) is the name of the place where the route begins, still in the territory of Villanova Monteleone. The Spanish tower of Poglina dates back to the 16th century and stands on top of a promontory located further north with respect to the beach of the same name, in front of an unusual rocky outcrop with an elongated shape. Proceeding north along the Riviera del Corallo, you will cross the bastions of Alghero and the streets of Fertilia, before catching sight of the impressive Lazzaretto Tower.

Pòglina - Spiaggia Corallo

Just south of the Riviera del Corallo, between Alghero and Bosa, in the territory of Villanova Monteleone, there is a stretch of beautiful...

Porto Ferro

PoYou can take a detour to admire the landscapes and beautiful nature of Capo Caccia and the park of Porto Conte, or you can continue north, taking a look at the Baia delle Ninfe amidst vineyards and archaeological legacies. From the Torre di Porticciolo onwards, the coast becomes even more jagged and interspersed with wild coves, until the beach of Porto Ferro suddenly appears with its ‘guards’, Bantine Sale on the left and Torre Bianca and Torre Negra on the other side.

Porto Ferro

A deep bay offers a long and beautiful stretch of sand, at the northern end of the Riviera del Corallo, on the north-west coast of Sardinia

Argentiera

You will find no military or defensive constructions, just mining ones. Many are abandoned, within a village that has remained suspended in time. Argentiera is one of the most fascinating industrial archaeological sites in Europe and you won't have a hard time understanding why. The buildings, both old and new, are reflected in the turquoise sea, surrounded by ivory-coloured cliffs. There is also an open-air museum here, the Open MAR, which will tell you the epic story of the mine and the adjoining village.

Argentiera

A charming hamlet of Sassari in the Nurra, in the far north-west of Sardinia, an open-air museum of coastal beauty, ghost town and mining ruins

Stintino

The longest leg of the journey crosses the northwestern extremity of the Nurra region, moving away from the coast to enter a landscape set in the scrub, where a few remote sheepfolds occasionally appear. The route takes you quite close to several picturesque churches, until you come back to the sea near the salt pans of Stintino. You will be able to admire the massive seventeenth-century tower, which kept the Falcone tower and the Pelosa tower company, today ‘confined’ on an islet almost in front of the spectacular beach.

Stintino

A pearl in the Mediterranean, on the northwestern tip of Sardinia, 50 km from Sassari: La Pelosa, its symbolic beach, is one of the most beautiful...

Porto Torres

A long coastline of sand and white pebbles, looking out at the Gulf of Asinara, will lead you eastwards and then alongside the Pilo pond. It is surrounded by rushes and tamarisks and inhabited by bird species, among which cormorants, herons and flamingos. You will return a few kilometres inland before entering the streets of Porto Torres, in the direction of the port, passing by the ruins of the ancient Roman town of Turris Libisonis, after which you will reach the brown Aragonese tower, dating back to the 14th century.