Central Sardinia by car

Main tower of 'Su Nuraxi', c 1500 BC

SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2009

We hired a car (quite expensive at over 200 euros for 5 days for a Fiat 600!) and drove through the middle of Sardinia, stopping to look at some of the wall paintings in Villamar. We also visited the impressive ‘Su Nuraxi’ near Barumini, where there are the remains of the largest nuraghic fortress in Sardinia, parts of which date from 1500 BC. It was amazing to actually walk inside the central keep and the four main towers. The whole complex had been buried until a flood in 1949 exposed part of it and it was then excavated. There are over 7,000 of these nuraghi dotted all over Sardinia.

The rest of the drive was magical through mountain passes, passing through quite large mountain towns such as Aritzo and Fonni. It took a lot longer than we expected because of the mountain roads, and we didn’t arrive at our hotel until about 9 p.m. The hotel we stayed at is about 5 kilometers from Oliena up Monte Maccione, with superb views of the valley, Oliena and the mountain opposite with the town of Nuoro.