Olbia

Olbia (pop. 60,382) is the largest city on the Costa Smeralda and the fourth-largest city in Sardinia, after Cagliari, Sassari, and Quartu Sant`Elena. Olbia has been populated since the Nuralgic Age, three millennia before the Common Era. The Greeks discovered Olbia in the seventh century BCE and were the ones to name it; the name literally means `happiness` in Greek. After the time of the Romans, during the Judicate of Gallura, it was renamed to Civita. In the centuries before the rise of Benito Mussolini, the city was renamed once again to Terranova Pausania, in contrast to the town of Tempio Pausania which is located twenty miles to the west, close to the halfway point with Sassari. Even though Olbia is known by its original Greek name today, in Sardinian it is still called `Terranoa`.

Olbia is the economic and cultural center of the Costa Smeralda and is meant to be an initial jumping-off point to explore the towns of the Costa Smeralda that are within a 15-mile drive of town. Olbia Costa Smeralda Airport is located two miles to the south-southeast of Olbia`s historic center. The historic center of Olbia is a quarter of a square mile in area, roughly stretching eight to nine-tenths of a mile from Olbia`s waterfront and the Museo Archeologico, and then a quarter-mile south from Canale Zozo. The most prominent piazzas in the city are Piazza San Simplicio, located adjacent to the Basilica di San Simplicio, northwest of the train station, and the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti and the Piazza Regina Margherita, located southeast of the train station, south of Corso Umberto I. To the north of the historic center is Parco Fausto Noce, the largest public park in Sardinia, located on a plot of land separated by two bodies of water (the Rio San Nicola to the north and Canale Zozo to the south).

Points of interest in Olbia include the Basilica di San Simplicio, located on the corner of Via Fausto Noce and Via San Simplicio in the northern part of the historic district. The Chiesa di San Paolo Apostolo is located on Piazza Civita, located just to the north of Corso Umberto I. Note that Corso Umberto I is a one-way street with traffic flowing away from the Port of Olbia, Olbia`s waterfront and the Museo Archeologico di Olbia; to access a two-way street from the waterfront area, take Via Nanni Alessandro. To visit other points of interest south of town like Castello di Pedres and Tomba dei Giganti, take the SS127 to the SP24 motorway, then turn right on the Via Castello Pedrese.

Budoni

Budoni (pop. 5,125) is the southernmost town on the Costa Smeralda, about 23 miles southeast of Olbia. It is located on the Strada Statale 131 Diramazione Centrale Nuorese, which connects Budoni with Nuoro, and also on the Strada Statale 125 Orientale Sarda, which connects Budoni with Cagliari. Budoni is noteworthy as a base to explore the tourist port of Porto Ottiolu, four miles away. Budoni Beach, as well as the beaches to the south and to the north, are located on shallow seabeds, which are great for families. There is even a beach to the north of Budoni Beach that permits dogs, if you are traveling with any four-legged friends. In town, Budoni`s most noteworthy attraction is the `Museum of the Stazzo and the Peasant Experience` -- the stazzo is a mud hut that peasants typically lived in, in the time of Sardinia`s industrialization. Take the SS125 a mile and a half north to the SP1 road, and exit right. Take the SP1 directly to Porto Ottiolu. Porto Ottiolu is known for its boutique accommodations, while there are a number of campgrounds in the vicinity of Budoni.

Golfo Aranci

Golfo Aranci is located 10.5 miles northeast of Olbia. It is the eastern terminus of the train lines in the Costa Smeralda, connecting Olbia and the rest of the country with Golfo Aranci. Originally called Figari, Golfo Aranci was the original ferry connection between the Costa Smeralda and the mainland, and is still connected to the mainland today by a ferry line to Livorno. The town (pop. 2,475) is compact, approximately a half-mile long by a quarter-mile wide on an isthmus between the Gulf of Olbia to the south and the upper Tyrrhenian Sea to the north. The town`s two beaches, Le Cinque Spiagge and Prima Spiaggia, are located close to the city center; Cala Moresca is located two miles to the southeast, on Capo Figari. The city center is located in the half-dozen west-east streets between the Gulf of Olbia and the Via Guglielmo Marconi.

Palau

About 25 miles north-northwest of Olbia, Palau (pop. 4,163) is reachable by road via the SS125 from Olbia, and the SS133 from Tempio Pausania. Palau has a couple of sights of its own, but people tend to stop at Palau to use it as a stopping-off point to visit nearby sights and to take the ferry to Isola Maddalena, located two-and-a-half miles off the coast in the Strait of Bonifacio, between Sardinia and Corsica. La Maddalena, the main town on Isola Maddalena, is three times as large as Palau. Take a day to explore Isola Maddalena, located in a national park which protects the natural wonders of the island, including its pink granite coastline and rock formations.

Palau boasts its own rock formations as well. North of town, the northernmost point in Palau is called Capo d`Orso, the bear cape, so named because the rock formation resembles the shape of a brown bear. The formation received its current shape by way of a salt weathering in a form called honeycomb weathering.

The town main streets in town are the Via Capo d`Orso, the terminus of the road coming north from Olbia, and the Via Nazionale, the terminus of the road traveling east from Tempio Pausania. Points of interest in Palau include the Museo etnografico di Comune di Palau, which tells the history of the northern portion of Sardinia, and the parish church, the Chiesa di Nostra Signora delle Grazie. There are vantage points which overlook the Strait of Bonifacio and allow visitors a nice view of Isola Maddalena: at the Capo d`Orso, and at Punta Sardegna, a mile and a half northwest of Palau proper.

Porto Cervo

Porto Cervo is located seventeen miles north of Olbia, and it is considered one of the most high-end luxury resorts in Sardinia. Referred to by locals as `the jewel of the Costa Smeralda`, Porto Cervo (pop. 421) is accessible by Olbia by taking the SS125 road to the SP59, which you can take directly to the fringes of town. Just south of town, you exit the SP59 onto the Via Porto Cervo. If you stay on the SP59, once you pass the Via della Marina, the road name becomes the Viale Giovanni Maria Orecchioni.

House prices in Porto Cervo command top dollar (or top euro), at over €30,000 a square foot! The town itself is situated to the south and west of the marina and yacht club, created and frequented by one of the world`s richest men, the Aga Khan. A lot of the commercial and entertainment activity in Porto Cervo is situated along the Viale Orecchioni, as well as the Via della Marina, which wraps around Romazzino Bay. A noteworthy point of interest is the Surrealist and modern Chiesa di Stella Maris, located directly across the bay from the Yacht Club and Marina.

San Teodoro

San Teodoro, 18 miles southeast of Olbia, is a beautiful beachside town whose population explodes from a few thousand in winter to over 50,000 in summer. San Teodoro`s world-renowned beach is La Cinta, sitting on a cape with the Tyrrhenian Sea beachside and the San Teodoro Lagoon on the other side, where you can see thousands of pink flamingos on a good day. The cape stretches nearly to Puntaldia on the other side, where there is a famous golf course that allows you to play 18 holes while enjoying great views of the sea. The center of town is the Chiesa di San Teodoro, located on Piazza Mediterraneo. The northern artery in town, on the eastern side of the piazza, is the Via dei Platani. The southern artery, on the western side, is the Via dei Gerani. The town`s tourism office is also located on Piazza Mediterraneo, north of the parish church. You will find a cluster of restaurants north of the center of town along Via del Tirreno, and another one around Largo Emilio Lussu.