Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Coastal tourism arrived in the 1960s and has since become a mainstay of the Sardinian
economy. Environmentalists breathed a sigh of relief in 2008 when NATO withdrew from
the Maddalena islands after a 35-year sojourn.
Getting There & Away
AIR
Flights from Italian and European cities serve
Elmas
( 070 21 12 11;
www.cagliariairport.it
)
Aeroporto Olbia Costa Smeralda
( 0789 56 34 44;
www.geasar.it
)
in Olbia. As well as major in-
ternational carriers, several no-frills airlines operate direct flights, including
Ryanair
(
www.ryanair.com
)
,
easyJet
(
www.easyjet.com
)
and
TUIfly
(
www.tuifly.com
)
. Some routes are re-
stricted to between April and October. From Sardinia's Olbia airport,
Meridiana
sonfly
(
www.thomsonfly.com
)
now also connects Alghero to London Gatwick.
BOAT
Sardinia is accessible by ferry from Genoa, Livorno, Piombino, Civitavecchia and Naples,
and from Palermo and Trapani in Sicily. Ferries also run from Bonifacio and Porto Vec-
chio in Corsica, and from Marseilles via the Corsican ports of Ajaccio and Propriano. The
arrival points in Sardinia are Olbia, Golfo Aranci, Santa Teresa di Gallura and Porto
Torres in the north; Arbatax on the east coast; and Cagliari in the south. Services are most
frequent from mid-June to mid-September, when it is advisable to book well ahead. Use-
ful online resources include
www.traghettiweb.it
and
www.traghettionline.com
.
FERRY OPERATORS
France 0810 20 13 20;
www.cmn.fr
)
To Porto Torres from Marseille via
CMN La Méridionale
(
Corsica.
Corsica Ferries, Sardinia Ferries
( 0825 09 50 95;
www.corsica-ferries.co.uk
)
To Golfo Aranci
from Civitavecchia and Livorno. Also Sardinia to Corsica (April to September).
Grandi Navi Veloci
( 010 209 45 91;
www.gnv.it
)
To Olbia and Porto Torres from Genoa.
Moby Lines
( 199 303040;
www.moby.it
)
To Olbia from Civitavecchia, Genoa, Livorno and
Piombino; to Porto Torres from Genoa. Also has ferries between Sardinia and Corsica
(April to September).
