Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WORTH A TRIP
ROAD TRIPPING
It's well worth getting behind the wheel to drive the 60km stretch from Dorgali to Santa Maria Navar-
rese. Serpentine and at times hair-raising, the SS125 threads through the mountain tops where the
scenery is distractingly lovely: to the right the ragged limestone peaks of the Supramonte rear above
wooded valleys and deep gorges; to the left mountains tumble down to the bright-blue sea. The first
20km to the
Genna 'e Silana pass
(1017m) are the most breathtaking. Aside from the odd hell-for-
leather Fiat, traffic is sparse, but you should take care at dusk, when wild pigs, goats, sheep and cows
rule the road and bring down rocks.
Grotta di Ispinigoli
A short drive north of Dorgali, the fairy-tale-like
Grotta di Ispinigoli
(adult/reduced €7.50/3.50;
tours on the hour 9am-6pm summer, 10am-noon & 3-5pm winter)
is a veritable forest of glittering
stalagmites, including the world's second-tallest (the highest is in Mexico and stands at
40m). Unlike most caves of this type, which you enter from the side, here you descend 60m
inside a giant 'well', at whose centre stands the magnificent 38m-high stalagmite. Photo-
graphy is not permitted.
Serra Orrios & Thomes
The
nuraghic
village of
Serra Orrios
(adult/child €5/2.50; hourly tours 9am-noon & 3-5pm)
was
inhabited between 1500 and 250 BC. Hidden among olive groves, the remains comprise a
cluster of 70 or so horseshoe-shaped huts grouped around two basalt-hewn temples. The
site lies 11km northwest of Dorgali (3km north off the Dorgali-Oliena road).
From Serra Orrios you could continue north to see the
Tomba dei Giganti S'Ena e Thomes
(
dawn-dusk)
, a fine example of a
tomba dei giganti
, a Bronze Age megalithic tomb
chamber. The stone monument is dominated by a central oval-shaped stele that once closed
off an ancient burial chamber.
