Welcome to Sardinia!

Alghero airport sits just minutes from this historic town. Once you've settled into your hotel, our guide will help you fine-tune your bike fit.

You'll then have plenty of time to wander the streets of the old town, enjoy an aperitivo as the sun sets behind Capo Caccia, and savor a traditional dinner at one of the area's celebrated restaurants.

The coastal road connecting the two historic towns of Alghero and Bosa is one of the most spectacular in the world. It's a continuous series of ups and downs with sea views stretching for over 42 kilometers. The visual contrasts are breathtaking — the deep blues of the sea, the dark volcanic rock, the green of the Mediterranean scrubland, and the yellow of wildflowers. A stop to admire the griffon vulture sanctuary at Capo Marargiu, then the road begins its descent toward Bosa, Sardinia's only river town, famed for its colorful old quarter, its ancient tanneries, and the medieval castle crowning it. An aperitivo overlooking the river and a traditional dinner bring a glorious day to a close.

The coast is what attracts most people to our island, but if you want to experience the authentic Sardinia you must head inland.

Leaving Bosa, the stage begins with a long climb averaging 5.9%, rewarded by sweeping views back over the colorful houses and the Castello Malaspina.

We turn away from the coast and climb into the mountains of the Montiferru region, passing through a string of tiny villages — Modolo, Tinnura, Tresnuraghes, Sagama and Scano di Montiferro — each barely a few hundred souls, where rural traditions and a slower pace of life remain untouched by time.

The last major village before the summit is Cuglieri, home to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Neve, which you will see long before you reach the town. From Cuglieri, a long climb in the shadow of an oak forest leads you towards Santu Lussurgiu, a medieval village that is the perfect example of the culture, hospitality, gastronomic traditions and quality of life inland Sardinia has to offer — and where you'll stay overnight.

After two days where the landscape has been the star of the journey, this stage crosses into one of the most archaeologically significant areas of the entire Mediterranean.

Leaving the medieval village of Santu Lussurgiu, the route becomes a journey back through time as much as through space: cork oak forests and honey villages give way, mile after mile, to layers of history stretching back millennia.

Around Cabras, you'll encounter traces of the Byzantine era, then Roman ruins, and finally the Punic and Phoenician city of Tharros itself—founded over 2,700 years ago on a narrow peninsula between two seas.

Nearby, the mysterious Giants of Mont'e Prama, among the oldest monumental sculptures in the Mediterranean, add an even more ancient layer still. Few rides in the world let you pedal so effortlessly through so many centuries in a single day.

And then there is the living culture of the lagoon and the sea. Cabras is renowned for its long fishing tradition, particularly for muggine, the grey mullet whose roe is transformed into the island's celebrated bottarga. The area is also at the heart of the Vernaccia di Oristano tradition, a distinctive local wine with deep roots in the region. After a day of riding through Sardinia's history, there is perhaps no better way to end the stage than around a table, discovering the flavours and traditions that have shaped this corner of the island for generations.

Leaving behind Cabras, a place steeped in ancient history, we ride into an area shaped instead by contemporary history—a landscape whose entire organization is the product of 20th-century human intervention, unlike anywhere else in the region.

The plain of Arborea is the only area of Sardinia where you will find flat, straight roads, and the story behind that flatness is as striking as the landscape itself. This was once an unhealthy, malaria-ridden marsh, transformed through a large-scale land reclamation project carried out during the Fascist era.

The result is a landscape unlike anything else on the island: rice paddies, dairy farms and grid-patterned fields laid out with rationalist, almost modernist precision. The reclamation also reshaped who lived here—the original population was largely replaced by settlers from the Veneto region, who were assigned plots of the newly drained land and built a thriving agricultural economy that still defines the area today.

Riding through Arborea feels like entering a different Sardinia altogether, one written by human intervention rather than by nature. Enjoy this unique region and its flat roads, a welcome intermezzo between the more hilly stages.

The stage ends in Torre dei Corsari, with its long dune-lined beach. We recommend taking advantage of the flat roads to reach the destination early for a swim in the turquoise sea before staying the night.

Today's ride crosses the mining heart of the Iglesiente, a region where nature is slowly reclaiming what industry once dominated.

After the coastal dunes and reclaimed farmland of the previous days, the route now climbs inland to Montevecchio, once one of the largest lead and zinc mines in Europe. Its abandoned headquarters still stand as a striking reminder of an industrial past now being overtaken by the wild Sardinian landscape.

From here, the road settles into a long, flat stretch that carries you toward the coast. Before the final climb to the hotel, the day's ride ends with a well-earned break on one of the wildest and most spectacular beaches in Sardinia: San Nicola.

A cold beer, the sea breeze, and stories of the day's adventure—with the option of a swim in its crystal-clear water—make for the perfect way to close out the ride before heading up to Portixeddu for dinner and the night.

Before leaving the hotel, make sure your smartphone has plenty of free memory!

This stage traces one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline in Sardinia, where cliffs plunge dramatically into the sea and the mining past adds an extra layer of drama to the scenery.

The road along Buggerru, Masua and Nebida climbs and descends repeatedly, but the effort never feels tedious—the slower pace only gives you more time to take in views that etch themselves permanently into memory.

At Nebida, the iconic Pan di Zucchero rock rises dramatically from the sea below. A stop at Cala Domestica, tucked into a narrow inlet once used to ship out minerals, is a must before tackling the day's second climb.

From here, the road flattens out for the second half of the stage as you make your way toward Sant'Antioco, a fishing island long known for its tuna and now a superb spot to sample bottarga, sea urchins and other delicacies from the sea—paired with a glass of Carignano del Sulcis, a robust red made from some of the oldest ungrafted vines in Europe, grown in the sandy soils of this corner of Sardinia.

Leaving Sant'Antioco, the day opens with a spectacular cycle path skirting the lagoon, with views over a Roman bridge and the salt pans where flamingos wade in the shallow pink-tinged water. From here, the first section of the stage is relatively flat. From the moment you pass Porto Pino, though, you'll feel the constantly alternating ups and downs that define the rest of the ride. The stretch of coastal road between Porto Teulada and Chia is recognized as one of the most beautiful coastal roads in the world. The pale pastels of the rocks and cliffs, the deep greens of the vegetation, and the vivid blues and turquoises of the sea stand in stunning contrast to one another. Aragonese towers—remnants of the Spanish occupation of Sardinia, once built to defend the coastline from pirate raids—appear at multiple points along the way, standing sentinel over the same views you're riding through. A journey this spectacular deserves nothing less than a spectacular final act, and this road delivers it in full, bringing the tour to a close with a well-earned overnight stay in Pula.