Visiting Villasimius in Sardinia

Italy has many fabulous beach destinations and every summer we discover new ones. Last year we visited Sardinia for the first time, with a long weekend in Olbia in the north. This year we decided to visit Sardinia again and chose Villasimius in the south.

Sardinia is a huge island that is just over 24,000 km², has almost 2,000 km of coastline and is served by three airports. Although it’s really big, it’s actually Italy’s second largest island, with Sicily taking the top spot. Having been to two different places in Sardinia, I have to say that Sardinia doesn’t feel particularly ‘Italian’. The architecture is very modern – even the churches, which in Italy always seem to date back to the 1800s at least, are modern (or as my Italian husband commented, ‘ugly’). It just feels very new and unlike anywhere else in Italy.

Perhaps other people may say something different but for us, we go to Sardinia for the beaches – and that’s it. The beaches are simply gorgeous – white sand, clear shallow water and the colour of the water is just stunning. It’s very similar to the Caribbean.

There are little beaches everywhere so it’s best to hire a car or scooter to visit them all. One of the biggest is Porto Giunco, which even has a lake with flamingos. One of my favourites was a smaller beach called Porto Sa Ruxi, which was recommended to us by the owner of the Airbnb we stayed in.

Unfortunately, while we were visiting, there were two days where it was really windy. Hence why this beach is completely empty. We still went to the beach though – we just tried to find more sheltered ones!

The town of Villasimius is pretty small but there are lots of restaurants to choose from (Italians love to eat, after all) and bars for aperitivo and after-dinner drinks. The buildings in the main street are really colourful and they had put up bunting as there was a festival the next weekend. It looked so pretty!

Our favourite restaurant was Grill Su Sergenti, which is in a boutique hotel and is set up around their pool. It was rather romantic and the food and service was excellent. Another restaurant we enjoyed was CaBo’. It was very modern (think all white with cacti in little pots and an open kitchen) and they have a lovely terrace where you can eat outside.

Apart from the beach, there really isn’t much to do. If you like golf or water-related activities, then you’re in luck. Of the top ten things to do in Villasimius, on Tripadvisor, 9 of them are beaches! They do have an archaeological museum though, horseback riding as well as a diving centre if you want to scuba dive or snorkel.

If you fancy a long weekend in a beach paradise that’s like the Caribbean – without the flight time, jet lag or price tag – then give Villasimius a visit!