Day 4: a trip to...Islands Maddalena and Caprera

Hello travellers! Hope you're well and ready for a nice and lucartive weekend.

This Friday, I'd like to introduce one of my favourite Italian places: Islands Maddalena and Caprera, North of Sardinia.
First of all, La Maddalena is a city od about 11,000 inhabitants composed by seven islands, making part of the archipelago with the same name.
Maddalena and Caprera are just the tho most important and populated because of their position and shape.

The best way to arrive there is by ferry from Palau, a nice village in the Sardinian area named Gallura, a good place for relaxing in one of the wonderful beaches or making practice for sail beginners.
Several private companies work all day long to carry on cars, coaches and simple passengers to La Maddalena, in a short trip of only 15/20 minutes.

Once you arrive in the city, I strongly reccommend a panoramic tour by car to pass through the so called Friendship Bridge that joins Maddalena and Caprera Islands.

If Maddalena is the centre of business with hotels, stores and restaurantes, Caprera is extremely wild but for this reason very fascinating.
The Italian national hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi chose Caprera as place to live till his deat in the second half of 19th century and there he built his own home inspired into a Brazilian fazenda because of his several trips to South America. Today, the house, the garden and the space all around is a national public museum.
Remember that every Italian museum it is closed on Monday.

After your visit you can come back to Maddalena but taking a long and beautiful panoramic road, with compulsory stops to the local beach where the colour of the water is deeply emerald.

It is a sort of European Caribbeean: nothing to envy to the amazing Latin beaches in the Atlantic Ocean.

Many bars close to the beach are open in the summer season to try one of the best Sardinian offer: candies and cakes made with sugar and honey, a topic of the entire island or the Ravioli dolci, typical of the Gallura, prepared with ricotta and lemon.

Then, when you arrive again to Maddalena, find a spot to park your car in the port area (big parking with a cheap rate to pay) and have a walk in the centre of the village where many shops will wait for you for a souvenir or to buy typical product in food and beverages setting.

Take a photo in his bench with Giuseppe Garibaldi who seems to wait all tourists to talk and explain his adventures.


Finally, have lunch trying a Spaghetti alla bottarga, a delicacy of salted, cured fish roe (fish eggs), typically from grey mullet. This dish is served with generous local oliv oil and sometimes if required with local hot pepper.







The best manner to combine this court is with a glass of Vermentino della Gallura, a white wine, a DOCG wine that legend says to be imported from Andalusia (Spain) or Island Madeira (Portugal). Produced mainly in Gallura, it's today one of the most exported and known Sardinian wines. Produced in the island since the 14th century, today it presents other varieties in Tuscany and Liguria and especially in Corsica, the French island. To be served cool and with seafood courts. Enjoy!