Alghero known in Latin as Algarium, is on the West coast of Sardinia, in the province of Sassari. The name is derived from something, which might be off-putting, as it means "the place of algae"! However, I thought it was a lovely little town and enjoyed my brief stay there. Alghero, the tourism capital of northern Sardinia, is a fascinating town of immense historical interest, which also has excellent beaches. It can be lively, vibrant and cosmopolitan in the holiday season when there are open markets, bars and restaurants, which cater for most tastes. There are quality hotels and apartments, which complement the traditional tourist amenities, which are transforming Alghero into one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy.
Founded on a
peninsula facing the Bay of Alghero early in the 12th Century, it was taken from the Genoese by the Aragonese in 1353. The population of Alghero was mainly settlers from
Barcelona and
Valencia. The original occupants Ligurians and Sardinians were forced from the area so completely, that the Catalan language and culture took over and the look of old Alghero is Spanish. In fact, many roads have names in Catalan and Italian! Enough of history for now, let me tell you about my visit.
We had arrived in Alghero by air from Stanstead, as we walked off the plane and across the tarmac to the terminal building we enjoyed the hot sun on our backs and glanced at the hills and as soon as we had our cases, hot-footed it (literally by now!) to collect our
hire car. After driving twice around the car park we found the correct exit and off we went, heading north and eventually east and so away from Alghero, and towards our destination for the next eight days. At the end of the eight days we travelled south to Nuoro and then across the country towards
Bosa on the west coast. After exploring there and lunch we set off up the coast towards Alghero, enjoying magnificent cliffs, rugged hills and some lovely scenery, we kept getting glimpses of what we believed must be Alghero but it was several miles later that we descended into Alghero and found our
hotel on the outskirts of the town.
We arrived on a hot, sunny afternoon in
September and after relaxing on our balcony with a cool drink, we decided to set out to
discover the town. We walked along the promenade, past several hotels including the Hotel Villa
las Tronas, a mustard coloured
villa on a promontory, which has very elegantly furnished public rooms in gilt, and 18th century French style furniture, and was built originally for the kings of
Savoy. Too expensive for us though! We carried on towards the battlemented walls and defensive towers, with a labyrinth of alleys and cobbled streets to our one side and the sea on the other, we eventually reached the lively port. Below the old town's fortifications, modern yachts, pleasure craft and traditional
fishing vessels jostle for position in the harbour. We stopped several times on the way to look down to the sea where people sunbathed on rocks, at men sitting fishing and people
swimming in the lovely clean warm water.
We read delicious menus outside restaurants and planned where we would eat that night.
Facing the Giardino Pubblico is the massive 16th century
Torre di Porta Terra, also known as the Jewish tower after the builders. The area in front of the tower was extremely busy, with several boats waiting to go on trips to visit the
Grotto di Nettuno or other places. Traders from other countries laid out their goods on cloths on the side of the road and tried to sell their wares. Several times on our walk, we could see a beautiful bright tiled dome, which we discovered, was the Baroque San Michele Church. It was closed when we were there and we didn't return later when a service was on
to see the inside, but to me the dome was so magnificent, I might have been disappointed by the inside. The 14th century monastery of
San Francisco is supposed to be the most beautiful place of worship in Alghero, but we didn't manage to find it as we walked along the maze of streets. People sat outside restaurants enjoying a drink after a late lunch, and enjoying the shade from the huge umbrellas, but we decided to sample some Italian
ice cream at one of the many shops and were amazed at the huge cone with our choice of two flavours for only 1.60 euros. We sat in the shade of a tree looking out to see and avoiding the eye of a persistent Timeshare tout! He captured a prey and we ate our ice cream in peace!
We explored the quaint streets, where we found little boutiques with expensive clothes, beautiful jewellery, local handcrafts and wonderful cakes and chocolate!
Motorbikes seemed very popular and the
bikes were stacked in the road outside the shops. As we walked back, we were aware that
scooters and
motor bikes were a popular form of
transport through the narrow and congested streets. A little blue and white "
train" trundles visitors on a tour of the town, an excellent way to sightsee without sore feet but my husband marched me on and said "No" when I suggested a trip!
After breakfast one morning, we clambered over rocks and explored the area on the edge of Alghero. A cafe perched high on the edge of the cliffs and people had camped overnight in a car park, enjoying a fantastic view. We watched as a two ladies swam from the rocks right across the bay, enjoying a leisurely morning dip, so different from the cold water around our coast! The water was clear and beautifully clean, we could see small fish darting about, and were happy just sitting absorbing the peace. There was a very small private beach at our hotel, the sand was raked each morning and loungers and umbrellas put out, but most people preferred the cleaner, by that I mean sand free, environment of the pool as there was a notice saying you must rid yourself of sand before entering the hotel
Today, many influences of its former Catalan masters remain, clearly reflected in both its magnificent architecture and by its elder residents, many of whom still regularly speak the Catalan dialect. In numerous restaurants around the old town, this strong Spanish influence is still evident in their tempting menus, although
Italian pasta and
pizzas are widely available.
Lobster Catalan is available at most restaurants and paella is also popular.
In the evening people seemed to emerge from their homes to walk along the promenade, sit and enjoy a meal or drink and just chat. Groups of young people leaned on the railings, and talked, and laughed with each other. It seemed a relaxed happy atmosphere, or perhaps the sun, wine and good food gave me a rosy glow on things! In the restaurant we choose, parents arrived with young children even at 9.30pm to order a meal. The menus have a wide range of Anti-pasta, primo and Secondo and desserts, you do not have to choose something from each section, and some people had a course to share e.g. fried squid. The basket of bread including the local carta di musica which is thin and crispy is great to nibble on whilst you wait, and usually you are charged a cover charge so it is worth eating! The local wines are delicious and you can visit some of the vineyards in the area, one is near the airport
- called Sella & Mosca, but our flight was too early, if only we had discovered it on our arrival, we would have visited it then! Prices differ depending on the type of establishment chosen, but I noticed many of the younger Sardinians had wine or
beer and a
pizza and it was only a few euros. Be prepared to speak Italian, in hotels english is understood but in smaller restaurants, garages you must at least try. "Il pieno, per favore" might have made the young man smile at my pronounciation but at least he filled the car with petrol (and I got a smile!).In no time, we were heading for the airport along the SS291, even at 7.00am the roads were busy and although there were lots of signs on the way the one we needed to turn left was missing so we found a garage filled up and turned around, and headed back to the airport. As it happened that was the only garage so it was lucky we missed the turn as we needed to return the car with a full tank! The airport is small, so if you want to buy presents get them before going to the airport! I only noticed one shop with handcrafts in the main entrance and everyone went through customs and then discovered that there were only 3 machines for coffee, water and chocolate etc. One small shop had wine and other Sardinian delicacies, so a disappointment for those who planned to spend some money!
Alghero is a great place for a base to visit the places north and south, I would have liked another couple of days, as we didn't have time to visit the wonderful lido beaches of Le Bombarde and Lazzaretto, or the bays of Porto Conte, perhaps on our next trip we will!
A little bit of Spain in Italy! 
