Introducing Cagliari

This historically heady city hasn’t succumbed to being either glossily heritaged or blighted by high-rise hotels, despite the frequent budget flights disgorging tourists from the UK. Instead, Cagliari is a cosmopolitan working city surrounding an evocative medieval centre where taverns and restaurants casually spill out onto the many cobbled piazzas.

Cagliari’s two thousand years of history has also left its mark, with archaeological remains, superb churches and several fine museums. Nearby, the city’s long Poetto beach is good for a city-side splash, while the salt marshes are preferred by such feathered friends as pink flamingos, cranes and cormorants.