Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images
Cagliari
Established in 1858, the Orto Botanico is one of Italy’s most famous botanical gardens. Today it extends over 5 hectares and nurtures 2000 species of flora. Leafy arches lead to trickling fountains and gardens bristling with palm trees, cacti and ficus trees with huge snaking roots.
Specimens from as far afield as Asia, Australia, Africa and the Americas sidle up to the local carob trees and oaks. Littering the gardens are a Punic cistern, a Roman quarry and an aqueduct.
Santuario & Basilica di Nostra Signora di Bonaria
1.18 MILES
Crowning the Bonaria hill, around 1km southeast of Via Roma, this religious complex is a hugely popular pilgrimage site. Devotees come from all over the…
0.41 MILES
Cagliari’s graceful 13th-century cathedral stands proudly on Piazza Palazzo. Except for the square-based bell tower, little remains of the original Gothic…
0.37 MILES
Of the four museums at the Cittadella dei Musei, this is the undoubted star. Sardinia’s premier archaeological museum showcases artefacts spanning…
18.36 MILES
Clad in thick forest, the mountain massif known as the Monte dei Sette Fratelli dominates the remote Sarrabus area. Its granite peaks and woodlands…
3.18 MILES
An easy bus ride from the centre, Cagliari's fabulous Poetto beach extends for 7km beyond the green Promontorio di Sant'Elia, nicknamed the Sella del…
0.36 MILES
This hilltop citadel is Cagliari’s most iconic image, its domes, towers and palazzi, once home to the city’s aristocracy, rising above the sturdy ramparts…
0.49 MILES
This vast neoclassical structure, comprising a gallery space, monumental stairway and panoramic terrace, was built into the city's medieval walls between…
23.78 MILES
If you embark on just one excursion from Villasimius, make it the 15-minute drive south to Capo Carbonara, a protected marine park. The promontory dips…
0.06 MILES
These remains of three Roman houses date to the 1st century BC. Legend has it that Tigellio Ermogene – a famous Sardinian poet and musician, and a close a…
0.19 MILES
Although consecrated in 1538, this Jesuit church is best known for its lavish 18th-century decor, considered the finest example of baroque styling in…
0.2 MILES
Despite its unassuming facade, the Chiesa di Sant’Efisio is of considerable local importance – not for any artistic or architectural reasons but rather…
0.22 MILES
This crypt has been in use since pre-Christian times. It’s a huge, eerie, natural cavern where the echo of leaking water drip-drips. Originally a place of…
0.25 MILES
Largely destroyed by bombing in 1943 but painstakingly rebuilt afterwards, Chiesa di Sant’Anna rises grandly above a wide staircase in the Stampace…
6. Centro Comunale d’Arte e Cultura Il Ghetto
0.25 MILES
This small cultural centre, housed in a former military barracks, hosts temporary exhibitions, many with a Sardinian slant. The name 'Il Ghetto' is a…
0.26 MILES
Cagliari’s most significant Roman monument is this 2nd-century amphitheatre. Currently resembling a messy construction site (it's closed for restoration),…
0.27 MILES
Opened in 2011, this contemporary glass and steel pavilion has given a new lease of life to a former food market. It's now a cultural complex housing two…