The high country of central Sardinia, between the Tirso river and the hills of the Barbagia, is a landscape of basalt plateaus, cork forests, small stone villages and long, empty views. The nearest places on our list, Nughedu Santa Vittoria and Neoneli, are small villages with only a few hundred people each, and the town of Macomer is some twenty-five kilometres away. The prehistoric story here is about how the island's early people treated their dead, and the title reflects that.
Sardinia is full of tombs. The domus de janas, rock-cut chambers dug into stone outcrops from the fifth millennium BC onward, are the most common, and they are often carved to resemble houses, with roof beams, doorways and hearths cut in the rock. Later came the giants' tombs, long communal graves with a curved stone front, built by the Nuragic civilisation.
The roads are lovely and lightly used. The route along the Tirso valley and Lake Omodeo, one of the biggest artificial lakes in Italy, has smooth long bends and views over shining water, and the climbs into the hills offer short, tight sections with good surfaces. Livestock, loose stones, sunbaked tarmac and the occasional wild boar are the hazards. In spring the hillsides are green and yellow with broom, while summer is hot and dry, and autumn brings mushrooms and mist.
For something to see on the way, the Nuraghe Losa, near Abbasanta, is one of the best-preserved Nuragic towers on the island and well worth a stop. Ghilarza, a short run away, was the childhood home of Antonio Gramsci, and the house is now a small museum. Fuel can be hard to find in the small villages, so use the pumps at Macomer, Abbasanta or Ghilarza when you pass. Sardinian lunch is long and generous, with roast pork, sheep's cheese and carasau, the thin crisp bread, so plan your timing accordingly.