Sardinia SS125 Orientale Sarda

Scenic road chapters

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Olbia

   Olbia is the gateway to Sardinia for most people arriving by sea. Ferries from Genoa, Livorno and Civitavecchia dock in the long gulf, and an airport serves the Costa Smeralda, the glamorous strip of coast to the north, which the Aga Khan developed in the 1960s. The town itself is older than it looks. The Greeks called it Olbia, meaning happy, and the Romans used it as a major port; in the 1990s, when workers dug a tunnel under the harbour, they found the remains of more than twenty ancient ships. The Romanesque church of San Simplicio, in grey granite, is one of the oldest in Sardinia.

   Read the complete Olbia write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Olbia is where the day begins. Next is San Teodoro.

2. 2. San Teodoro

   San Teodoro is a summer town on the north-east coast of Sardinia, a place that lives for the months between June and September and goes very quiet the rest of the year. It sits between the granite hills of Gallura and a lagoon where flamingos sometimes wade, and its reputation rests on a beach. La Cinta is a long strip of fine white sand that runs for kilometres between the sea and the lagoon, backed by dunes and juniper, and across the water the limestone bulk of the island of Tavolara rises like a ship's prow, fierce and grey, nearly six hundred metres high. The little island has a claim to be the world's smallest kingdom, a title once held by a family of shepherds and fishermen who were recognised by a king of Sardinia in the nineteenth century.

   Read the complete San Teodoro write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   San Teodoro comes up about 29 km into the recorded legs. Next is Orosei.

3. 3. Orosei

   Orosei is a small old town on the Cedrino river, a short way inland from the long beaches of Sardinia's east coast, and it is one of those places that sits in the middle of a big story without making a fuss about it. Behind it, the white limestone mountains of the Supramonte rise, a wild and almost unvisited country of canyons and caves, and to the south the coast runs on toward the Gulf of Orosei, where cliffs and hidden beaches are reached by boat. The town was once a significant port and a seat of Spanish rule, and it still has a cluster of churches, an old watchtower and a medieval centre with some fine stone houses. It is known for its churches, of which there are many, and a few of them are very old.

   Read the complete Orosei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 96 km into the recorded legs you reach Orosei. Next is Dorgali.

4. 4. Dorgali

   Dorgali sits on the eastern flank of the Supramonte, the limestone massif that fills the middle of Sardinia's Nuoro province, and the town spreads over its slope with the mountains behind and the Gulf of Orosei somewhere in the haze ahead. Six thousand people live here, enough for fuel, banks and a proper choice of bars, which matters because the SS125 Orientale Sarda is a long road with long gaps. Fill the tank here and you will not think about it again until Baunei or Tortolì.

   Read the complete Dorgali write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Dorgali, about halfway. Next is Baunei.

5. 5. Baunei

   Baunei hangs on a ledge of limestone above the Tyrrhenian sea, a town of two thousand people with the Supramonte of Baunei rising behind it and the coast far below. The SS125 comes through here on one of its most spectacular sections, climbing out of the valley from the south and then running along the face of the mountains with sea views opening on the left. The Gennargentu massif, Sardinia's highest ground, lies inland, and the whole district is one of the wildest corners of the island.

   Read the complete Baunei write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Baunei sits at 212 km, late in the day. Next is Tortoli.

6. 6. Tortoli

   Tortolì is the market town of the Ogliastra, the wild and thinly populated stretch of Sardinia's eastern coast, and it has the practical air of a place that works for a living. About eight thousand people live here, with the port of Arbatax a few kilometres away, where the red porphyry rocks drop into the sea in a dramatic cluster. Ferries to the mainland leave from Arbatax, and the paper mill and port gave the district some employment. For riders, Tortolì is a convenient end to the long SS125 Orientale Sarda, with fuel, shops, cafes and a flat, easy lie.

   Read the complete Tortolì write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 181 km.