Sardinia Day Two: Oristano to San Giovanni di Sinis, finishing in Cagliari

If you’ve read Day One of our Sardinian holiday, then you will be probably thinking how the holiday could get better?

Well, I’m about to tell you!

After a well-deserved sleep in and breakfast at our hotel in Oristano, we were off on a 25-minute drive to San Giovanni di Sinis.  When you arrive at San Giovanni, you are able to park there for a minimum of 2.50EUR for 1.5 hours (there are parking inspectors so make sure you display your ticket!).

From the car park, you walk up the path and down to the right to reach the beach.  The moment you see the water, you know you’ve reached another incredible beach in Sardinia.

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis from the top

After you’ve taken some snaps of the beach from the top, you then negotiate the path to get down to the beach ….  but trust me – it is all worth it!

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis

The beach is a white sandy beach and the water is crystal clear, again, it is like swimming in a pool!  The beach was filled with locals, no one spoke English!  It felt like a true Italian holiday destination!

It’s a tough call … but we would put this beach at #2 of the Sardinian beaches, whilst the water is amazing at the majority of the beaches, the surroundings and the fact that this was in fact quite a lot quieter than many of the other beaches certainly gave it the edge over the rest!

Tip: Beware of the small fish – they bite your feet and ankles!!!

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis.

We spent quite a bit of time snorkelling as there are plenty of rocks and fish!  However, Jenna did manage to see a sea snake slithering between the rocks on the ground of the ocean… Needless to say, with her fear of snakes she was out of there quick smart!  I’ll get to the bit later where we saw an actual land snake …. haha

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis

From the beach, you can see the Spanish tower of San Giovanni up on the hill and of course, we wanted to see the panoramic view from the top!! So, after a couple of hours basking in the sun and snorkelling with the evil biting fish, we walked up to the top of the hill where the tower is situated for panoramic views over the entire beach.  It is well worth it and I would highly recommend seeing the beach and water from above!

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis castle

There are some tours that you can pick up from the base of the tower to visit the Punic ruins at the historic city of Tharros.  We didn’t take part in any of these tours as we were enjoying spending time in the water and keeping cool!

On our walk back down, Jenna spotted a snake (we believe it to be a Western Whip Snake)!!!  She was pretty quick to run down towards the car, while I decided to stick around to get a closer look at it (Jenna wasn’t too happy watching the GoPro footage afterwards! – take a look for yourself!).

By this stage, it was mid afternoon and we were wondering why we were so hungry!!!  Lunch time of course… Now, the one downside to the beach is that there are really only a couple of restaurants to choose from. We decided on Ristorante bar da Marina where I ordered a salad and Jenna ordered the home-made oven bake lasagna.  The meals were lovely, however, the staff don’t really speak English (which seems to be a recurring theme that I love and hate at the same time!) so if you can speak a few words in Italian that would be helpful, such as ‘bill’ which is conto!

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis lunch

After our late lunch, we jumped back in the car and started our hour or so drive to Cagliari.  We checked in to the T-Hotel for our 2-night stay.  Take a look at our detailed review of the T Hotel for more information!

Where to eat…

San Giovanni di Sinis:  We ate lunch at Ristorante bar da Marina just next to the car park for the beach.  The service is fairly typical for Italy, quick to seat you but the rest of the service is fairly slow (but that could be because no one wanted to serve us as they didn’t speak English!!).  However, when the food came out, it didn’t disappoint!  The salad was large and the lasagna was homemade and baked in the oven – delicious!!

Cagliari:  We ate dinner at the T Hotel which was incredible!  Take a look at our T hotel blog which goes into detail about the restaurant!

thewelltravelledman san giovanni di sinis castle Oristano Sardinia

If you want to read more about our Sardinian adventure, please check out our Sardinian 7 day love affair blog and links to each day!

Do you have travel insurance?

Before travelling, make sure you get a travel insurance policy – you never know when you might need it! Click here for information on travel insurance, what company we recommend and a link to get an instant quote.

Alternative accommodation

If you’re looking for alternative accommodation to either save some money or share with friends or family, click here for information on Air B&B ($50 discount on your first booking), hotel price comparison websites etc.

“When overseas you learn more about your own country, than you do the place you’re visiting.” – Clint Borgen

One Comment on “Sardinia Day Two: Oristano to San Giovanni di Sinis, finishing in Cagliari

  1. Pingback: Sardinia: 7 day Italian love affair! | thewelltravelledman

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