This page suggests some possible excursions in Cala Gonone and nearby
areas; these are intended mainly for accompanying persons, but should you
be tempted to spend some time beyond that of the conference in Cala Gonone,
you won't be deceived. In this case, contact us so that we can secure reduced
fares for your stay beyond conference's dates.
The page is in a preliminary stage and will be developed later on.
First of all, you could like to see where Cala Gonone is.
Here are schematic maps of north-east Sardinia
and of the Cala Gonone - Dorgali area.
And here road maps: from Olbia to Cala Gonone
and the local area.
A word about arriving in Cala Gonone: the standard option will be to use the transfer service offered by Hotel Palmassera from Olbia (airport and sea port). Olbia is linked to Milano and Roma by several flights a day, but direct flights to some major european cities are also operated in summer. As this can change from year to year, we will provide information later on.
If you come by car: daily ferry services operate to Olbia (from Genova, Livorno and Civitavecchia near Rome), Cagliari (from Genova and Civitavecchia) and Porto Torres near Sassari (from Genova, Civitavecchia and Toulon). Among these, you will prefer Olbia, which is both nearer to Cala Gonone and better served. There is also a service (not daily) from Civitavecchia and Fiumicino to Arbatax; this is nearer to Cala Gonone as distance, although the road goes through one of the wildest parts of Sardinia: despite being "the road along the coast", it has to go over a mountain pass at 1.000 mt. so that the time needed is probably not much shorter than the one needed on the fast road from Olbia.
It is also possible to fly to Sardinia and then rent a car; this option is obviously available in all airports, and again Olbia has to be preferred in terms of distance from Cala Gonone. In case you fly to Cagliari and rent a car there, e.g. because you are staying in Sardinia after the conference, consider that the road going the long way through Nuoro is a fast one, while the "orientale sarda" is very nice as far as landscape is concerned, but is not advisable if you are in a hurry.
Here are some road maps: one is for the local area, and one for the travel along the coast between Olbia and Cala Gonone. There is also a low quality road map of north-east Sardinia.
Here you find a detailed tourist map of the Cala Gonone area.
As you will see from the symbols reported on it, many attractions are
present;
for the time being, we only provide some pictures:
We should also point out that in the area there are several interesting
artistic/archeological
visits; in this respect one should point out, together with the museum
in Dorgali, in particular
the nuragic village of Serra Orrios (half hour drive), one of
the most complex and complete
in Sardinia, and several nuraghes, many of them in impressive locations.
The late nuragic village
of Tiscali is also a remarkable spot to visit, if you are not
afraid of a long walk up the mountains.
(This is supposed to have been inhabited by local populations resisting
the roman invasion; it
gives the name to the sardinian telephone company and internet provider
Tiscali,
which hosts
our home pages)
Naturalistic high-points include one of the major gorges in Europe,
Su
Gorropu (this is
several km long and at his most dramatic point is about 10 m wide and
500 m high; access
to the entrance of the gorge, after an half an hour slow drive from
Cala Gonone, amounts
to a relaxed 2 hrs walk, but walking inside requires some experience);
the sacred source
of Su Gologone and the nearby area; the Lanaitto Valley
(leading also to Monte Tiscali);
the caves of
Ispinigoli; and the coast of Golfo di Orosei,
accessible only by boat or by long
walks (at the exception of Cala Luna, which is at 2 hours from
the end of the asphalt road in
Cala Fuilli, i.e. 2.30 hours from the conference location. This
is also reached by a far less
obvious drive and walk along the valley of Codula di Luna,
see picture above, an impressive
canyon 20 km long).
A walking guide for the area is "A piedi in Sardegna", by S. Ardito
(ed. Iter); it can also be bought on line,
e.g. via an e-bookshop like www.zivago.it
Boat excursions take place regurarly (wheather permitting) departing
from the Cala Gonone port, directed
to the most beautiful spots of the gulf of Orosei; one of these will
be our conference tour.
There is a group based in Dorgali (a small village which is the administrative
center of the region where Cala
Gonone is) which organizes tours of varying difficulty in the mountains
nearby; you can consult their site at
www.ghivine.com
Consider however that if you have a car -- and are not afraid of long walks
-- you can
do all the tours by yourself. Be careful, these
are serious mountains despite the low altitude ! You can count
on stable wheather, but not on meeting plenty of people if you are
lost or need any help.
Information about hotels in Italy can be obtained through http://www.italiaabc.it/hotel;
for the Cala Gonone area, see
http://www.italiaabc.it/hotel/sardegna/nuoro/index.html
Last modified: 1/8/2000