The archaeological heritage of Sardinia is very important.

The island is not yet very popular and during Autumn and Winter you might be the only visitor of an archaeological site, most of all if your choice takes you just off the most advertised itineraries. The presence of human beings in Sardinia dates back to the early Paleolithic, about 500.000 years ago. During the Neolithic period men built megalithic monuments such as “menhirs”, funerary circles, allées couvertes, and dolmens (Sa Coveccada near Mores is the biggest in the Mediterranean area).

Dedalo tour guides would like you to take part in the festivals known as Cortes Apertas (open courtyards) and in the most important festivals and feasts of Sardinia.

During “Cortes apertas” the inhabitants are keen to open their workshops and cellars to the public invited to share traditions and local products. We suggest an itinerary to the most typical feasts and festivals.

In Sardinia handicraft is still very popular compared to other regions, because thousand year old traditions have been preserved thanks to the distance of the island from the continent.

Modern handicraft tries to meet with contemporary fashion but the objects produced still present strong ties with tradition due to the roots embedded in folk art enriched by the benefits of education. They produce works of art of great formal beauty and high technical standards.

Sardinia cooking offers a wide variety of food products. A selected number of restaurants and “agriturismo” (guest house in the countryside) offer typical menus.

Sardinia cooking offers a wide variety of food products. Most of them have been passed on by the agropastoral traditions. Some dishes are still prepared because of the devotion to local cultures or by the different cooking traditions of the many peoples who have lived on the island. In Sardinia people continue to cook some specialities to celebrate important days along the year: breads and cakes baked on All Soul’s Day, S. Antonio, and Easter day.

Sardinian architectural peculiarities are found most of all in early Christian, Byzantine and Romanesque churches. Just to mention the most important ones.

Sardinian architectural peculiarities are found most of all in early Christian, Byzantine and Romanesque churches. Countryside churches and traditional buildings also can be very interesting. The most important Early Christian monuments are the hypogeum of S. Salvatore near Cabras (OR), a holy well used as an Early Christian place of worship during the IV century. S. Saturno church in Cagliari and S. Giovanni of Sinis near Cabras (OR). This last dates back to the V-VI century; the Shrine of Our lady of Bonacattu in Bonàrcado and the catacombs in S. Antioco’s church in the homonymous town.

The geological aspect of Sardinia, formed above all by schist, granite, limestone and volcanic trachyte, has determined the variety of coasts.

We pass quickly from a high coast with cliffs on the sea to a coast with “rias”, full of bays and promontories that delimit wonderful beaches.

The coast with cliffs can be formed by the schist of the Cambrian period, as in Nebida Masua in the south west of the island, or formed by limestone of the Cretaceous or Jurassic period in the high cliffs of Capo Caccia and Punta Cristallo, near Alghero or in the rugged and wild coast of Golfo di Orosei, between Cala Gonone and Santa Maria Navarrese.

It is the mountainous heart of Sardinia that visitors discover during excursions inland.

Sardinia with its huge lonely landscapes, silences, endless horizons, unspoilt nature. Human presence is low, confined almost always within little centres in the folds of the mountains. Here man can still discover a traditional Sardinia with its most interesting cultural aspects, far away from the clichés consolidated during the years.

Do not miss a visit to the National archaeological museums of Cagliari and Sassari to see the most important evidences in the world of the Nuragic and Punic-Phoenician civilizations.

The “Antiquarium Arborense” of Oristano and the Archaeological Museum of Nuoro are also very interesting. Perfugas museum hosts evidences of the early Paleolithic, while the museum of Laconi displays 40 menhir statues with proto-anthropomorphic and anthropo-morphic features dated back to 3400-2700 BC.