geocalia
Day itinerary · 39.22° N · 9.11° E
A climb up to Castello by Saint Remy, Sardinian lunch at the 1855 café at the foot of the bastion, flamingos in the Molentargius salt pans and the afternoon on the sand at Poetto.
Part of Cagliari and Sardinia's South Coast
The plan
Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.
the day before, airport train to the centre and a night at the hotel
free · climb the Saint Remy stairway before the heat
at the foot of the bastion · culurgiones or fregola · book by phone
Piazza Costituzione, 10/11, 09124 Cagliari · +39 070 658206
free · bring binoculars · from 6:30 to 21:00 from March to mid-October
sunset behind the Sella del Diavolo
CTM line PF to the centre, €1.30
Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.
The route
Cagliari fits into a day without a car, and it has something few capitals have: flamingos twenty minutes by bus from the centre. In the morning you climb up to Castello, the Pisans' walled quarter, by the stairway of the Saint Remy bastion. You have lunch at the foot of the bastion at the Antico Caffè, open since the nineteenth century. In the afternoon, a bus to the old Molentargius salt pans to see the flamingos, and a walk to Poetto to end the day on the sand.
Fly to Cagliari-Elmas (CAG), with direct flights from Barcelona and Seville. Arrive the day before: the train from Elmas Aeroporto station takes you to the centre in about six minutes for €1.30. Sleep near the port, for example at the Hotel Regina Margherita, and you will not need a car.
9:00 · Castello. Start at Piazza Costituzione and climb the Saint Remy stairway to the Umberto I terrace, with a view over the port and the salt pans. Continue to the Pisan towers of San Pancrazio (1305) and the Elephant (1307) and come back by the Santa Croce bastion.
12:30 · Lunch at the Antico Caffè. You go down to the square where you started. The café opened in the nineteenth century and keeps its Liberty-style rooms. Order the culurgiones or the fregola with lobster, and a seada for dessert. Book by phone.
15:30 · Molentargius flamingos. Take CTM bus PF on Via Sassari and get off beside the salt pans. The paths are flat and free; bring binoculars. The flamingos feed in the shallow water some distance from the dykes.
18:00 · Sunset at Poetto. From the park, walk across to the Poetto promenade. If it is hot, have a swim; if not, walk towards Marina Piccola with the Sella del Diavolo in front of you.
20:30 · Back to the centre. The same PF line takes you back to Via Sassari in about 25 minutes. If you want a proper dinner, book at Luigi Pomata, opposite the port.
Where to eat
Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.
What to order: at midday, the culurgiones ogliastrini with potato, mint and pecorino (€14) or the fregola with lobster sauce (€18); for dessert, the sebada with strawberry-tree honey
What to order: the Fuori Tonno menu (€90), all bluefin tuna; a la carte, the hand-cut bluefin tuna tartare (€24) and the linguine alla Nicolo with the house tuna reserve (€24)
What to order: at midday, the handmade fregola cooked like a risotto with prawn sauce or the culurgione that meets the sea; for a main course, the barely seared bluefin tuna cube, and seadas for dessert
Map
With where to park at each one.
Getting there
When to go
All year: the Antico Caffè is open every day and so is Molentargius park. From April to June and in September and October the day is long and Poetto is tempting for a swim; in winter the park closes at 18:00 and Poetto is a walk.
Tips
At midday the stone and the bastion have no shade.
On the Poetto buses you can pay by card.
From mid-October to February the park closes at 18:00: see the flamingos earlier.
Questions
Yes: Castello is explored on foot and the PF bus takes you to the salt pans and Poetto.
Nothing. Molentargius park is free to enter.
At the Antico Caffè, at the foot of the Saint Remy bastion, open every day.
€1.30 for the 90-minute ticket.
More plans like this
geocalia.com/en/italy/sardinia/cagliari-south-coast/itineraries/castello-flamingos-and-poetto-day
Prices, opening hours and times are approximate: check them before you go. Each place has its own page on Geocalia.
Geocaliahttps://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/sardinia/cagliari-south-coast/itineraries/castello-flamingos-and-poetto-day
