# Cagliari without a car: Castello via Saint Remy, lunch at the Antico Caffè, Molentargius flamingos and sunset at Poetto

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.

Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/italy/sardinia/cagliari-south-coast/itineraries/castello-flamingos-and-poetto-day · Revisado: 2026-11-13

## El día
-  · Salida: 6 min by train (the day before, airport train to the centre and a night at the hotel)
- 09:00 · A walk through Castello, Cagliari's walled quarter, from the Saint Remy bastion (free · climb the Saint Remy stairway before the heat)
  - 10 min on foot
- 12:30 · Antico Caffè (at the foot of the bastion · culurgiones or fregola · book by phone) · Antico Caffè, €€
  - 15 min by bus
- 15:30 · Flamingos in Molentargius Park, the old salt pans between Cagliari and Poetto (free · bring binoculars · from 6:30 to 21:00 from March to mid-October)
  - 30 min on foot
- 18:00 · Poetto Beach, eight kilometres of sand beneath the Sella del Diavolo (sunset behind the Sella del Diavolo)
- 20:30 · Vuelta: 30 min by bus (CTM line PF to the centre, €1.30)

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.

## Getting there from Spain

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.

## The day, hour by hour

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.

## Cómo llegar

### Without a car
The whole day is done on foot and on the CTM PF line; the 90-minute ticket costs €1.30 and the day ticket €3.30.

### By car
Do not use it: Castello has restricted traffic and parking at Poetto in summer is difficult.

## Consejos

### Go up to Castello early
At midday the stone and the bastion have no shade.

### Pay on board
On the Poetto buses you can pay by card.

### Winter
From mid-October to February the park closes at 18:00: see the flamingos earlier.

## Preguntas frecuentes

### Can you see Cagliari in a day without a car?
Yes: Castello is explored on foot and the PF bus takes you to the salt pans and Poetto.

### How much does it cost to see the flamingos?
Nothing. Molentargius park is free to enter.

### Where can you eat near Castello?
At the Antico Caffè, at the foot of the Saint Remy bastion, open every day.

### How much is the bus to Poetto?
€1.30 for the 90-minute ticket.