La Maddalena and Caprera in a day from Olbia by car

The plan

The day at a glance

Any part can be swapped for another without spoiling the day.

08:00
Leave Olbia 45 min by car
From Olbia to the port of Palau
15 min by ferry · Car ferry with Delcomar or Maddalena Lines; frequent departures
09:30 1
A Walk Round La Maddalena's Old Town and Cala Gavetta
Cala Gavetta, the church of Santa Maria Maddalena and the town hall
15 min by car
11:00 2
The Compendio Garibaldino on Caprera, the House Where Garibaldi Lived
booking compulsory · €8, free for under-18s · closed on Mondays
15 min by car
13:30 3
La Grotta
booking in summer; cover charge €5 and fish by weight

Via Principe di Napoli, 3, 07024 La Maddalena · +39 338 491 9198

Restaurant €€€€
Book
10 min by car3,9 km
15:30 4
The La Maddalena Panoramic Road and the Bridge to Caprera
swimming stops at the coves in the north of the island
18:30
Back home 15 min by ferry
Ferry from La Maddalena to Palau
45 min by car · From Palau to Olbia

Approximate cost About €60–120 per person

Adds up the activities and meals in the plan at their published prices; travel and accommodation not included.

The route

A Walk Round La Maddalena's Old Town and Cala Gavetta

The other half of La Maddalena is seen from dry land. You take the car across on the ferry from Palau, stroll around the old town and Cala Gavetta, cross the bridge to Caprera to see Garibaldi's farm and tomb, eat seafood at La Grotta, a restaurant dating from 1958, and spend the afternoon on the panoramic road and its coves.

Getting there from Spain

Fly to Olbia (OLB), with a direct flight from Barcelona. Hire a car at the airport and drive 45 minutes to Palau. There you put the car on the Delcomar or Maddalena Lines ferry: twenty minutes to La Maddalena, with frequent sailings all day. In July and August go early: the vehicle ferries fill up at peak times.

The day, hour by hour

8:00 · Leave Olbia and take the ferry at Palau.

9:30 · Old town and Cala Gavetta. Park and walk through the eighteenth-century lanes, the church of Santa Maria Maddalena and the little harbour of Cala Gavetta, with the Garibaldi column.

11:00 · Compendio Garibaldino. A quarter of an hour by car, on the other side of the Passo della Moneta bridge. The white house, the iron house with its library, the mill and the olive press he built, and his granite tomb. Booking is compulsory, €8, free for under-18s. Closed on Mondays.

13:30 · Lunch at La Grotta. Back in the centre. Fish of the day sold by weight, spaghetti alla Grotta or the house lobster. Expect an expensive restaurant: the restaurant itself reckons €60–100 per person in the evening without lobster, plus a €5 cover charge.

15:30 · Panoramic road. Head for the north of the island and stop at the coves: Bassa Trinita, Cala Francese, Spalmatore. Bring a towel.

18:30 · Ferry to Palau and back to Olbia, where you arrive around 20:00.

Time1 h 30

Boats moored at Cala Gavetta, with La Maddalena's old town behind

Herbert wie · CC BY-SA 4.0

Change the route

With young children, if it rains or if you fancy something else: another stop that fits the same day.

Red gorgonians on a rocky Mediterranean seabed

With teenagers, from mid-June to September: guided snorkelling or an introductory dive with Argonauta at Abbatoggia instead of the afternoon at the coves: Try Dive or Guided Snorkelling in the Park with ArgonautaDiving or snorkelling · 3 h · From €65 · 15 June to 30 September

The restaurant's street terrace, with red parasols and the Sergent Pepper's sign

For a cheap lunch with no booking: pizza at Sergent Pepper's, open from 12:00 to 23:00: Sergent Pepper'sPizzeria and simple restaurant in the centre of La Maddalena, open all day: long-fermentation pizza from €5 and dishes such as zuppa gallurese.

Room with a sea view, with a double bed and a balcony over the archipelago

To stay the night on the island: Hotel Miralonga, 800 m from the ferry: Hotel MiralongaThree-star hotel with 50 rooms on La Maddalena's panoramic road, 800 m from the harbour, with a pool on a terrace over the archipelago.

Where to eat

Where to eat?

Lunch is half the plan: book before you set off.

La Grotta

Restaurant · La Maddalena · €€€€

What to order: the aragosta alla Sette-Otto, the family's lobster recipe for more than sixty years; if you do not want lobster, the spaghetti alla Grotta with seafood and the fish of the day alla Filomena

Open every day in season. Book in summer. €5 cover charge; fish is charged by weight.

Sergent Pepper's

Restaurant · La Maddalena · €€€€

What to order: the Gallurese pizza, with fresh sausage and pecorino, or the Sarda, with cured sausage; if you do not want pizza, the zuppa gallurese, the northern Sardinian soup of bread, broth and cheese

Open every day from 12:00 to 23:00. No need to book; it has a waiting list with SMS alert and takeaway.

La Gritta

Restaurant · Palau · €€€€

What to order: the fish of the day in the version the chef suggests and a Sardinian wine from a small producer on the list; ask for a terrace table for the sunset over the islands

Open from April to October. Closed on Sundays, except from 15 June to 15 September, when it is open every day. Book by phone.

Map

The stops, in order

With where to park at each one.

What to do Eat 88 €Stay Services

Getting there

By car or without one?

By car

Take it across on the ferry: without it, Caprera and the northern coves are far away.

Without a car

Cross on foot and hire a scooter or bike on La Maddalena; several accommodations have agreements with rental companies.

When to go

When to go to La Maddalena Archipelago

From April to October, when La Grotta is open; for swimming in the coves, from June to September. Never on a Monday, when the Compendio is closed. In July and August leave early: the car ferries are full.

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