Where to stay in Alghero
The old town for dinner, Lido for the sea, Fertilia for quiet
- Old town
- Restricted traffic zone
- Lido
- Beach about 2 km from the old town
- Fertilia
- The airport bus passes through it
Alghero is small enough that choosing where to sleep is less a question of neighbourhoods than of trade-offs. Inside the walls you lose the car and gain every dinner within a few minutes on foot. Along the coast you gain the sea at breakfast and lose the evening stroll. Fertilia, on the road from the airport, offers a quieter third option, so there are three bases, and the right one depends on how you mean to get around.
The old town behind the walls
The historic core is a restricted traffic zone, so the old town belongs to people on foot. Drivers leave the car at the edge. The largest car park nearby is Piazza dei Mercati, about 10 minutes away on foot, and Piazzale della Pace and Via XX Settembre are about 12. Everything you came for sits inside the small grid behind the walls. The harbour, the sea walls, the cathedral on Piazza del Duomo, the cloister at Largo San Francesco and the tables along Via Principe Umberto are all a short walk apart.
That makes the old town the base for anyone who wants to wander out after dinner and walk home. It suits visitors who land at the airport and take the ARST bus, or a taxi that takes about 15 minutes and costs about €20. The taxi ranks are at Via Vittorio Emanuele 1 and by the port, so a ride back to the airport is easy to find. The price of the position is hauling a suitcase over the old streets, so pack light.
3-star hotel, double room, per person per night
Lido San Giovanni and Maria Pia
Lido San Giovanni is the city beach, a strip of golden, shallow sand on Via Lido about 2 km from the old town. The Busquet promenade links the two on foot, and the city bus also runs there. Fare: €1 (90 min, ARST). Maria Pia lies further towards Fertilia, with fine pale sand and dunes held by junipers that are centuries old. A cycle path runs out to it from the centre. Choose the Lido for a swim before breakfast and a walk into town for dinner, and choose Maria Pia if a bicycle is your way of getting about.
Fertilia
Fertilia is a village built from scratch. Settlers from Ferrara laid its first stone in the 1930s, the streets carry names from Veneto and Julian March, and after 1947 it took in many exiles from Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia. There is a lookout with a lion of St Mark, and the airport bus calls here before it reaches the centre. It is quiet and practical for early flights. Le Bombarde, a pale crescent of sand with a large car park, lies about 2 km from the village and then another kilometre on. A dinner in the old town, though, needs a bus or a taxi back.
With or without a car
Without a car, sleep inside the walls and hire one for a single day. The old town, the cave by bus or boat and the beaches on the Capo Caccia road can all be done on public transport. The necropolis at Anghelu Ruju cannot, since no public bus goes there. With a car, the old town still beats the coast. The vehicle will sit unused at Piazza dei Mercati for most of the stay, and the gates open and shut on a timetable that is easy to misjudge.
Where to next
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Alghero
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which area is best for a first visit?
The old town behind the walls, because the harbour, the cathedral, the cloister and most restaurants are within a few minutes on foot. The Lido suits a beach-first trip and Fertilia suits early flights.
Can you stay outside the old town without a car?
Yes. The Lido is about 2 km from the old town along the Busquet promenade and has the city bus, and Maria Pia has a cycle path. Fertilia is on the airport bus line, though getting back from a dinner in the old town then takes a bus or a taxi.
Ready for Alghero?
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