How to get there

You need a car to get around in Sardinia, you cannot stay there without one.

You can get to Sardinia by airplane. EasyJet has direct flights from Gatwick into Olbia. Olbia is 45' from Palau, from where the ferries take you to La Maddalena. Ryanair has direct flights into Alghero which is much further away, 178 km / 110 miles from Palau. Cagliari and Tortolì are even further away. Other airlines serving Sardinia are Meridiana, Alitalia, Lufthansa. At the airport, rent a car from one of many large or local rental companies (it is recommended that you book in advance).

Alternatively, you can take your car onto a ferry from mainland Italy. There are three lines:

www.corsicaferries.com from Livorno, Tuscany or Civitavecchia, near Rome, into Golfo Aranci

www.moby.it from Genoa, Livorno or Civitavecchia into Olbia, and from Genoa into Palau

www.tirrenia.it from Genoa or Civitavecchia into Olbia, and from Fiumicino into Golfo Aranci

Once you are in Sardinia, drive to Palau harbour (some 25 miles from Golfo Aranci or Olbia). There you’ll find the ticket office for three ferry lines that will take you and your car to La Maddalena. The three lines are called Saremar (perhaps the one with the nicest ferries), Enermar and Tremar (the only one running all night). Rides last 15 minutes and leave every 10 minutes or so at peak times (the lines rotate, keep in mind that one does not accept the other’s tickets), and every hour at night (Tremar only). Prices are more or less equal across the board. You can board without a ticket and pay at the arrival.

Once you are in La Maddalena harbour, exit on the right. From the Saremar dock you’ll drive past the Enermar dock and onto a roundabout with a large anchor (Ammiragliato). Take the second exit, indicated as “Panoramica – Spalmatore”. The street is called Via Indipendenza. After a couple of miles you’ll have to follow a sign on your left, in the locality called Due Strade. You’ll end up turning right into a two-way street called Panoramica per Spalmatore (Strada Provinciale 53). You’ll pass the junction where one can turn and go to Caprera island via a bridge. After a few miles you’ll find a first junction called “Villaggio Piras – Sud” and immediately afterwards the main entrance to Villaggio Piras, just before the Bar Shiva and about a mile before Spalmatore Beach. Enter Villaggio Piras via the main entrance. You’ll find yourself on the main road of Villaggio Piras, called Via delle Punte Rosse (Red Spikes Street, after the distinctive hue and shape of the granite cliffs at sunset). Follow Via delle Punte Rosse until the very end where it turn sharply right and downhill and terminates in front of the sea by the wooden electric gate of Sporting House. (don’t forget to admire the landscape as you drive!)

The electric gate opens only by remote control or electric key (there’s a lock on the inside, reachable via the pedestrian gate; the lock on the outside is broken). The reserved parking space is #10 and the house is the central one in the row of three just in front of the parking lot.