text Giandomenico Mele
Costa Smeralda®’s loveliest trekking routes
Beautiful beaches, granitic rocks and Mediterranean scrub: the Coast’s top 4 trekking trails
It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Costa Smeralda® is the ideal destination for those who love going on trekking expeditions to explore nature’s colors and shapes. From autumn to spring, but also in summertime in the coolest hours of the day, walking along the Coast’s beaches and cliffs and through the Mediterranean scrub can be a fantastic and unforgettable experience.
Pevero Health TrailPevero Health Trail
There are a number of trails on Costa Smeralda® that allow hikers, but even those who wish to take an easy walk, to dive into the stunning landscapes of Sardinia. The Pevero Health Trail, for instance, is a 13-kilometer-long route created by Smeralda Holding with the collaboration of the Costa Smeralda Consortium and Pevero Golf Club. An easy walk which can be done on foot as well as by mountain bike. There are four starting points: Grande Pevero beach, Pevero Golf Club, Cala Liccia and Romazzino. This trail, which is well-indicated and complete with fitness stations, provides the perfect opportunity for a walk along an untouched promontory and, once you have reached the top of Mount Zoppu, where there is an Instagram point, to admire the 360 degree-view extending from the Maddalena archipelago to the Island of Tavolara, dotted with the “stazzi”, the typical buildings of the Gallura countryside and other rural establishments. There are two route options: the Energy trailand the Relax trail.
Pevero Health TrailThe Energy trail is about 7 kilometers long where one can alternate walking and exercises, complete with eight fitness stations equipped with workout equipment and tools. Each station features a multilingual totem which describes and illustrates the recommended exercises. The eight stations are named after native plants: Lavender, Rosemary, Cistus, Myrtle, Lentisk, Spanish Broom and Juniper- so as to highlight the Sardinian vegetation.
The Relax trail stretches for about another 7 kilometers and leads to the Coast’s old paths and dry-stone walls. From there you can also reach the statue of the Madonna dello Speronello on the cliff overlooking the Grande Pevero gulf, as a memento of the terrible flood that hit the town of Montalto di Castro. The trail also goes past Lu Rottu, a building dating back to the early 1900s, where wheat was handled, and the stazzo of Monte Zoppu which, with its stone walls, represents an interesting symbol of rural life in those days.
Pevero Health TrailBeaches and Mount Moro
Among Costa Smeralda®’s many routes is also the one that goes from the Cala di Volpe area to the Rena Bianca beach, through the beaches of Li Itriceddi, Liscia Ruja and Cala Petra Ruja, definitely the best-known one. A spectacular and easy trekking route winding through the coves ( a total of 7 kilometers and 3 hours of walking time), accessed through the 94 provincial road, about 800 meters after the intersection for Cala di Volpe, where you can pull over to the left and park where the road widens. A bit more challenging is the trekking route that starts from the center of Abbiadori and goes as far as the top of Monte Moro, above the village of Porto Cervo. This trail is 7 kilometers long as well, but the difference in height is 430 meters, and it takes a total of four hours of walking time.
Monte MoroA walk to the Capo Ferro lighthouse
In the Cala di Volpe, Romazzino and Porto Cervo areas, the Costa Smeralda Consortium has built elegant sidewalks connecting some of the Coast’s major sights. We highly recommend the walk to the promontory of Capo Ferro, to the north ofPorto Cervo,where you can admire the big white lighthouse dating back to 1858 and the famous red and white lamp built on the cliff. Follow the road signs from Porto Cervo Marina to Capo Ferro. When you reach the white lighthouse’s gate, you have to park the car in the small unsurfaced space and proceed on foot along a clear path which, once past the traffic lights remains and after a short walk, leads directly to the red and white lamp.