How to reach the Sardinia by ferry

Our guide to all sea connections to Olbia from some of Italy's most important ports

Two are the harbors to easily reach the Costa Smeralda® by sea. The first is the quintessential Sardinian port, the most operational and the largest: the Infrastructure Hub of Olbia which, with the area called Isola Bianca, includes ten docks for the mooring of ferries for passenger transport with or without cars on board, for commercial vehicles, and for cruise ships.

The second is Golfo Aranci, located 15 minutes from the port of Olbia (just half an hour by sea), it is the Sardinian stop closest to the mainland, with an annual traffic approaching one million passengers.

These two Sardinian bases are just over ten kilometers apart, and the distance to cover to reach the Costa Smeralda when disembarking from the ferry is very similar, about 30 minutes by car.

From the mainland, there are multiple starting points by sea to reach Sardinia starting from Civitavecchia, a port located in the Lazio region, where companies like Grimaldi Lines and GNV join the Moby Tirrenia fleet in the summer, which operates the route departing from the Lazio coast all year round.

The duration of the journey? It can vary depending on the trip: ranging from about five hours and thirty minutes to approximately eight hours.

Even Piombino, in the province of Livorno, has its Moby ferries super equipped to reach Sardinia, with a sailing duration from the Tuscan coast of five hours and thirty minutes.

From Genoa, the route is completed for six months a year (late spring, summer, and early autumn) by Moby, which takes ten hours, and by GNV, which takes approximately twelve and a half hours to reach the northeastern coast of Sardinia.

Arriving exclusively at Golfo Aranci, the Sardinia Ferries ships departing from Piombino will allow you to reach the Costa Smeralda in six/eight hours of travel, while the Moby fleet departing from Genoa takes about 11 hours of sailing.

It's worth mentioning the third port of the island, Porto Torres, further from the others from the Costa Smeralda (about 1 hour and 45 minutes), whose ferry connections are provided by 5 different shipping companies (Corsica Sardinia Ferries, Grandi Navi Veloci, Grimaldi Lines, Moby, and Tirrenia) offering 34 weekly itineraries, with a maximum duration of 13 hours and 45 minutes, and departures in the morning and evening.