Cagliari
Table of Contents
Cagliari | A day trip to the City of the Sun
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| Palazzo Civico Town Hall and Via Roma street, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Sardinia is famous for its gorgeous beaches (rightly so!), but what most tourists don’t know is that Sardinia cities are also a joy to visit. Since there is a big chance that you will travel to Sardinia by plane to one of the major cities on the Sardinia island (Cagliari or Olbia) there is immediately a great opportunity to visit one of them.
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| Palazzo Civico Town Hall, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
It doesn’t matter if you want to visit Cagliari for a day or to stay in Cagliari for a week or even for the holiday – Sardinia capital offers numerous attractions to keep you busy.
Travel tip: you don’t need a travel itinerary. For tourists, Cagliari is very easy to visit!
Panoramic Cagliari | The city of infinite views
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| Panoramic view, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Cagliari is beautifully located in the Bay of the Angels (Golfo degli Angeli). Cagliari population has reached 150.000 (430.000 in its urban area) and while tourism is one of the major income of the city, Cagliari is also the main trade, industrial, political and culture center of the Sardinia island.
Cagliari is also a very sunny city due to its perfectly mild Mediterranean climate and southern exposure.
When to visit Cagliari: the season in Cagliari is very long and thanks to the frequent sea breeze, it’s not too hot in Cagliari in the summer.
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| Panoramic view, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
D.H. Lawrence said that Cagliari reminded him of Jerusalem and even Malta. It might have been true almost a hundred years ago and many bloggers still copy this statement, but in our opinion, Cagliari is such a unique town, that it shouldn’t be that easily labeled (Cagliari doesn’t even feel Italian!). For us, Cagliari can only be described as the city of infinite amazing views.
Travel tip: there are a hundred picturesque locations to see Cagliari highlights from above.
Ancient Cagliari | Interesting facts
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| Panoramic view and Cagliari Cathedral | Sardinia, Italy |
Cagliari name derives from Punic Karel or Karalis meaning a rocky place. Cagliari is also called Casteddu in the Sardinian language of Sardu meaning Castle (ancient Cagliari Castello citadel is located on the highest hill in the town).
Cagliari is an ancient city founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC and, like Rome, is built on seven hills. During its long history, Cagliari saw the rules of many civilizations including Roman, Arab, Punics, Pisans and Aragonese. This rich legacy and a mix of influences are visible but surprisingly matching.
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| Panoramic view, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Cagliari was the capital of the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1324 to 1848 (the capital moved to Turin). The kingdom of Sardinia became part of Italy in 1861.
Travel tip: Cagliari is famous for its monumental architecture and well-planned public areas, but it’s also a perfect place to visit the best beaches near Cagliari. You can get from Cagliari to Chia, Villasimius, Pula or Costa Rei beaches in less than an hour.
Bastione di Saint Remy
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| Bastione di Saint Remy, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
The Bastion of Saint Remy used to be a defensive structure to fortify Cagliari. Beautiful and highly ornamented Bastion still dominates the city of Cagliari, while also being a symbol of the Castello district (Cagliari Old Town).
At the end of the 19th century, the Bastion of Saint Remy was monumentally converted into a Triumphal Arch with a grand staircase.
Travel tip: the Bastion staircase leads to a large terrace that offers amazing panoramic views of Cagliari.
Duomo di Cagliari
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| Duomo di Cagliari Cathedral, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Duomo di Cagliari is one of the most important Cagliari monuments, closely connected to Cagliari history.
Cagliari Cathedral, erected in the 13th century, is a Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to Saint Cecilia.
There have been various demolitions and restoration interventions over the years. Today the Cathedral is faced with limestone from the Bonaria quarries.
Travel tip: Cathedral’s famous cupola is visible even when flying to Cagliari.
Torre dell’Elefante
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| Torre dell’Elefante Tower, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
The mighty Elephant Tower is the main identification sign for Cagliari, standing close to the most popular public places in the quarter.
Torre dell’Elefante was built from local limestone in 1307 as a defensive structure to guard one of the main entrances to Cagliari Castello. It has four floors.
The Elephant Tower name comes from a small statue of an elephant visible on the southern wall of the tower.
Travel tip: you can enjoy a wonderful view from the Elephant Tower roof.
Cagliari Roman Amphitheatre
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| Roman Amphitheatre, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
The Roman Amphitheatre of Cagliari is an ancient structure dating back to the 2nd century AC that could accommodate up to 10.000 people. It’s also one of the most visible signs of the presence of Romans in the capital of Sardinia.
The amphitheater was half-carved in the solid rock, finished off with local limestone and located in a natural valley to obtain an acoustic effect.
Throughout Cagliari history, the amphitheater witnessed many bloody performances – it was mainly used to organize the fights of gladiators and wild animals.
Cittadella dei Musei
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| Cittadella dei Musei, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
The Citadel of Museums is located in the so-called museum quarter of Cagliari in Royal Arsenal (Regio Arsenale). It houses the Cagliari National Gallery, the Archaeological Museum, the Anatomical Waxes Collection, the Oriental Art Museum and a lot of different exhibits and displays that can keep you busy for the whole day.
Travel tip: Cagliari Cittadella dei Musei lies on the northern side of the rocky hill, with a beautiful park to rest between museum exhibitions.
Charming Cagliari Marina District
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| Marina with boats, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Cagliari Marina district is probably the most charming and diverse place in Cagliari with lots of colorful buildings and restaurants.
The main street in Cagliari, Via Roma, separates the commercial part of Cagliari from the Cagliari harbor and the actual Marina, where you can see all the boats and admire the beautiful area.
Travel tip: Cagliari harbor is one of the biggest ports in the Mediterranean Sea with large cruise ships stopping by.
Strolling through the streets of Cagliari
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| Streets and restaurants, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Strolling through Cagliari main streets like Via Manno is an amazing experience. You will come across beautiful shops, galleries and many nice cafes, gelato shops and restaurants. Surprisingly, not all of them are geared toward tourists so it’s quite easy to find a great place to get to know Cagliari like a local.
Travel tip: we recommend just to get off the beaten track and to get lost in the maze of Cagliari colorful little streets.
Cagliari food | Mercato di San Benedetto
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| Corso Pizza, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Cagliari is a perfect place for hungry people who wants to taste delicious food. Cagliari is known for its many fabulous restaurants serving local Sardinian food, but there are also places that merge Sardinian cuisine with thousands of flavors from all over the Mediterranean.
If you like visiting fresh food markets than you will fall in love with San Benedetto market (largest in Sardinia)
Travel tip: if you don’t have enough time to spare on sitting in the Cagliari restaurants, we highly recommend buying Cagliari street food and eating it in one of many calm Cagliari green squares. Our favorite – delicious Pizza from Corso.
Distinctive Cagliari lifestyle | Helpful Cagliari people
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| Antique car and street, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Surprisingly, visiting Cagliari gives you an odd, but pleasant sensation of going back to the ’90s. Cagliari is like a very peaceful city that is teeming with life but in a very slow and steady rhythm. Nobody is in a hurry, no one is treading on the heels and almost everybody is relaxed and smiling.
Travel tip: people in Cagliari kindly provide useful information and are often willing to show you Cagliari by themselves.
Beautiful Cagliari beaches | The Devil’s Saddle
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| Poetto beach and Sella del Diavolo, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Parco Naturale Molentargius
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| Pink flamingo, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
1600 hectares Molentargius Park, facing the Cagliari Poetto beach, was established as a place of stop, wintering and nesting of many species of aquatic birds, mainly pink flamingos, which nowadays are a symbol of Cagliari.
Travel tip: rather unfortunately, Cagliari flamingos are either flying over the town or standing quite far from the tourist route (take binoculars or other large zooms to see them clearly). Even if you manage to get closer or zoom enough, they usually stand with their heads beneath the water.
Cagliari | How to get there
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| Railway station train, Cagliari | Sardinia, Italy |
Thanks to Elmas Aeroporto railway station, the airport is easily accessible by train from Cagliari and other major Sardinian cities (e.g. Cagliari to Olbia or Cagliari to Alghero).
Elmas airport is located 7 km from Cagliari. Trains from the airport to the city center in Cagliari depart up to four times per hour
Travel tip: even though public transportation in Sardinia is fairly good and it’s easy to visit Cagliari without a car, we highly recommend renting a car to see the full beauty of the Sardinia island.
Also, if you haven’t seen them already, check out wayamaya series of travel blog posts about useful Sardinia travel tips, Sardinia travel essentials, where to go in Sardinia, things to do in Sardinia, the best places to visit in Sardinia and the top things to see in Sardinia, Italy:
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| Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy | What to See, Things to Do, Travel Tips |
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