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With children, Sardinia turns out to be simpler than it looks: a flight of around two and a half hours from London, water that stays shallow for dozens of metres, and short drives between the villa and the shore. You still need to choose the right coast for your Sardinia family holiday. North or south, coves that work with little ones, things to do on land, family villas in Sardinia to settle into: here is how Le Collectionist plans a family trip to Sardinia.
In this article
- Why Sardinia works so well with children
- North or south: where to stay in Sardinia with kids
- The best beaches in Sardinia for families: coves where you can really spend the day
- What to do when you leave the beach
- When to go to Sardinia with kids
- Family villas in Sardinia: where to stay
- Sardinia with kids: your questions
- The takeaway: choosing your coast, your coves and your villa
Why Sardinia works so well with children
Sardinia brings together everything parents look for on a Mediterranean island: a calm sea, fine sand, short distances and an Italian culture that welcomes children everywhere. Family holidays find their rhythm from day one.
- Shallow, calm water. At La Pelosa as at the Poetto, the sandy seabed slopes gently for dozens of metres: the youngest can stand far from the shore.
- Sand rather than pebbles. The large beaches of the northeast and the south are white or pinkish sand, perfect for digging and running barefoot.
- Short journeys. From Olbia, the coves of the Costa Smeralda are less than an hour's drive away. The journey doesn't eat up the day.
- An island that loves children. At dinner, nobody is surprised to see a four-year-old eating at 9pm.
If you are travelling with a toddler, our guide to 5-star holidays with toddlers completes these pointers, and our comparison Corsica or Sardinia helps you decide between the two islands.
Sardinia or Sicily with children? For a beach holiday, Sardinia usually wins: long stretches of fine sand, shallow and sheltered water, and short drives from Olbia or Cagliari. Sicily suits families with older children who enjoy sightseeing: Mount Etna, the Greek temples of Agrigento, Syracuse and the baroque towns of the south-east, and some of Italy's best food. Much of its coastline is rockier, with exceptions such as San Vito Lo Capo. Our villas in Sicily cover that option.
North or south: where to stay in Sardinia with kids
For a first family stay, the northeast of the island wins: a nearby airport, sheltered coves and the La Maddalena archipelago within reach by boat. The south is better suited to families with very young children, who prefer large beaches to coves.
The north, the Costa Smeralda and the La Maddalena archipelago
The north of the island has the clearest water in Sardinia. On the Costa Smeralda, created in the early 1960s at the initiative of Prince Karim Aga Khan, pink granite coves open onto a turquoise sea, facing the La Maddalena archipelago. Further south, San Teodoro lines up its long beaches facing the rock of Tavolara, and to the west, Stintino watches over La Pelosa.
This is where most of our collection lies: our sea-view villas in Sardinia are spread between Porto Rotondo, Porto Cervo and the Capo Coda Cavallo marine reserve. Our itinerary on the road through northern Sardinia extends the trip to the lanes of Alghero.
The south, Cagliari, Villasimius and the Costa Rei
The south plays a different hand: very large beaches, almost flat seabeds and a real city, Cagliari, fifteen minutes from its airport. An hour to the east, Villasimius and the Costa Rei unroll kilometres of sand.
Area | Airport | Drive to the beaches | Ideal age | The mood in a phrase |
Northeast, Costa Smeralda and San Teodoro | Olbia | 30 to 45 min | From 3 years | Turquoise coves and boat trips to the archipelago |
Northwest, Stintino and Alghero | Alghero | 20 to 50 min | From 3 years | La Pelosa and a town with a Catalan feel |
East coast, Gulf of Orosei | Olbia | About 1 hr 15 | From 6 years | Cliffs, caves and coves by boat |
South, Cagliari, Villasimius and Costa Rei | Cagliari | 15 min to 1 hr | All ages, ideal under 3 | Large beaches and city life |
For a family, the length of the trip often decides the rest:
- One week in Sardinia: a single coast, so you don't spend your afternoons in the car.
- Ten days in Sardinia: the northeast, then two or three days on the Gulf of Orosei, changing villas halfway through.
Our recommendation: the northeast for a first visit, the south for a family with a child under three.
The best beaches in Sardinia for families: coves where you can really spend the day
With children, a beautiful cove isn't enough: you need shade, a seabed that slopes gently and access that isn't an ordeal. Here are the six spots in Sardinia that Le Collectionist's advisors recommend, with what you need to know before you arrive.
La Pelosa, Stintino
At the western tip of the island, it is a natural swimming pool: very fine white sand, turquoise water that stays shallow far from the shore, and the Aragonese tower of 1578 standing on its islet. The reefs of Capo Falcone and Asinara shelter the bay, so the sea stays calm even when the mistral blows. Offshore, Asinara is home to its white donkeys, reached by authorised boat from the port of Stintino.
Good to know. Booking is compulsory in season, with a limit of 1,500 visitors a day; children under 12 are exempt. Natural shade is scarce: our advisors recommend arriving as soon as it opens, with your driver dropping you at the entrance, far from the packed car parks.
Cala Brandinchi, San Teodoro
Nicknamed "little Tahiti", Cala Brandinchi offers crystal-clear, almost still water facing the silhouette of Tavolara. Little ones can walk a long way before losing their footing, and the pine forest bordering the sand provides natural shade for the youngest's nap.
Good to know. Access is limited to 1,447 people a day from 1 June to 30 September, by reservation; children under 12 are exempt. The paid car park fills up fast: enjoy the cove in the morning or after 5pm.
Our pick nearby: Villa Affluenza, Signature Collection, sixteen guests in eight bedrooms in the Capo Coda Cavallo marine reserve. A private path leads to the sand in a minute, and the infinity pool takes over when the wind picks up.
Spiaggia del Principe, Costa Smeralda
The beach owes its name to Prince Karim Aga Khan, founder of the Costa Smeralda, who made it his hideaway. A granite headland divides it into two white-sand bays, and the water shifts from turquoise to emerald green over a shallow seabed.
Good to know. From the paid car park, a path of around 300 metres, partly unpaved, takes eight minutes: a pushchair struggles, a baby carrier does much better. Sunloungers and parasols can be hired on site, and our advisors recommend it in the morning, before the hottest hours.
To stay a few minutes from these coves, our villas close to the beach save you the morning drive.
Cala Gonone and the Gulf of Orosei, reachable by boat
On Sardinia's east coast, the most beautiful coves can only be reached by sea. From the port of Cala Gonone, boats leave every hour from June to September for the Bue Marino cave, whose name, the "sea ox", referred to the monk seal, then on to Cala Luna and its cliffs. A guided visit of the cave, then a swim: the whole family experiences the trip as an adventure, and morning departures leave the entire day there.
Good to know. No road leads to Cala Luna, and departures depend on sea conditions. The Le Collectionist concierge team prefers to book a private boat with a skipper, which stops wherever the children ask.
The Costa Rei and Villasimius
In the southeast of the island, the Costa Rei lines up around eight kilometres of pale sand. Piscina Rei lives up to its name: a very shallow sandy seabed, dotted with small rock pools where children watch for fish. In Villasimius, Porto Giunco, its sand tinted pink by the granite, stretches in front of the Notteri lagoon, where flamingos feed just behind the dunes.
Good to know. At Porto Giunco, a short path lined with eucalyptus links the car park to the sand, and the morning remains the best time. Allow around an hour's drive from Cagliari: these shores suit a stay in the south better than a day trip from Olbia.
The Poetto, in Cagliari, for an evening in town
Eight kilometres of sand between Cagliari and Quartu Sant'Elena, nicknamed the "beach of the hundred thousand": the Poetto belongs to the people of Cagliari. A few minutes from the centre, the seabed stays shallow for dozens of metres, and the Molentargius park, just behind, lets you watch flamingos from its walkways.
Good to know. The setting is urban and lively. Come in the late afternoon, for a swim then an aperitivo facing the sunset, before dinner in town at Josto, one of the Cagliari restaurants we love.
What to do when you leave the beach
What is there to do in Sardinia with kids when they ask for something other than sand? Here are the five activities Le Collectionist's concierges organise most often.
- The nuraghe of Su Nuraxi, in Barumini: a journey back in time around a tower originally 18 metres high, the only Sardinian site on the Unesco World Heritage list, visited with an English-speaking guide.
- Neptune's Grotto, near Alghero: 654 steps carved into the cliff for older children, a forty-minute boat ride from the port for the others, and an underground lake at the end of the path.
- A boat trip in the La Maddalena archipelago, a national park: the pink beach of Budelli, protected since 1994, is admired from the deck, before a swim in the natural pools between Budelli, Razzoli and Santa Maria.
- The Cala Gonone aquarium, the largest in Sardinia: loggerhead turtles, rays to stroke in a touch pool, and a panoramic view over the gulf.
- The Trenino Verde, a small heritage train running from June to September, on certain days only: the Mandas-Arbatax line crosses the island's interior, between cork oak forests and mountain villages, at the pace of a stroll.
At the table, Sardinia offers children seadas, fried cheese pastries drizzled with honey, and parents long lunches at Su Gologone, in Oliena, around forty minutes from the Gulf of Orosei. Our guide to Sardinia gathers our other addresses and activities.
When to go to Sardinia with kids
The best months to go are June and September: the sea reaches 22 to 24°C, the heat stays bearable for the youngest and the coves have room again. July and August offer the warmest sea, at the cost of peak crowds.
Month | Air (max.) | Sea | Crowds | What to make of it |
May | 24°C | 18°C | Low | Activities on land, swimming for the bravest |
June | 28°C | 22°C | Moderate | Our favourite month with young children |
July | 31°C | 24°C | High | Swimming in the morning, siesta at the villa in the afternoon |
August | 32°C | 25°C | Very high | Coves booked early, private boat late in the day |
September | 28°C | 24°C | Moderate | Warm water and quieter shores |
October | 24°C | 22°C | Low | Mild late season, for October half-term |
Average temperatures recorded in Cagliari.
August is still possible during the school summer holidays, if you organise things differently. Le Collectionist's advisors book La Pelosa and Cala Brandinchi as soon as slots open, and the days are built around the heat:
- Swimming before 11am
- The villa and a siesta in the afternoon
- The boat late in the day, as the light softens
To compare: Italy in June or our ideas for getting away from the crowds in August.
Family villas in Sardinia: where to stay
For a stay with children, a villa by the sea solves what a hotel or resort leaves open: naps without constraints, a kitchen at hand, the shore at the end of the garden. Our villas in Sardinia are chosen for exactly these family holidays.
What a villa changes about the week:
- Direct access to the cove, with no car or parking to find
- The pool a few metres away, for the hours when the sand burns
- Space for the grandparents, with their own terrace
- A private chef, for two sittings: the children, then the adults
- A concierge before and during the trip, for transfers with child seats, babysitting or a private boat
Our pick for being right on the water: Villa Fagnola, on the northeast coast, fourteen guests in seven bedrooms. Designed by the architect Ferdinando Fagnola, it opens its one-hectare garden onto a white-sand beach. In the evening, the cinema room brings the whole family together while the chef prepares dinner.
For the youngest, Villa Vivia, in a protected reserve in the north of the island, adds a pool just for children to its infinity pool. The shore is a three-minute walk away, and late-afternoon activities alternate between table tennis and pétanque.
Both belong to the Signature Collection: your Le Collectionist concierge looks after you before and during your stay. For a three-generation family trip, our family villas in Sardinia bring everyone together under one roof.
Northern Sardinia, for the beauty of its waters and the Costa Smeralda, is home to most of our collection. The south appeals with its simplicity and its large beaches, and Le Collectionist can arrange a stay there on request. Beyond Sardinia, our homes designed for children bring together other addresses from the collection.
Sardinia with kids: your questions
The takeaway: choosing your coast, your coves and your villa
A successful trip to Sardinia with children comes down to three choices: the coast, depending on the age of the youngest; the coves, depending on shade and access; and the house, which does the rest. Le Collectionist's advisors build these holidays with you, from booking La Pelosa to the chef's last dinner. Our villas in Sardinia are the starting point of your summer.
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