Skip to content
Wealthior Travel
Back to the journal
Sardinia6 min

Sardinia: by night ferry into the southwest

Wealthior Travel

Getting there: night ferry Genoa-Porto Torres

We took the Moby night ferry from Genoa: board in the evening, settle into the cabin, dinner, sleep, and in the morning you sail into Porto Torres in Sardinia's northwest. The crossing takes around 10 to 12 hours, so you lose no travel day and your car comes with you.

From Porto Torres you cross the island into the southwest: around 240 kilometres, a good two and a half hours towards Iglesias, mostly on the SS131. Your own car or a rental is essentially a must in the southwest.

Base: Portoscuso by the sea

Portoscuso is a quiet fishing town on the southwest coast, with a harbour, sea views and Sa Ghinghetta beach within walking distance. Our base was Mario's Follow the Sun apartment right by the water: two bedrooms, a terrace overlooking the harbour, three minutes to the beach.

Terrace of the Follow the Sun apartment with two glasses of rosé and a view over Portoscuso harbour
Evening light on the Follow the Sun terrace, our home for the week.
See the stay: Follow the Sun

Iglesias: old town and surroundings

Iglesias is the historic mining town in the Sulcis-Iglesiente, around 20 kilometres from Portoscuso. Its old town of lanes, piazzas and churches is easy to cover in an afternoon.

Wine tour: Cantina Aru in the Valle del Cixerri

Just before Iglesias, in the Valle del Cixerri, sits the family-run Cantina Aru. We did the wine tour: through the vines, into the cellar and the small ethnographic museum, followed by a tasting of Sardinian wines with local products, from Vermentino through Cannonau to Carignano. You can enquire about the tour directly through us.

Toasting with glasses of Vermentino at the Cantina Aru tasting
Tasting at Cantina Aru: Vermentino from the Valle del Cixerri.
See the wine tour: Cantina Aru

Beaches in the southwest

The southwest has beaches away from the big names: from Portixeddu and Cala Domestica to the cliffs of Masua looking out at the Pan di Zucchero sea stack. From Portovesme, right next to Portoscuso, a short ferry also runs to the island of San Pietro and Carloforte.

Costs: the first real numbers

  • Moby night ferry Genoa-Porto Torres, June: around 500 euros for 3 people, a 4-berth cabin and a van.
  • More items (fuel, food, entries) follow once the week is properly tallied.

Verdict

Our honest verdict on the route, what was worth it and what we would do differently, lands here shortly.