whitehall

I believe the main line goes from Cagliari to Olbia on the east. There may be some occasional service off of that to Alghero. We noticed some narrow gauge lines in the countryside, but we really didn't see trains, which, I think speaks for itself. Rail in Sardinia is nothing like rail on mainland Italy. It is possible, if you are a bus person, that you can get around that way. Just not our cup of tea nor the way we would want to get around the island.

We will do a full report on Sicily when we return, but, yes, so far, it's as wonderful as we had hoped. No sleep on the airplane, and waking up at 6 a.m. today was not planned, but my wife said I should look out the window. Our third visit here, but a much longer one.


Acireale, Sicily

Faedus

Thanks again. I'm not a bus person, but for all the charms it contains, Sardinia is only about the size of Vermont, so I suppose I could handle a short bus trip or two if I had to. One other thing, if you don't mind: I've always had an interest in languages, and though I realize few people do, I wonder if you had any encounter with the two Sardinian languages -- both of them Romance, though very distinct from Italian. (I would suspect that by this time in history, standard Italian has largely taken over.)

whitehall

I am not a language expert but certainly have an interest. I tried to ask a young person we met if they were speaking a Sardinian dialect, and they suggested they were. As I recollect there are five, not two, significant dialects in Sardinia.

I am quite familiar with all of Vermont, the state where my wife and I got married; and I was surprised when you equated the size of Sardinia to the Green Mt. State. I checked. You are right on; and Vermont is actually a hair bigger. It could be the decent interstate highway system in Vermont vs. the slow, not so great roads in Sardinia that makes Sardinia seem so much larger. We did see lots of bus stops, even in very remote areas.

Faedus

Thanks once more. It was good to learn that one might still encounter a Sardinian language on the island. (I was sure there were just two; I'll have to look into the other three.) And if you should encounter some Sicilian, please make a brief note of it in your report!

ekscrunchy

Topping this for future and asking if anyone else has recent comments on Sardinia....

Looks as if both Oman and Sardinia may be front runners for next year--pretty different destinations!!

whitehall

Thanks for looking at this. I apologize for this trip report because, at the time, I did not know you could post photos. We have so many from that trip. My subsequent reports on Sicily, Greece, Umbria and others look a lot better in comparison.

Sardinia is definitely worth visiting, but it's a large island that deserves careful planning.