Sardinia has long been known as a rock climbing destination with its wild and spectacular rocky interior and coastline. There are many established sport climbing crags across the island. These sport climbing areas are mainly single pitch, though at Supramonte, situated between Dorgali and Oliena, there is a big wall rock climbing area with many bolted multi-pitch routes up to 400m long. Sardinia also offers some great granite bouldering. With its abundance of quality routes, cheap flights, and great weather for rock climbing throughout the year, it is easy to understand why rock climbing holidays in Sardinia have always been popular.

CLIMBING

There are various climbing sites we can recommend. 2 of them are about 20 mins drive from the villa.

            This is the Laerru site (N 40.8170º  E 8.8354º) :

Half the routes presented above will not be easily accessible due to plant undergrowth.

For more info : www.rockmadness.it/Laerru.htm as well as  www.falesia.it/Falesie/sop=viewarticle/artid=594/falesia=Laerru.html

                 There is also one under the tower of Castel Doria in Santa Maria Coghinas. Go along and under the restaured tower. The parking  for that is here: 40 º 53’43.18’’N  8 º 53’33.54’’E

 Along the Northern Coast

At Capo Testa there is a mixture of sports routes and bouldering on beautifully naturally carved white-grey granite rock.  The granite crag called Cala Spinosa has a grade range between 4C and 7b+

Sassari Area

The main climbing is around Osilo, just to the east and south of Sassari, where there are several limestone crags, which offer good single pitch sport routes. To the west of Alghero, at Capo Caccia, there is some impressive sea cliff climbing on bolted limestone up to 70m long, as well as some Deep Water Soloing (DWS).

Map of the rock climbing and sports climbing areas around Alghero and Sassari

Another climb  is  “Monte Forte” near the Sassari region. There are 13 routes from 3c to 7a. The crag is located on the road for Argentiera, the rock is quartz. http://www.ssardinia.com/en/land/turismo-attivo/terra/monte-forte.html

The new sport climbing crag is 500 m from Rocca della Bagassa. http://www.ssardegna.it/en/land/turismo-attivo/terra/rocca-della-bagassa.html

There is also the crag of San Lorenzo (Osilo):  “La stella di Argeade”. For the moment there are 9 routes, from 6b to 7b, 10 m of length.

There is a crag near Ossi village with 15 routes, named Fortapasc. For the moment the hardest is rated 6c, but there are still some more projected. The routes reach 14 m of length.
http://www.ssardinia.com/it/sport/turismo-attivo/terra/fortapasc.html

Monte Limbara near Tempio

Several of the Monte Limbara Domes as seen from the base of Monte Biancu

Sardegna’s third highest mountain range, Monte Limbara, is a special place. Dozens of beautiful granite domes are scattered around the mountain range, most of which are good climbing or bouldering destinations. The area is remote though it can be seen from the main northern highway SS597 between Olbia and Sassari.

Its highest summit, Punta Ballestreri (1359m), is defaced by countless radio, television and radar antennae but the likes of Monte Biancu, Monte Lisgiu or Torre Littaghesu make more than up for it. Much of the range has been fenced off (thanks no doubt to the radar installations) but can be hiked and climbed nevertheless. Climbing is restricted to “clean climbing” – no new pro allowed to be placed.

One more note: the trails wind through the Sardinian macchia – the undergrowth typical for the mediterranean islands of this area. It consists mainly of wild roses, raspberries, thistles, nettles but also spice bushes like rosemary, thyme and sage. This should give you an inclination of what I want to say: you better wear long trousers just to reduce the bloodletting.

Punta Cugnana near Tempio

Punta di lu Lurisincu (545m), Punta Cugnana (650m), Contra li Mandri (532m)

Punta Cugnana (650m) and neighbouring Punta Balbacanu (420m) are typical mountains for the northeastern part of the island of Sardinia (Sardegna). Built from red granite they form bizarre formations due to a typical erosion form called Tafoni . These erosion forms are typical for the islands of Corsica and Sardinia but of course occur in other places as well.

Punta Cugnana though not remarkable in height offers some very typical views of the bizarre, masklike formations and is very easily accessible. You’ll be able to reach the tops with class III climbs and there are a lot of bouldering possibilities. Nevertheless the area is not so much known for climbing, probably due to the fact that many of the formations have razor sharp edges.

There are many more climbing sites in Sardinia. Please look online  if you wish to go further afield.

VIA FERRATA

We haven’t found many via Ferrata in Sardegna. However, there are 3 within easy reach of the villa .

Check the post from the 9th of January 2015 about us climbing 2 of them : the via ferrata del cabirol in Alghero and the via della regina in Monte Leone. Plenty of pictures and extra details !!

There is one near Capo Caccia nearAlghero called “Via ferrata del Cabirol”, 1H30 drive away.

 

This ferrata  stretches for about 1000 m along the limestone cliffs of Capo Caccia,  22 km from Alghero. The total climbing time is approximately 3hours. Be aware that the cliff is in the shade until 2pm in summer and it takes 20 mns to get to the starting point on foot.  www.ferratacabirol.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=66

Another via ferrata we know of is in the village of Cargeghe, near Sassari . It is called “ via ferrata di Giorre”  and is about 40 mins drive from the villa.

Check  www.ferratagiorre.it

The final and third local one is the via della regina in Monte Leone Rocca doria ( south of Alghero) , about 1H40 mns away.

Check out http://www.ferrataregina.it/ for details.