Sardinia Short breaks

Sardinia (Sardegna) is an island, also an Italian region(Capital Cagliari), lying west of the Italian mainland. Known for its diverse flora, fauna, language and culture. The region's abundance of traditional art and culture includes ethnic music, poetry, literature, unique handicrafts and outstanding ethnographic collections housed in museums, libraries, art galleries and archaeological monuments. Sardinia has a long history and there are many interesting historical and archaelogical sites to visit, including nuraghes, domus de janas, gigantic tombs, and hundreds of dolmens and menhirs. Sardinia also offers ruins of Carthaginian and Roman cities, extraordinary romanesque cathedrals, beautiful baroque churches, a wealth of monuments (ancient walls, towers, castles, bastions, palaces, coastal fortresses) and arts from various eras. There are even petrified forests. Many holidaymakers spend their time in the resorts of the once-deserted north-eastern coast, around Olbia, which the Aga Khan and other international financiers chose as the location for upmarket tourist development in the 1950s. Dubbed the Costa Smeralda (Emerald Coast), this 30-kilometre (19-mile) coastal strip, with its nightclubs, restaurants, and boutiques, differs markedly from the rest of Sardinia, where local traditions and farming methods retain a strong hold.