Hiking

Hiking at the pass “Genna Silana”

In Sardinia, you can go on very beautiful hikes and get to know fascinating landscapes of the island. Most tourists do not go there, because these regions can only be reached on foot.

Some personal tour suggestions with descriptions, photos, and GPX tracks can be found here.

You should bring along a bit of a sense of adventure, because these tours are not comparable to hikes like in the Alps or in the European highland areas.
Only a few hiking trails are marked, mostly you follow the existing paths of the shepherds, whose course changes again and again. Often these paths branch out and it is not always easy to stick to the desired direction.
Signposts are few and far between, and the indicated walking times are often quite optimistically understated.

In general, you always have to expect surprises on your tours. Paths are closed, overgrown, bridges no longer exist, etc.

Fortunately, the range of hiking maps has become much more extensive in the recent years. Kompass-Verlag also offers very nice hiking map sets of Sardinia. These sets are divided into three regions (north, centre, south) and contain 4 maps each.
The maps printed in the hiking guides are also very helpful.

So if you want to set out without a knowledgeable guide, a good sense of orientation and a confident use of map and compass or GPS is a prerequisite for many tours.

Hiking OpenStreetMap

Tip: From my own experience, I can recommend Garmin GPS devices for longer tours in unknown terrain.
The map material is available free of charge, e.g. on the website Freizeitkarte. Here, the data from OpenStreetMap is used, which now also covers Sardinia almost without gaps.
Alternatively, you can use one of the apps on your smartphone that are also based on OpenStreetMap. You can save the maps you need on your mobile phone and then have access to them even without a network.
However, you should bear in mind that the battery life is much shorter than with the “real” GPS devices.

You will also need sturdy hiking boots, although light hiking boots with sturdy soles are best during the warmer travel seasons.
Good sun protection is also important – headgear and sun cream with a high sun protection factor, as there is little shade on the tours.

I would generally advise against hiking in hot August because of the heat. In spring and autumn, on the other hand, the temperatures are very pleasant, although the weather can be changeable at times. In winter, you should expect snow at higher altitudes.