Think Sardinia is all about beaches? Then you’re missing half the island. Just behind the coast you’ll find cork oaks, olive groves and vineyards, and every so often a farmhouse where a long table is laid in the evening. Stay at an agriturismo and you sleep right in the middle of that countryside, eating what grows on the land around you, usually with a jug of house wine on the side.
With a toddler and a baby in tow, we crossed the whole island in just over three weeks, from the port of Cagliari up to the ferry to Corsica in Santa Teresa Gallura. It didn’t take long to see how different each region feels. Granite coves in the northeast, white beaches in the south, sleepy villages in the west and rugged mountains in the east. So which agriturismo suits you mostly comes down to where you want to be.
Below you’ll find the 18 best agriturismi (the Italian plural) in Sardinia, sorted by region. For each one we tell you what happens on the farm, what makes it special and how it works with kids. But first: what actually is an agriturismo? Not everything that uses the name is a real farm.
What is an agriturismo in Sardinia?
An agriturismo is a working farm that takes in guests. The farmer rents out rooms, cooks for visitors or does both, but farming has to remain the main business. That’s set out in Italian law: nationally since 2006, and Sardinia added its own regional law in 2015.
The Sardinian rules also cover what ends up on your plate. At least 35 per cent has to come from the farm itself or be processed there, and together with produce from other Sardinian farmers and the island’s regional specialities it has to reach at least 85 per cent. So not everything comes from the farm’s own fields, but almost everything comes from Sardinia.
You can spot a genuine agriturismo by what surrounds it: animals, an olive grove, vines or a vegetable garden. Along the busier stretches of coast, some places use the word rather loosely for what is really a country house with a pool. Every address below is a real farm with its own produce.
The best agriturismi in Sardinia at a glance
Already know what you’re after? Here’s which agriturismi fit best, wish by wish.
- With a pool: Desole, Rocce Bianche and Lu Branu
- Best dinner: Sa Mandra, Canales and Guthiddai
- Luxury: Is Cheas, Is Perdas and Casale degli Ulivi
- With young kids: La Genziana, Su Barraccu and Lu Branu
- A short drive from the beach: Nuraghe Tuttusoni, NURE and La Genziana
- Near Olbia airport: Desole, Sa Mendhula and Lu Branu
- Near Alghero airport: Sa Mandra, La Genziana and NURE
- Near Cagliari airport: Su Leunaxiu and Su Cappeddu
→ Browse all agriturismi and hotels in Sardinia on Booking.com
Can’t decide on a region? For a first visit we’d go for the northeast, where most of the highlights are within an hour’s drive. We loved the south just as much, though. Half the island is plenty for a relaxed holiday, but if you really want to get to know Sardinia, split your stay between two bases.
→ Discover the 17 best things to do in Northern Sardinia
→ Discover the 15 best things to do in Southern Sardinia
→ Discover where to stay in Sardinia: north, south or both
Agriturismi in Northern Sardinia: around Olbia and Gallura
If you ask us, the northeast is the best base for getting to know the island. We hopped on the ferry from Palau to La Maddalena and cycled across Caprera, and a friend of Sebastiaan’s tipped us off about a walk along the rocky Costa Paradiso to a cove with barely another soul in sight. Inland, Gallura is green and hilly, scattered with cork oaks and granite boulders, and that’s exactly where the farms are.
#1 Desole: working farm with its own wine near Olbia
Agriturismo Desole sits in the hills near Monti, ten minutes from Olbia, and it’s still a farm first and foremost. There’s a permaculture vegetable garden, animals wander about and the wine comes from their own vines. Ask nicely and the family will show you round, and one evening a week everyone sits down together for a set dinner.
With kids it’s an easy choice, thanks to family rooms and a pool. The beaches of Pittulongu and Porto Istana are a 15-minute drive away, handy if you fly into Olbia and don’t fancy a long drive on day one.
→ Check prices and availability for Desole on Booking.com
#2 Sa Mendhula: breakfast overlooking the Costa Smeralda
At Sa Mendhula in Cugnana, between San Pantaleo and Porto Rotondo, the day starts on a terrace looking out over the bays of the Costa Smeralda. There are only seven rooms and cottages, all with a kitchenette, and the restaurant cooks with whatever the garden produces. Guests rave about the breakfast with homemade jam and cake.
Families get family rooms and a cot. The artists’ village of San Pantaleo is just round the corner, and so are the famous bays of the coast.
→ Check prices and availability for Sa Mendhula on Booking.com
#3 Nuraghe Tuttusoni: farm with a pool near Vignola
Nuraghe Tuttusoni near Aglientu, right up in the far north, keeps cattle and pigs and grows vegetables, fruit and grapes. What the land produces lands on the restaurant table, and you can buy it in the farm shop to take home. After a day on the beaches of Vignola and Portobello, about three kilometres away, the pool is waiting.
Rooms sleep two plus an extra bed. Fine with one child, but with two you’re better off booking two rooms.
→ Check prices and availability for Nuraghe Tuttusoni on Booking.com
#4 Lu Branu: two pools and a playground between Arzachena and Palau
Lu Branu lies between Arzachena and Palau, the port for the boat to La Maddalena. The apartments are surrounded by a vineyard, an olive grove and a vegetable garden, and the family makes its own cheese too. Two things keep coming up in reviews: the food, and how easy it is here with children.
No surprise there, with two pools including a children’s pool, a playground and animals on the farm. The four-person apartments have a kitchenette, which is a blessing when the little one needs dinner before everyone else. A day trip to La Maddalena by ferry is easy from here.
→ Check prices and availability for Lu Branu on Booking.com
Agriturismo near Alghero: Northwest Sardinia
Alghero was one of our favourite towns on the island. Up on the old sea walls our daughter couldn’t get enough of the cannons, while our son wanted to climb on everything. Our boat trip to Neptune’s Grotto at Capo Caccia was cancelled because of the waves, so don’t save it for your last day. All the agriturismi below are a few minutes from the airport, on the flat farmland of Santa Maria la Palma and Sa Segada.
#5 Sa Mandra: Sardinia’s most famous agriturismo dinner
Ask a Sardinian about a good agriturismo dinner and there’s a fair chance Sa Mandra will come up. Close to Alghero airport, you sit down to a long tasting menu starring porceddu, suckling pig slowly roasted over the fire. There’s a vegetarian menu and a kids’ menu too, and you don’t need to stay the night to join in: just book a table online.
If you do stay, there’s a pool with a shallow end (open in season), a play area and an educational farm where kids can see the animals up close.
→ Check prices and availability for Sa Mandra on Booking.com
#6 La Genziana: homemade cheese and ricotta, open all year
La Genziana in Sa Segada, a kilometre from the airport, makes its own cheese, ricotta, cured meats and jam. Around 80 per cent of what’s served comes from the farm. Dinner is for guests only and needs booking in advance.
With young kids this is one of the best picks on the list. There are apartments for four or five, an indoor playroom for rainy days and an educational farm. The beaches of Maria Pia and Le Bombarde are seven to eight kilometres away. La Genziana is open all year, so it works for a spring or autumn trip too; in high season there’s a two-night minimum.
→ Check prices and availability for La Genziana on Booking.com
#7 Bioagriturismo NURE: organic olive oil from its own mill
In Santa Maria la Palma, two kilometres from the airport, Bioagriturismo NURE presses olives from its own trees in its own mill. The whole farm is organic, and the restaurant cooks with that oil and the rest of the harvest.
Kids can let off steam in the play areas and get their own children’s buffet in the evening. There are family rooms, and Maria Pia beach is about six kilometres away.
→ Check prices and availability for NURE on Booking.com
#8 Casale degli Ulivi: wine, olives and a pool near Alghero
Casale degli Ulivi is also in Santa Maria la Palma, surrounded by vines, olive trees and fruit trees. Search for an agriturismo near Alghero and this one pops up again and again, and the glowing reviews explain why.
It’s a step up from its neighbours, with a pool, a playground and family rooms. A good place to mix beach days with an afternoon in Alghero’s old town.
→ Check prices and availability for Casale degli Ulivi on Booking.com
Agriturismi in Western Sardinia: around Oristano and Bosa
The west coast is the quietest part of Sardinia. In Bosa, pastel houses climb the hill up to the castle, and on Saturday the squares were buzzing. Further south lies the Sinis peninsula, with lagoons and beaches of white quartz grains. Inland, we hunted around the hot springs of Fordongianus for the spot where hot and cold water mix just right.
#9 Archelao: simple and good value near Oristano
Archelao lies in the countryside near Oristano and is the most affordable place on this list. You stay in simple mini apartments, and the kitchen uses whatever grows on the land.
With an educational farm and a playground, kids will be happy here too. From here it’s an easy drive to Oristano, the Sinis beaches or the springs at Fordongianus.
→ Check prices and availability for Archelao on Booking.com
#10 Is Cheas: luxury suites in shepherds’ huts on a wine estate
Is Cheas in San Vero Milis is the most luxurious agriturismo on the west coast. It’s a wine estate with its own vineyards, and the suites are modelled on the pinnette, the round stone huts Sardinian shepherds once sheltered in. Some suites have a private pool, and there’s a shared pool as well.
In the evening there’s a tasting dinner with the estate’s own wine, often included in your stay. The quartz beach of Is Arutas, with its grains like tiny rice, is about half an hour’s drive.
→ Check prices and availability for Is Cheas on Booking.com
#11 Sa Murta: sheep farm in the hills above Bosa
Sa Murta in Sennariolo, 15 minutes from Bosa, is a sheep farm in the hills of the Planargia. There are family rooms and a pool with a shallow end that opens in season, and the beaches are about half an hour away.
Double-check the village when booking: there’s another agriturismo with the same name in Dorgali.
→ Check prices and availability for Sa Murta on Booking.com
Agriturismi in Southern Sardinia: Cagliari, Pula and the Costa Verde
Our Sardinia began in Cagliari, where the ferry from Sicily docked. From there we headed to the white sand of Costa Rei, where our son declared the sea far too cold, and to the huge dunes of Piscinas on the west coast. The countryside around Cagliari and Pula is flat and fertile, full of orchards and olive trees.
#12 Su Cappeddu: fruit, olives and ancient remains near Pula
Su Cappeddu is near Villa San Pietro, close to Pula, on a ten-hectare farm with fruit trees and olives. There are archaeological remains on the property itself, and the harvest is served in the restaurant.
The excavations of Nora, an ancient port town by the sea, are just over ten kilometres away. The beaches of Pula and Chia are easy to reach from here too.
→ Check prices and availability for Su Cappeddu on Booking.com
Su Leunaxiu in Soleminis, north of Cagliari, is the closest of all to the capital’s airport. It’s an educational farm with an agripark and lots of animals, ideal if you land on an early flight and don’t want to drive far.
Come hungry. The tasting menu runs to five antipasti, a pasta, a meat course with vegetables, dessert and finally coffee with a liqueur. It isn’t served on Saturdays, Sundays or public holidays.
→ Check prices and availability for Su Leunaxiu on Booking.com
#14 Rocce Bianche: pool and bungalows on the Costa Verde
On the wild Costa Verde near Arbus you’ll find Rocce Bianche, with a vegetable garden and its own animals. There’s a pool, and families can choose between bungalows, apartments and rooms for four.
You’re close to the dunes of Piscinas here, where our kids played in the sand for hours. It’s one of the quietest stretches of coast in Sardinia.
→ Check prices and availability for Rocce Bianche on Booking.com
Agriturismi in Eastern Sardinia and the interior
In the east, the mountains of the Supramonte drop steeply into the Gulf of Orosei. Sebastiaan hiked down into the Gorropu gorge, one of the deepest in Europe, while I explored a cave near Dorgali on my own. The interior is the heart of Sardinian farming life, with shepherds, olive groves and the robust Cannonau wine.
#15 Canales: on Lake Cedrino near Dorgali
Canales sits on the shore of Lake Cedrino near Dorgali, looking out over the water and the mountains. The family keeps livestock and grows vegetables, fruit, grapes and olives, and reviews keep singling out the cooking as the highlight.
There’s no pool, but you can take a kayak out on the lake straight from the farm. Families get family rooms and a playground, and the harbour at Cala Gonone, where boats leave for the coves, is just under half an hour’s drive.
→ Check prices and availability for Canales on Booking.com
#16 Guthiddai: at the foot of the Supramonte
Guthiddai near Oliena lies at the foot of the Supramonte, with the limestone peak of Monte Corrasi above you. The family makes its own olive oil and Cannonau and serves both at dinner.
Rooms sleep three or four, so a small family can share. Cala Gonone is about half an hour away, and the Supramonte hiking trails are close by.
→ Check prices and availability for Guthiddai on Booking.com
#17 Su Barraccu: almost everything homegrown in Ogliastra
Su Barraccu in Loceri, in the Ogliastra region, produces nearly everything on its own ten hectares: olive oil, cheese, wine, meat, bread, vegetables and fruit.
With pigs, goats and horses on the educational farm and roomy family rooms, it’s a great spot with young kids. The Ogliastra coast is a lot quieter than the well-known resorts further north.
→ Check prices and availability for Su Barraccu on Booking.com
#18 Is Perdas: peace, a spa and cooking classes inland
Is Perdas in Gergei is right in the heart of the island, far from the busy coast. There’s a spa and a pool, the olive oil comes from their own trees and you can join a cooking class.
It’s a luxury pick, but with family rooms it works for families too. Choose it when you want a few days of doing nothing and don’t mind skipping the beach.
→ Check prices and availability for Is Perdas on Booking.com
Also worth a look: more agriturismi in Sardinia
These names come up a lot too. They’re well worth looking up, especially if you only want to drop in for dinner.
Codula Fuili sits high above Cala Gonone, with a restaurant overlooking the Gulf of Orosei and meat from its own livestock.
La Rocca Manna near San Teodoro is a livestock farm with its own cured meats, about two kilometres from the coast.
Guparza near Posada is best known for its food.
Su Birde near Orosei is a good alternative if you’re based on the east coast.
Il Nuraghe near Muravera, not far from Costa Rei, has plenty of its own animals and produce.
La Colti near Cannigione has a restaurant and runs cooking classes from Easter to October.
La Cerra near Tempio Pausania is a 75-hectare organic farm offering dinner and half board.
Sole e Terra in Luogosanto has a vegetarian kitchen.
Sa Reina in Masainas is biodynamic and has a restaurant in a straw-bale building.
Practical tips for an agriturismo in Sardinia
A few things worth knowing before you book, from dinner to the hire car.
What do you eat at an agriturismo in Sardinia?
The highlight of any agriturismo is the cena tipica, the traditional dinner. It’s usually a set menu at a fixed price per person: you don’t choose, you just get fed. It starts with a parade of antipasti such as pane carasau, the thin, crunchy shepherds’ bread, pecorino and cured meats from the farm’s own animals. Then comes pasta, like malloreddus or culurgiones, little stuffed parcels with potato and mint.
The main course is often porceddu, roast suckling pig, and dessert is seadas: fried pastries filled with cheese and drizzled with honey. You’ll drink house wine with it and finish with a glass of mirto, the local myrtle-berry liqueur. Drinks aren’t always included in the price, so it’s worth asking.
Vegetarians do well at Sa Mandra, which has a separate vegetarian menu, and at Sole e Terra with its vegetarian kitchen. Elsewhere the menu tends to be meat-heavy, so mention it when you book.
Can you eat at an agriturismo without staying there?
Often, yes. Plenty of agriturismi welcome diners who aren’t staying, like Sa Mandra near Alghero. Always book, though, because they cook for the number of people who’ve signed up. A few places, such as La Genziana, only cook for their own guests.
If you do stay, you can usually add half board. At some places dinner is included, like at Is Cheas, but it’s rarely compulsory. Check carefully what’s included with your room when booking.
How much does an agriturismo in Sardinia cost?
Outside the high season, a double room at a simple agriturismo is often around 100 euros a night, breakfast included. In July and August prices climb quite a bit, and luxury places like Is Cheas and Is Perdas sit well above that. Archelao near Oristano is the best value on this list.
Bring some cash just in case. Small rural businesses don’t always have a card machine, and the nearest cash point can be a long way off. Sebastiaan found out at the bottom of the Gorropu gorge that he had no cash on him, and luckily he could still pay with his phone.
When should you book an agriturismo in Sardinia?
Many agriturismi open from roughly May to October, and some all year round, like La Genziana. Bear in mind that the restaurant may keep different months from the rooms. Travelling in October? You’ll still find enough places to eat, just not everywhere.
For July and August it’s best to book between December and March, especially if you want a family room or somewhere with a pool. In high season there’s often a minimum stay of a few nights too.
→ Browse all agriturismi and hotels in Sardinia on Booking.com
Which agriturismo is best with a toddler or baby?
Travelling with a toddler and a baby, the big lesson for us in Sardinia was that the rhythm is different from home. Restaurants open late and a Sardinian dinner goes on for ages, so an apartment with a kitchenette is worth its weight in gold on evenings when the little one needs to eat early. That’s why La Genziana, Lu Branu and Su Barraccu are our top picks for young families.
Look out for a pool with a shallow end too, like at Sa Mandra and Sa Murta, or a children’s pool like at Lu Branu. NURE puts on a kids’ buffet in the evening, and La Genziana has an indoor playroom for when the weather lets you down.
Do you need a hire car for an agriturismo in Sardinia?
Yes. Agriturismi are out in the countryside, often at the end of a dirt track, and buses almost never get there. You’ll also need your own wheels to reach the beaches, villages and restaurants nearby.
The easiest place to pick up a car is at Olbia, Alghero or Cagliari airport. Discover Cars is handy for this, as it compares lots of rental companies in one go, so you can quickly see who has the best deal for your dates.
→ Compare hire cars in Sardinia on Discover Cars
More tips for your trip to Sardinia
Our pickStill looking? Browse all agriturismi and hotels in Sardinia on Booking.com
Sardinia is best explored by car. Rent a car at Cagliari, Olbia or Alghero airport with Discover Cars and compare the big rental companies in one go.
Prefer everything arranged? Browse Italy tours on TourRadar.
No flight yet? Compare flights to Cagliari or Olbia.
We took the ferry from Palau to La Maddalena. Want to see the archipelago's coves from the water? Join a La Maddalena archipelago boat tour on GetYourGuide.
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