Campervan Therapy

Sta. Teresa de Gallura

La Liccia Campsite, outside Sta.Teresa de Gallura, the northern tip of Sardinia, is a lotus-eater sort of place. You enter, you think you’ll stay one night, you end up staying five.  

From the perfect fritto misto, where the batter is crisp and the fish succulent, to the giant butterflies that feast on the bougainvillea on the balcony above the pool, this is an outdoor spa of the best order. Jagged toothed mountains look down on us as we lounge poolside. Swallows swoop over the umbrella pines.

Walking Trail – Spiaggia La Liccia

We meander along the 13.5 kilometre walking trail from the campsite to coves and dramatic headlands, the indented coastline in front of us, mountain peaks behind us. Spiaggia La Liccia is an arch of white silky sand.

The sea changes from turquoise to indigo where the Poseidon fields darken the waters. This pair of ramshackle ramblers get no further than 3.5 kilometres before being waylaid by a Beach café breakfast – café crema (a cold coffee cream confection) and a chocolate fondant croissant to be precise.

Spiaggia Lu Pultiddolu

The next day’s ramble to Spiaggia Lu Pultiddolu is wilder: rocks etched into impossible shapes by the sea. We clamber down into tiny coves and I yank off my walking shoes, desperate for the feel of the sea on my hot feet.

The rock pools are busy with marine life: a hermit crab shrugs off one shell and reverses into a more palatial home; tiny speckled and striped fish dart; translucent prawns tickle my toes, their antennae harvesting who knows what from my skin. Seán tells me I’d pay a fortune for that in a spa. Sweet scented sea fennel grows from the rocks.

Sea fennel

Eroded coastline south of Santa Teresa de Gallura

Arzachena

We stop off at this inland town on the map’s winding green edged road, just because it’s different from the coast. Clambering up Roccio Il Fungo, or mushroom rock, you can see why the prehistoric Nuraghic folk took shelter here, the coastline in sight, the ring of protective mountains behind.

We nosey round the historic centre, with its lively murals – flowers and fruit on the wall outside the greengrocers, a wood fired oven outside the trattoria.

One certainly demands our attention: a wall dedicated to Banksy, complete with its John Lennon lookalike and jaunty cockerel, the symbol of Gallura.

Graffiti Wall – Arzachena

 A dramatic statement in bold translates as ‘Graffiti is the only instrument left to those who have nothing.’  This wall is definitely where graffiti meets art.

Arzachena mural

A backstreet museum claims to be the smallest in Italy. The tiny room takes us through Arzachena’s history, starting with the Big Bang – much to my resident scientist’s amusement.  

Li Lolghi – Nuraghic Sites

Ancient Nuraghic remains surround Arzachena, in countryside full of cork and olive trees.

 Li Lolghi (the giants’ tomb) is an eerie place, nothing but wind in the trees and the granite slabs arranged to funnel the sunlight into the ancient tombs. We’re the only visitors, so it truly feels as if we’ve stepped into an ancient legend.