Putting-on Wings
Eccelsa Aviation gives you wings. Reserving your helicopter transfer is so easy and convenient that you'll soon be hopping around Sardegna reaching for secret romantic locations, mysterious remains of civilizations long-gone, or ancient villages far-off usual routes where to shop for local art and food specialties. All along feeling the excitement of flying as if you had grown wings of your own and discovering the beauty of the Mediterranean from a very peculiar perspective usually reserved to pelicans and seagulls. Here are our top 9 picks:
2 Romantic Sardinian Countryside Flying to l'Agnata means entering into the very wild heart of northern Sardegna to an idyllic refuge where you can taste very simple but authentic delicious food of the Sardinian countryside. Flight Time: 20 minutes Web: Agnata.com
4 Shopping, Food & History At lunch and dinner time the streets are enriched by the seducing perfumes coming from a multitude of small tapas-bars, restaurants and pizza parlours offering a wide variety of food. Top specialty of the local cuisine is the Lobster Catalan style, a recipe dating back to the time when the town was under Spanish rule - inhabitants still speak a Catalan dialect nowadays and feel a strong spiritual connection to Catalunia.
Flight Time: 40 minutes
Sightseeing: Alghero hosts Museums, palaces, amphitheatres, churches, and Spanish fortifications. Very close two grottoes are particularly interesting: Neptune's Grotto - which can be reached by ferry, guided tours leaving from the marina - and the underwater Nereo Cave, which is considered the biggest and most spectacular cave of the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, and is among the most visited by scuba-divers in the world. Web: Alguer.com
6 CARLOFORTE Genua's Island All the inhabitants of Carloforte trace their origins back to Liguria - the Italian region renowned for such places as Genua, San Remo, and Portofino. It was in 1738 that a group of settlers moved to the island of San Pietro off the south-east coast of Sardegna after having obtained the concession by King of Savoia Charles Emmanuel III to build a new town. Nowadays Carloforte is renowned for the extraordinarily high quality of the tuna caught by local fishermen as you will be able to testify after having tasted one of the most delicious tuna of the Mediterranean in one of the many local characteristic restaurants. Flight Time: 1 hour and 20 minutes Sightseeing: Castle, Marina, ancient quarter of San Carlo, The Fountains, Church of San Pietro, Cine-theater, San Vittorio Tower and its Astronomic Observatory Events: November 15 La Madonna dello Schiavo, Patron of Carloforte; June 29 San Pietro; end of May beginning of June Girotonno dedicated to tuna fishing; Creuza de Ma festival of Music for Cinema, usually the second week in September.
8 Ancient Atlantis Walking through the imposing remains, you might arrive to the centre tower of the nuragic complex and touch the large basalt stones of this building dating back to the XVI century BC and which is part of a far larger network of Nuragic villages that stretched over the area - like at the nearby Zapata House - and the whole island. Some historians nowadays believe that the ancient Greek recounts of Atlantis refer to Sardegna and have traced interesting parallels confirming this thesis, including the fall of this civilization after the impact of a large meteorite on the island - what gave the centre section of the west coast its half rounded shape. Flight Time: 55 minutes Web: BaruminiFoundation
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1 Lunch on a Private Island By approaching the National Park of La Maddalena from the air the view encompasses more than 60 islands of breathtaking beauty, the water around them so clear that yachts and boats look like floating on air. Among them the small isle of Santa Maria looks more like belonging to the Seichelles or the Caribbean than being a Mediterranean Island - white fine sandy beaches framed by granit stones shaped by the wind and sea, and the colour of the water ranging from a bright turquois to pale blue to even pale pink as at the Spiaggia Rosa, whose sand colour is due to tiny red coral fragments accumulated there by sea currents over the centuries. The secluded restaurant of La Casitta - it can be reached by boat or helicopter only - is one of the best-kept secrets of Costa Smeralda and is located right at the heart of this natural paradise. Fresh catch of the day is the house specialty, accompanied by one of the many delicious wines of Sardegna. Flight Time: 15 minutes Web: LaCasitta.it
3 Heart of Sardegna Small villages like Oliena resound to the lively and poetic sounds of the Sardinian language - very different form Italian and similar in many ways to ancient latin - spoken by its inhabitants exactly as 1000 years ago and where it is common to see old women still wearing the artistic costumes of the local ancestral tradition. Strolling down in Orgosolo - close to one of the most spectacular landscapes of Sardegna and its mountains of pure granite stones reminding of the Dolomites - you will be fascinated by more than 150 giant colourful paintings adorning the houses of centre town and recalling many historical vicissitudes of the Sardinian population. The hotel Su Gologone is in itself a wonder to be explored as all of its halls and rooms have been furnished and decorated with authentic Sardinian manufacts by local artists. The Restaurant's Menu offers the best dishes of the traditional Sardinian cuisine by using only local meat and produce, and home-made pasta. Desserts too are all made in-house following ancient recipes. If you want to enjoy Sardegna at its core, it hardly gets any better than this. Before leaving Su Gologone make sure to walk the short path to the mystic spring of Su Gologone - the biggest limestone spring of Italy and a National Monument - to try one of the freshest waters you'll ever taste. Trivia: The water originating from the spring are also used to fill the hotel's swimming pool.
Flight Time: 35 minutes
Extra: At the hotel boutique you may purchase authentic hand-made Sardinian products. Also recommended for: trekking, canoeing, rock-climbing, wine & food
Web: SuGologone.com
Capo Caccia close to Alghero with the highest lighthouse of Italy
5 Canyoning Local legends tell that the 600 meters deep canyon is home to Sa Mama de Su Gorropu - Gorropu's Mother - a fearful creature, which however does not seem to be of any harm. Another interesting fact unsupported by scientific proof is that many shepherds swear that on particular days and from a determined point in the canyon it is possible to see the stars in the sky even during daytime. If you are ready for adventure, make sure to wear trekking shoes or robust tennis shoes, and pack water and a lunch box before boarding your chopper. Flight Time: 35 minutes Excursion: between 1.5 and 6 hours for canyoning depending on the track Web: Gorropu.info
7 Romantic Haven After bird-flying over granite cliffs and sand dunes that originate from the world's vastest desert of Sahara and form the beautiful beaches of Chia you will reach one of the most romantic locations of Sardegna. Dining on the terrace overlooking the cliffs where the east and south coast converge, you will be able to see the sun set slowly in the late evening and setting the whole coast on fire with its orange and red lights just before disappearing under the blue sea. The only lights remaining thereafter will be the candle lights all around the scented garden and the infinity pool, and the lighthouse's beacon silently revealing its location to boats and night sea-travellers.
Flight Time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
9 Dinner at the Medioeval Castle Visiting the crypt of the Cathedral of Sant'Antonio Abate is a very profound experience, and you can follow that with a walk over the defensive walls with view over the whole Asinara Bay. The narrow roads leading on top of the hill will take you through the ancient town - made up of stone houses dating back many centuries - to the Doria Castle, which was built in 1270 and now hosts the Mediterranean Basketwork and Weaving Museum - very interesting to visit just for its architecture alone. The best option is to start with a guided tour from the Eleonora d'Arborea Palace. On the hilltop, just next to the Doria Castle, a small restaurant serves the best fish in town while from the terrace you can enjoy the sunset over the Asinara Bay. Flight Time: 25 minutes Web: CastelSardo
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