Sardinia
Sardinia
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Sardinia (Italian: Sardegna) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous province of Italy.
Hitching in Sardinia is fairly easy. Public transport is difficult to understand and sparse -- for example, there are only few trains from Olbia to Cagliari and the trip takes a whole day. Bus travel may be faster, but it is just as easy to hitchhike as the local people are extremely friendly. Note that on Sunday there are mainly families on the road and the cars are full.
According to one of TonyPro's drivers, the image of hitchhikers in the north is very different than in the south, since the northern coast attracts extremely wealthy tourists.
Getting in: Boats and ferries
If you are coming from Corsica you can ask private boats at the marina in Bonifacio -- it is not far for a step over and many people do it.
There are ferries to:
- Porto Torres coming from Barcelona, Marseille, Genova, Propriano and Cevitavecchia
- Santa Teresa di Gallura coming from Bonifacio
- Palau (Sardegna) from Genova, Napoli and Porto Vecchio
- Golfo Aranci from Fiumicino (Rome), Livorno and Cevitavecchia
- Olbia from Salerno, Piombino, Genova, Livorno and Cevitavecchia
- Tortoli from Fiumicino (Rome), Genova and Cevitavecchia
- Cagliari from Trapani, Palermo, Napoli, Livorno and Cevitavecchia
They could be hard to hitchhike as you pay mostly(?) per car and passenger. You can try to hide in a car when boarding the ferry; once you are on the ferry nobody will ask you for the ticket anymore.
Sleeping
Wild camping is mostly forbidden, at least in the tourist areas, but it is somewhat tolerated if you stay discreet and you light no fire. Never light fires! Forest fires are a big problem on the island.
Near Santa Teresa di Gallura, you'll find Capo Testa, with a beautiful hidden valley called Valle di Luna where a hippie community permanently lives in tents and caves. It's possible to sleep there for free within an amazing landscape.
Eating
Food is quite expensive, especially in high season and near touristic hotspots like Costa Smeralda. Water is a limited resource in Sardegna, so tap water can be strongly chlorinated and not ideal for drinking, especially in summer and in some regions like Tortoli.
Eating in Sardegna is a pleasure. Find out where the locals have dinner, ask your lift and at least once enjoy a four-course menu. If you don't have much money, get yourself invited by your lift or someone else. For hardcore hitchhikers, dumpster diving should be no problem and people are so friendly that there is a good chance to ask for leftovers on markets shortly before they close.
