How many days do you need in Sardinia?

The short answer

Seven nights on the island, not seven days of travel. That is one region done properly, two or three bases at most, one boat day, one inland day and enough slack that a lunch can run three hours without breaking anything. Five nights works if you stay in a single region. Ten nights is the first length where the north and the interior can both be real rather than a drive-through.

Count nights on the island, not days away

From New York you lose the outbound day to the overnight flight and most of the return day to the connection home. A trip you describe as nine days is usually seven nights here. Before we talk itinerary I ask for your flight numbers, because a Saturday morning arrival in Olbia and a Saturday evening one are two different weeks.

Five nights, one region and no ambition

Five works, on one condition: you pick a single region and stay put. The Gallura and the archipelago, or the Barbagia and the eastern gulfs. One hotel or villa, one boat day, one long inland day, two unplanned mornings. What five nights cannot hold is Cagliari and the north in the same trip, or two boat days, or a base change midweek. The most common way a short trip goes wrong is trying to see the whole island in it.

If you have five nights and want the south as well, take the south only. Cagliari, Chia, the Sulcis and the tuna coast are a complete trip. Save the Gallura for the week you can give it.

Seven nights, the shape I write most

This is the standard week and the one nearly all of my storylines are cut to. It runs roughly: arrival and a short first evening near the airport, two days settling into the coast, a full private boat day in the archipelago, an inland day of villages and a shepherd's table, a second sea day with nothing scheduled, then a slow last morning and the flight. One base change at most, and only if the drive is under ninety minutes and worth the room at the other end.

• One region, two bases maximum
• One boat day, planned for the calmest forecast in the week rather than a fixed date
• One full inland day, which is the day most people tell me later was their favorite
• Two mornings with nothing in them, on purpose
• No drive over two hours unless the drive itself is the point

Ten nights, where the island opens

Ten is the first length that can hold two genuinely different Sardinias without rushing either. North coast and archipelago for five or six nights, then the interior or the wilder east for four. You gain a second boat day, a walking day in the Supramonte, time for the Nuraghe sites that deserve an unhurried morning, and the ability to move a whole day when the wind turns. If you have the time, this is the trip I would take myself.

Two weeks, and when it stops adding

Fourteen nights lets you add the south honestly: Cagliari, the Sulcis, Chia, and the drive up the west coast through Bosa. Beyond two weeks the returns fall off unless you are sailing or genuinely living here for a while. I would rather write you a strong ten nights and have you come back in September than stretch a fortnight thin.

What actually eats your days

• Base changes. Each one costs a half day in packing, checking in and finding your footing
• Distances. Sardinia is bigger than it looks: Olbia to Cagliari is over three hours
• Wind. A boat day has to be movable, which means the week needs slack in it
• Lunch. A real one runs two to three hours, and it is the reason you came
• Arrival timing. A late arrival in high season can cost you the whole first evening

How I would decide

Tell me the number of nights you actually have on the ground and what the trip is for. Sea and quiet: five or seven in one region. First visit with swimming at the center: seven. Sea and interior, or two regions: ten. Then I write the week to that number instead of pretending a shorter one can carry more.