Italy has already given me some incredible travel experiences. During my 2022 trip around the world, I spent time exploring Rome and Venice with my son. We checked off some of Italy’s most iconic sights — the Colosseum, Vatican City, the Trevi Fountain, St. Mark’s Square and Venice’s canals. We ate plenty of pizza, drank some incredible Italian wine and even stopped at the original Harry’s Bar in Venice for a €22 Bellini. But some of my favourite moments happened when we got away from the crowds.
In Rome, I stayed outside the main tourist area and found a small local restaurant around the corner from my hostel that I kept returning to. In Venice, we eventually escaped the crowds around Rialto and St. Mark’s Square and spent time on the quieter island of Giudecca, where we found local restaurants, a neighbourhood bakery, and a completely different side of the city.
This is the Italy I want to experience more of.
When it came time to choose the destination for my next Globe Digger group trip, I wanted somewhere that would take us beyond the Italy most travelers already know. My research led me to planning a Sardinian group trip adventure.
What Led Me to Planning a Sardinia Group Trip
This time, we’re trading Rome’s ancient landmarks and Venice’s crowded canals for the rugged Mediterranean coastline, small Sardinian communities, crystal-clear waters, local food and wine native to the island, and epic adventures along the way.
We’ll kayak and snorkel in the Mediterranean, cruise along Sardinia’s coastline, hike through incredible landscapes, experience local Sardinian culture, and even try coasteering if you’re up for an adventure. This involves some rock scrambling, using your hands and feet to move across rocky terrain. You can also try optional cliff jumping if you’re a thrill seeker.
Most of our adventure will take place around Bari Sardo and the Ogliastra region on Sardinia’s eastern coast, giving us the chance to experience a side of Italy that feels very different from what I experienced on my first visit to Italy.
Culturally, Sardinia is almost like its own country, kind of like the Azores to Portugal. They have their own spirits, such as Filu’e Ferru, which is similar to the more famous grappa, and traditional foods like porceddu and culurgioines. They also have all the Italian classics, like pizza, pasta dishes, and gnocchi. And of course, there’s the wine.
With Sardinia, you get the best of both worlds. It’s Mediterranean and Italian, all rolled into one. This is one of the many things that makes my Sardinia group trip unique, and it’s why I’m inviting you to join me
👉 For the full itinerary and booking details, including accommodation information and reserving your spot, check out the group trip page.
Why Sardinia?
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean, located west of mainland Italy and just south of the French island of Corsica. It’s technically part of Italy, but Sardinia has developed its own culture, traditions, food and identity over thousands of years.
This is what intrigues me most about Sardinia. Yes, the beaches are exotic and look incredible, but this group trip won’t be about sitting on a beach for 7 days. Of course, there will be free time for that, but if you’ve followed Globe Digger for any length of time, you probably know that sitting on a beach for seven straight days isn’t exactly my idea of an adventure. I want to experience the island and take you with me on that journey
Sardinia Group Trip Overview
Our 8-day Sardinia group trip combines the Mediterranean coastline with outdoor adventures, local culture, and traditional food, with enough free time so we aren’t running from one activity to another every minute of the day. When you do have free time, it’s entirely up to you how you spend it. You can go your own way or hang with the group; it’s entirely up to you.
We’ll spend most of the week in Bari Sardo, in the Ogliastra region along Sardinia’s eastern coast. Surrounded by vineyards and orchards and just a few kilometres from the sea, Bari Sardo is also renowned for traditional textile craftsmanship, including rugs, tapestries, and linens.
It’s in this region that I am working on some additional optional tours, including a visit to a local vineyard and, hopefully, a Filu’e Ferru tasting. Stay tuned for those additional activities.
A local Sardinian vineyard. Vriullop/Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
This isn’t Rome, Florence, or Venice. They are all great, but this will be a side of Italy few get to experience.
Experience Sardinia From the Water
You can’t travel to an island surrounded by some of the clearest water in the Mediterranean without being on it. There will be plenty of opportunities for that.
There will be a day when we’ll head out for a canoeing, snorkelling, or kayaking experience, giving us a chance to explore Sardinia’s coastline from the water. Another day, we’ll trade the kayak for a boat and cruise along the coast. Sardinia offers coastal views you may never see again, making these experiences an absolute must on this group trip.
Instead of simply driving to a viewpoint, taking a picture, and moving on to the next stop, we’re actually going to experience the landscape.
Paddle it. Swim in it. Hike it. You may even want to jump off it! Which brings me to coasteering.
Hiking, Coasteering and a Little Adventure
I’ve always believed that some of the best travel memories come from stepping outside your comfort zone. Sardinia should give us a few opportunities to test that theory.
We’ll hike along the coast at Coccorrocci or Perda ‘e Liana, experiencing another side of Sardinia beyond its famous beaches.
Then there’s coasteering. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t worry. I hadn’t either until I did a little research. Coasteering involves making your way along a rocky coastline using a combination of hiking, climbing, scrambling, swimming, and, in some cases, jumping into the water. Apparently, we’re doing that too. But no pressure if you don’t want to swim, hike along the rocky coastline, or jump from a cliff; you can just watch and enjoy the show.
One thing I’ve learned from travelling the world is that we remember the experiences more than the destination. It’s experiences like this that create memories that last a lifetime. Isn’t this what travel is all about?
Local Culture, Food and a Different Side of Sardinia
Adventure is only part of this trip. One of the things I’m most excited about is experiencing Sardinia’s local culture.
We’ll take part in an artisan workshop, spend time around Bari Sardo, and have the option to visit Orgosolo, a village in Sardinia’s mountainous Barbagia region, famous for the murals covering its buildings. Many of those murals grew out of political and social protest and, today, tell stories about Sardinian culture, traditions, everyday life, and the community itself.
I absolutely love this. Murals, street views, visiting local villages off the beaten path, and learning about local culture and traditions pretty much capture the Globe Digger brand and why I started doing group tours, so I can share these amazing experiences with other travelers.
One of the many murals that have transformed Orgosolo into an open-air gallery. Photo: Sailko / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.
Then There’s The food
Sardinia has its own culinary traditions, and Ogliastra is particularly famous for culurgiones — handmade stuffed pasta traditionally filled with ingredients such as potato, cheese and mint.
There are plenty of other Sardinian specialties I’m looking forward to trying, along with local cheeses, seafood, wine, and whatever else we discover along the way. Breakfast and dinner are included daily, so I expect we’ll become pretty familiar with Sardinian food by the end of the week. If you find a restaurant you’d like to add to your itinerary, you’re welcome to do that too. I’ll likely add one or two optional restaurant nights throughout the week to give us more options.
Fregola ai frutti di mare served in Alghero, Sardinia. Photo: Simon Legner/Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Anthony Bourdain’s Sardinia
There’s another reason Sardinia has been on my radar. Anthony Bourdain travelled here during Season 5 of No Reservations.
If you’ve read my blogs or follow me on social media, you know how much Bourdain’s approach to travel has shaped the way I see the world.
👉 If you’d like to read more about Anthony Bourdain and the influence he’s had on the way I travel, read Around the World with Anthony Bourdain: 10 TraveExperiences That Shaped My Journey
His Sardinia episode was particularly personal. His then-wife, Ottavia Busia, was Sardinian, and the episode wasn’t simply about finding the best restaurant or visiting the island’s most famous attractions. It was about understanding Sardinia through its people, food, traditions, and family connections. And this is a big part of the Globe Digger travel philosophy, and it’s a side I want to explore in Sardinia.
He ate local cheeses and cured meats, traditional roasted meats, and simple Sardinian dishes while exploring communities such as Nuoro and Oliena. That’s a side of Sardinia that interests me. I’m certainly not going there expecting to recreate Bourdain’s trip. But I love the idea of experiencing an island where food and local traditions remain such an important part of its identity. And I’m pretty sure we’ll raise a glass to Tony somewhere along the way.
Check Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations Sardinia episode on YouTube
An 8-Day Sardinia Adventure
One of the things I like most about this Sardinia group trip itinerary is its balance. We’re not changing hotels every night or spending half the trip on a bus. We’ll arrive in Olbia, meet the group, and have our first dinner together before heading deeper into Sardinia. From there, Bari Sardo will be our base for most of the adventure.
We’ll experience local craftsmanship, kayak and snorkel, cruise the Sardinian coast, hike through the landscape, and tackle our coasteering adventure. But I’ve deliberately left time for downtime. The itinerary includes free mornings and afternoons, giving you time to hit the beach, explore on your own, relax by the pool, grab a drink, or simply do absolutely nothing. We are on a Mediterranean island, after all.
Toward the end of the trip, we’ll make our way back to Olbia, with the option to stop in Orgosolo before enjoying one final night together.
Eight days. A little culture. A lot of food. Amazing wine. The Mediterranean. And just enough adventure to keep things interesting.
Left: Palau in northern Sardinia, overlooking the La Maddalena Archipelago. Photo: Sardinianguy88 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Traveling Solo Doesn’t Mean Traveling Alone
Globe Digger began with solo travel, and that’s still at the heart of these trips. I love traveling alone. The freedom, independence and unpredictability of solo travel have completely changed my life. But I’ve also learned that sharing incredible experiences with others can make travel even better. That’s what I hope these Globe Digger group trips bring.
You don’t need to convince your friends to come with you. You don’t need a partner. And you don’t need to plan every hotel, transfer and activity yourself. You can show up solo or with friends. We’ll take care of the rest together.
The goal isn’t to turn solo travelers into traditional package tourists. It’s to bring a small group of like-minded travellers together while keeping the adventure, spontaneity and connections that make independent travel so rewarding.
What’s Included in the Sardinia Group Trip?
Our Sardinia adventure runs April 15–22, 2027.
The Sardinia group trip includes seven nights’ accommodation, daily breakfast and dinner, local transportation, and all of our scheduled activities, including:
- Artisan workshop
- Canoeing and snorkelling or kayaking
- Guided coastal boat tour
- Coastal hike
- Coasteering experience
- Group airport arrival and departure transfers
I am also working on some optional activities that will include a vineyard tour, a Filu’e Ferru tasting, and dining experiences.
You’ll also have free time throughout the week to explore Sardinia at your own pace.
International flights, most lunches, personal expenses, travel insurance, and optional activities are not included.
The trip price is USD $2,850 per person, with flexible payment options available through TourHero.
Join Me in Sardinia
There’s something different about writing this article, and that’s that I haven’t been to Sardinia yet. Usually, I’m sitting down after a trip, telling you what happened, where I ate, what I loved, and probably about something that didn’t go according to plan. This time, the adventure is still ahead of me.
I chose Sardinia because it represents so much of what I love about travel: getting off the beaten path, connecting with local culture, eating incredible food, spending time outdoors, and occasionally doing something that makes me question my decision-making.
I know what Rome and Venice gave me on my first trip to Italy. Now I want to discover a completely different side of the country.
If a beautiful Mediterranean coastline, local Sardinian food and wine, small communities, kayaking, hiking, boating, coasteering, and travelling with a group of like-minded adventurers sounds like your kind of trip, I’d love to have you join me.
Sardinia is waiting.
And this time, we’re discovering it together.
👉 For all the Sardinia group trip details, including the full itinerary, accommodation details and reserving your spot, check out the group trip page.
👉 Want to know more about how these Globe Digger group trips work? TourHero is my travel partner, helping with the itinerary, activities, accommodations, bookings and behind-the-scenes logistics. Read more about the partnership in my Globe Digger and TourHero Group Tours announcement.
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