Holidays on the Costa Smeralda
The Costa Smeralda is the long coastal stretch of north-eastern Sardinia that extends from Capo Testa to the southern end of the Gulf of Cugnana. The Costa Smeralda is the ideal place to spend your beach holidays in Sardinia.
This stretch of coast has countless sandy beaches , full of inlets, coves and rocky cliffs overlooking the sea, and numerous islands, such as the Mortorio Island, easily accessible from the coast. But the Costa Smeralda is above all a huge holiday complex that offers, in addition to the splendid landscapes and the crystalline sea, accommodation of great value and elegance.
The tourist complex of the Costa Smeralda was born in 1962 when a group of industrialists and international financiers, including the Ishmaelite prince Karim Aga Khan , attracted by the rare beauty of the place, decided to invest in this wild and uninhabited land for a long time. Thus was born the Costa Smeralda Consortium , with the task of managing the territory and urban development, and promoting tourism in the area. The urban development project is entrusted to the architect Luigi Vietti : the buildings are built taking inspiration from the local peasant architecture, and following strict environmental protection rules to respect the landscape and territorial characteristics as much as possible.
The consortium has given a significant boost to the holiday industry of Sardinia, and has transformed this strip of land of Gallura into an important and renowned holiday area , perhaps the most important tourist center in Sardinia ; the first hotels came into operation already in 1963 and 1964, and began an urban expansion that would not stop and an economic development of the entire north of Sardinia that has never stopped since then.
The heart of the Costa Smeralda is Porto Cervo , an elegant town inserted in a deep natural harbor, which together with other seaside resorts among the most famous in Italy, such as Cala di Volpe, Liscia di Vacca, Baja Sardinia, Palau and Porto Rotondo (which we tend not to consider part of the Costa Smeralda proper) has rightfully entered among the most popular tourist destinations in Italy.
Porto Cervo includes residential areas such as Romazzino, Capriccioli, Cala di Volpe, Golfo Pevero, Pantogia and Liscia di Vacca where dream villas of famous people have been built.
In the mythical Piazzetta delle Chiacchiere in the evening the residents meet in the bars and restaurants, while under this square the windows of the boutiques, showrooms and shops shine with the best products of the most famous fashion brands.
Complete the picture of this lush area of exclusive nightclubs where you can often meet actors, models, footballers, influencers.
Daily flights from Olbia airport connect the Costa Smeralda with the major Italian and European cities.
By sea there are several shipping companies that ensure connections between the most important port cities in the Mediterranean, including Genoa, Livorno and Civitavecchia, and the port of Olbia.