Lanthia Resort

Lanthia Resort sits on Sardinia's Ogliastra coast, a stretch of the island that remains largely unbothered by the crowds drawn to the Costa Smeralda further north. This is eastern Sardinia at its most elemental: limestone cliffs plunging into impossibly blue water, perfumed macchia scrubland, and beaches that feel like private discoveries even in high season. The property occupies the hamlet of Tancau sul Mare, a small coastal enclave near Santa Maria Navarrese, itself named after the whitewashed 11th-century church that Navarrese sailors built after surviving a storm.

Within a few hundred metres, Spiaggia di Santa Maria Navarrese unfolds in a crescent of fine sand, while Spiaggia di Tancau lies just beyond, backed by fragrant juniper. The marina at Santa Maria Navarrese launches boats to the sea caves and hidden coves that notch this coastline, accessible only by water. Further inland, the Supramonte massif rises in stony folds, home to the prehistoric nuraghi towers that dot Sardinia's interior like ancient sentinels.

Cagliari and Olbia airports both lie roughly 100 kilometres away, reachable by car in under two hours along winding coastal roads that reward the journey with glimpses of shepherd's huts and olive groves centuries old.

The coast here invites slow mornings: walking barefoot across Spiaggia di Pollu's sand, or arranging a boat departure from Santa Maria Navarrese Marina to explore the Grotta del Fico sea cave system. Cascata di Baus, six kilometres inland, tumbles through cork oak forest in a series of limestone pools cold enough to take your breath. Book a tasting at Cantina Ogliastra to understand Cannonau, the island's signature red, pressed from vines that predate phylloxera. The property's position on the Ogliastra coast means direct access to beaches like Iscrixedda, less than three kilometres south, where the water runs so clear you can count stones on the seabed from the shore.

Drive 67 kilometres west to Su Nuraxi di Barumini, Sardinia's only UNESCO World Heritage nuraghe complex, a Bronze Age fortress-village of stacked basalt that predates Rome by a millennium. The Supramonte nature reserve spreads across the interior 30 kilometres northwest, a karst wilderness of limestone gorges and shepherd's trails where golden eagles nest. Don't miss the Thursday market in Tortolì, ten kilometres north, for bottarga and pecorino aged in chestnut leaves.

July and August bring heat that flattens the island by midday, temperatures pushing past 28°C, but the Tyrrhenian breeze off the water keeps the coast bearable. The sea warms to bathwater by late June and stays swimmable through October. Spring arrives early here: by May, wildflowers carpet the macchia and daytime highs reach the low twenties, ideal for hiking the Supramonte without the summer haze.

Autumn stretches long and golden, September still warm enough for the beach, October for long lunches outdoors before the rains arrive. Winter is mild and quiet, the island returned to itself, though the mountains inland can turn fierce. The shoulder seasons, May through June and September through early October, offer the best balance of warmth, light, and solitude.