Olbia
You can be here in December for about €612, 3 days, direct.
Why now
Shoulder season in December: 16°C days, sea 16°C.
June and September are the months when the sea is warm and the roads still move; in August the coast road to Porto Cervo jams and beach car parks fill by mid-morning. Out of season most of the Costa Smeralda shuts entirely, so shoulder trips are better based in Olbia or Palau.
Best months here: June, September, October. Daytime highs, sea temperature and rainy days from three years of Open-Meteo reanalysis; a rainy day is one with at least 1 mm of rain, which is the WMO threshold and not the same as "it drizzled".
The place
Olbia is a working port and airport town, and the reason to fly here is the granite coast around it: the Costa Smeralda's manicured resorts, the Maddalena archipelago, and quieter bays on either side. It suits sailors, beach people and anyone with a car; the town itself is a pleasant evening, not a destination.
What you can do
- 01Take the ferry from Palau to La Maddalena and drive the causeway to Caprera, Garibaldi's island, for its coves.
- 02Swim at Cala Brandinchi or Lu Impostu near San Teodoro, which cap numbers in summer; book a slot ahead.
- 03Walk Olbia's Corso Umberto in the evening, then eat sea urchin pasta or zuppa gallurese on a side street.
- 04Visit the Romanesque church of San Simplicio in Olbia, granite and plain, and the Nuragic well temple of Sa Testa nearby.
- 05Drive to Capo Testa beyond Santa Teresa Gallura for wind-carved granite and the Valle della Luna.
Where to stay · neighbourhoods
For beaches, base in Palau, Cannigione or San Teodoro rather than Porto Cervo; Olbia itself is fine for a night at either end and has the restaurants.
Unusual things
- ◦The Giants' Tomb of Coddu Vecchiu near Arzachena, a Bronze Age collective grave with a carved granite stele.
- ◦Nuraghe La Prisgiona above Arzachena, a village of round huts around a tower, visited on the same ticket as the tomb.
- ◦Spiaggia del Principe, the cove the Aga Khan is said to have preferred, reached on foot down a scrub path from the road.
Day trips
Flight options
Routes come from OpenFlights (historical) and a 2026 route reference compiled from public timetables. Durations are the published schedule where we have it, otherwise a block-time model fitted on measured nonstop flights. Verify schedules with the airline before booking.
Entry requirements · IT passport
Source: passport-index-data, March 2026 (coarse indicator), covering 258 of our 268 destinations for each of 199 passports. Always confirm with the destination's official site.
Airports
Distances are centre to airport derived · nonstop counts are our route reference for 2026, not every flight that exists.
Local transport
- Airport to city
- Bus, 15 min, €1.50; car recommended for beaches
- Car needed?
- Recommended for most of what is worth seeing
- Getting around
- A car is essential outside Olbia; the airport is ten minutes from the centre by bus or taxi, and mainland ferries leave from Isola Bianca. Summer coast roads are slow, and beach parking is limited or booked online.
- Clock
- Same time as Warsaw (Europe/Rome) derived
- Daylight
- 9.3 hours of daylight in December · sunrise 07:39, sunset 16:55 derived
- Currency
- EUR
Good to know
Several beaches cap daily visitors and require online booking in summer, and removing sand or shells from the shore is an offence.
Alternatives at a similar price
Whole trip per person for 3 days from Warsaw in December, then the flight time; estimates, like the total above.
Delhi, Agra
Marrakech
Cape Verde
Dakar
Aqaba
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