Cagliari to Olbia and Nuoro: Private day trip

Nuoro is the proud, rugged heart of Sardinia. In fact, the region is called “Barbagia” because when the local “barbarians” forced back the Romans. This remote hilltop town was most noted for banditry until the 19th century when several renowned artists, including poet Sebastiano Satta, novelist Salvatore Satta, sculptor Francesco Ciusa and Nobel Prize-winning author Grazia Deledda were born here. Thanks to these personalities, Nuoro boasts some of the island’s most important museums, like the Museo MAN, Sardinia’s best modern art museum, the Museo Cuisa, as well as ethnographic and archaeological museums detailing the region’s history. Or you can just wander the Rione Santu Predu, the historic artist’s district, which still looks much as it did in the 19th century. No matter what, try to track down su filindeu, a pasta half as thick as angel hair that only two women know how to make. It’s sometimes available at Al Ciusa and Il Refugio.