The Sardinian Resorts That Don’t Try To Tame Nature – And Are All The Better For It

For an island surrounded by some of the most exquisitely clear waters in the Mediterranean, you might think it odd that Sardinia is not a fish-loving nation. No, it’s animal flesh that gets their juices flowing.

This is demonstrated handsomely at Li Ciusoni, a wildly romantic open-air restaurant, and one of seven at Valle dell’Erica Thalasso Spa & Resort, a sprawling estate in Gallura, the northeastern Sardinian region famed for its wind-sculpted granite rocks and dense forests of cork-oak trees. It is where head chef Chicca Ortu makes culurgiones by hand in front of guests, pleating the little parcels of Sardinian pasta closed like ears of wheat.

But it’s the suckling pig spit-roasted on an open fire that steals the show, alongside hunks of bacon as thick as a tongue and salty sausages bursting from their skins. As we tuck in, we keep half an eye on a wild boar as he snuffles around on the grass just metres away, oblivious to the fact that we are dining on his cousin, the glistening crackling hard enough to crack teeth.

Valle dell’Erica

Fish come second here – and the reason is down to defence. From its southern coast, the Mediterranean’s second largest island (after Sicily) is closer to Africa than to mainland Italy (which is an overnight ferry ride away). The Phoenicians came, the Arabs came, the Catalans came and stayed for four centuries, Napoleon’s French came. ‘The enemy came from the sea,’ a taxi driver explains as we head to Capo Testa, around a 25-minute drive away, to catch a brilliant sunset from the huge granite boulders, which glow orange and yellow as the sun slips below the sea. Sardinians, therefore, turned inland, up into the hills in the middle of the island with their sheep and pigs, and left the shoreline – and its catch – to their intruders.

There’s no sign of any swashbucklers as I later walk the mile-long coast that forms part of Valle dell’Erica, past secret nooks set up for dining à deux under fringed canopies, an outside exercise trail, small coves for sunbathing in privacy and beach bars for a sundowner. The view is peerless, a few sail boats bob on the water, Corsica is far in the distance if you squint, and the seven main islands of La Maddalena Archipelago – much closer – are worth an exploration by sea.

Valle dell’Erica belongs to Delphina Hotels & Resorts, owned and run by two Sardinian families who began as builders before deciding in 1992 to keep the hotels they were once building for others. There are eight properties now; Valle dell’Erica is the largest: 70 acres, 1,700 metres of private coast, two hotels – Erica, the original, built 20 years ago, and La Licciola, where we’re staying, set slightly higher with better views and a more modern design.

Valle dell’Erica

In fact, design is key to this resort, which feels more like a village; it can take a day to orient yourself between all the bougainvillea-shaded paths, village square and swimming pools. It sits harmoniously in the landscape – mostly because nature is allowed to shine in all her glory, not shaped and cut back to conform, but tumbling and unruly.

Buildings – made from local granite, with pitched terracotta tile roofs and cork insulation – never rise above the first floor. Inside, handwoven rugs come from nearby medieval village Aggius, along with handmade baskets from Castelsardo, ceramics and copper from local workshops, and bath oils scented with myrtle. They know exactly who made everything, I’m told. Most of the food is grown in a 12-acre kitchen garden at the group’s Le Dune Resort & SPA in Badesi.

Valle dell’Erica

There is enough to do to keep you contained for days: a thalasso spa with four seawater pools, one set with underwater gym equipment like bicycles and steps for aqua aerobics with a difference; padel; a playground (zipwire included); kayaks, and paddleboards.

If you have children, you can even dispatch them on their very own Robinson Crusoe escapade. Staff will take them off by kayak to a deserted island to camp overnight, returning the next day full of the swagger that only comes from a real adventure. This is at no extra cost either.

Hotel Marinedda Thalasso & Spa

An hour’s drive away to the west is another in the Delphina group, Hotel Marinedda Thalasso & Spa, which offers something distinct. Where Valle dell’Erica is somewhere to linger and reset, Marinedda is the perfect base from which to explore nearby beaches, visit local villages and walk in cool forests. Surfers, too, come for the swell the Maestrale kicks up. A perfect evening’s entertainment is spent watching them from the white-washed beach bar over a glass of Vermentino di Gallura.

The enemy may have come from the sea, but it’s that same sea that draws around five million visitors to the island each year. ‘A stranger arriving is an honour,’ my taxi driver had told me on our way to Capo Testa, ‘and a Sardinian will show you the best of what he has – the nature, the eating, the drinking – on one condition: “Respect for the nature. Respect for the life.”’

BOOK IT

Doubles at Valle dell’Erica Resort Thalasso & SPA from £294 half-board. Doubles at Hotel Marinedda Thalasso & SPA 5* from £222 half-board.