Glorious gravel in Sardinia — three day routes from Olbia

Sardinia may not feature highly on the list of popular gravel riding destinations, but with some stunning mountain roads, coastal singletrack and farm tracks, there’s gravel gold to be found on this Mediterranean island. John and I headed to the capital of Olbia for a week’s holiday, and while the unseasonal weather in May put an end to our bikepacking plans, we enjoyed a few great mixed terrain routes out of the city.

The three Tours you find here are all quite different. A coastal loop with many gorgeous sea swimming opportunities makes for a great acclimatisation ride, while the longer Tour over the mountains to San Teodoro is a real all-day epic, featuring a technical hike-a-bike section over the mountain pass and the potential to see wild flamingos at the coastal lagoon. Head onto remote mountain tracks near Monte Pino for a mid-length ride with a challenging sandy climb yielding breathtaking views.

As I couldn’t find many resources about gravel riding on the island, and OSM mapping data is incomplete at best, we tried a ‘plot it and see’ approach to our routes. In this Collection you’ll find the best three routes we rode, refined and replanned to avoid dead-end roads, private areas and trails that have seemingly been lost to the scrub!

We rode gravel bikes (one drop bar, and one more XC-orientated rigid mountain bike) for these Tours but in parts they’d perhaps be suited to XC mountain bikes. If you’re looking for smooth, pristine gravel then you’d probably be better looking elsewhere, but for a real adventure, Sardinia holds some great challenging tracks in store.

In terms of refreshments, you’ll be delighted to hear that there are some great Sardinian delicacies on offer, including zuppa gallurese, a hearty lasagne-like dish and culurgiones, a pasta dumpling filled with mashed potato and often served with a tomato sauce. There are also a number of gelaterias (ice-cream shops) in the coastal towns and you’re never too far away from a good Italian coffee.

If you’re looking for somewhere to stay, there are plenty of hotels and apartments on offer in Olbia centre, though you need to ride out of the port city to reach the beautiful beaches where you can swim and relax. On the plus side, it only costs one euro to travel from the airport into the city centre by bus, even with bike boxes.

Two of the easiest ways to get to Olbia include the ferry from mainland Italy, from Genova, Livorno or Civitavecchia, and flying into the Costa Smeralda airport.