Sardegna Nord

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Olbia, Basilica di San Simplicio (Gallura) / Porto Torres, Basilica di San Gavino (Golfo dell'Asinara)
• Length: 268.3 km
• Duration: 13 days
• Elevation: ↗ 5,105 m / ↘ 5,106 m
• Highest point: 690 m in the Gallura uplands between Luogosanto and Tempio Pausania; lowest point 1 m on the coast
• Stages: 13 (Camino Ninja division; the operator speaks of "circa 10 tappe" but publishes no kilometre list)
• Network: northern route of the Cammino di Santu Jacu — "Sardegna Nord" is our name; the operator says Cammino del Nord or variante gallurese
• Waymarking: yellow arrows, in places with a scallop-shell symbol
• St James church: San Giacomo di Taniga between Sassari and Sorso — the only St James dedication directly on the route
• No hostel network: B&Bs, agriturismi, municipal lodgings, the association's referenti; Credenziale and Testimonium
• Sardinian connections: Sardegna da Olbia (start), Sardegna da Orosei and Sardegna Centrale (shared finale from Ploaghe)
• Connection to Spain: direct ferry Porto Torres – Barcelona, then the Camino Catalán
• Best time: April to June and September to early November; high summer too hot inland

Overview

You start at the sea and finish at the sea, but the island lies in between. From the granite Basilica di San Simplicio in Olbia you head inland into the Gallura: granite, maquis, cork oaks, scattered farmsteads, the giants' tombs of Arzachena. In Luogosanto stands a basilica whose Holy Door opens only once every seven years — and 2026 is one of those years. Over the uplands at 690 metres, past Aggius and the granite desert of the Valle della Luna, you reach Tempio Pausania, the town of stone, and drop into the Coghinas valley and the Anglona: table mountains, rock-cut tombs from the 4th millennium BC, Romanesque country churches, a petrified forest, villages of a few hundred souls. In Ploaghe you meet the other Sardinian strands, pass the striped basilica of Saccargia on the way to Sassari, the island's second city, and walk down through the vineyards of the Romangia to the harbour of Porto Torres, where Sardinia's only direct ferry to Barcelona departs.

The route carries the apostle's name in the language of the island: Santu Jacu is Saint James in Sardinian, and the James the Sardinians follow is one of their own — protector against lightning and giver of viaticum for a good death, not the Moor-slayer of northern Spain. To be honest, he barely appears on this section: Olbia belongs to San Simplicio, Tempio to San Pietro, Luogosanto to the Virgin, Sassari to San Nicola, Porto Torres to San Gavino; the one true St James dedication on the route is the Gothic church of Taniga, three kilometres before Sassari. The route is young — idea 2009, association 2010, recognition by the region 2012 — the network covers around 1,600 kilometres, and there is no hostel network. Whoever walks here navigates alone, shops the evening before and meets no second pilgrim for days. In return you see a Sardinia the Costa Smeralda never gets to see.

Other Names

The operator does not list this section under a route name of its own. In the association's publications and those around it, it is called Cammino del Nord or variante gallurese, mostly just descriptively Olbia–Porto Torres. Sardegna Nord is our Camino Ninja name so that you can tell the four Sardinian strands apart — you will not find it on signposts or in the association's documents. The network's own name is Sardinian: Cammino di Santu Jacu, Santu Jacu being Saint James; not San Giacomo as it would be in Italian. In English you might say "the Sardinian Way of St James"; in Spanish you occasionally meet Camino de Santiago en Cerdeña.

On the numbers you need to know: the operator gives "circa 10 tappe" for this strand and describes it as "abbastanza impegnativa specie nella parte montuosa" — fairly demanding, especially in the mountainous part — but publishes no kilometre list. Our route measures 268.3 kilometres, and the 13 stages below are calibrated to the waypoints of our track data, not to operator figures. The length of the network also varies by count: for the central axis Cagliari–Porto Torres you will find 430, 460 and 470 kilometres in circulation. We stick to what our track measures.

Who It's For – and Who It's Not

This route is ideal if you want to see Sardinia away from the beaches and do not experience solitude as a shortcoming: granite villages, cork-oak forests, Anglona hills, tombs from the 4th millennium BC, a basilica from 1116 — and days without a second pilgrim. Ideal if you like navigating yourself, enjoy getting by in broken Italian and do not automatically think of a bed with a stamp when you hear the word "hostel". Ideal if you like the order of things: mountains first, sea last. And ideal if you are walking between September 2026 and September 2027 — then in Luogosanto you pass through a door that otherwise stays shut for six years.

To be honest, though, it is not for you if you expect the infrastructure of the Camino Francés: no continuous hostel network, no pilgrim-menu culture, no queue at the stamp pad. The yellow arrows are reliable but not gapless — reports from the network say openly that markings "occasionally disappear". You buy food the evening before, water sources are scarce, and the share of tarmac is considerable in places. In high summer the interior between Bortigiadas and Chiaramonti is simply too hot; in winter much is closed for the season. And if you want a Compostela: you get that in Santiago — here you receive the Testimonium of the Sardinian way.

Route & Landscape

From Olbia the route heads inland into the Gallura: granite, maquis, cork oaks, scattered stazzi — the solitary farmsteads of this region. Via Sant'Antonio di Gallura and Arzachena with its Nuragic tombs you reach Luogosanto, then the path climbs into the uplands between Luogosanto and Tempio Pausania, where the highest point lies at 690 metres within sight of Monte Limbara. Aggius at 515 metres and the granite desert of the Valle della Luna mark the scenic heart of the first third; Tempio is the town of stone, with cork, granite and a 13th-century cathedral.

From Bortigiadas the route drops into the Coghinas valley and crosses into the Anglona — a landscape of limestone and trachyte table mountains, far less rugged than the Gallura but archaeologically dense: Sedini, Bulzi, Perfugas, Laerru, Martis, Chiaramonti, villages of a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants, with Romanesque country churches, rock-cut tombs and a petrified forest in between. In Ploaghe you meet the other Sardinian strands; from there a shared final stretch leads over the hills of the Logudoro and the Coros, past Saccargia to Sassari. The last stretch through the Romangia via Sorso is coastal country — vineyards, pines, beach — and then the harbour of Porto Torres.

Stages, Terrain & Difficulty

For the Gallura route the operator speaks of "around ten stages" and calls it "fairly demanding, especially in the mountainous part", but publishes no kilometre list. We divide the 268.3 kilometres into 13 stages — a good 20 kilometres a day, the yardstick the association applies on the neighbouring northern branch; the kilometres are calibrated to the waypoints of our track data and add up exactly, the individual values are accurate to within a few kilometres. The longest stage, Ploaghe → Sassari, splits neatly in half at Codrongianos by the basilica of Saccargia — then it is 14 days. The shortest, Aggius → Tempio Pausania, is deliberate: two museums in Aggius and a granite old town in Tempio fill the rest of the day better than more kilometres would.

1. Olbia – Teggia de Sambene – Sant'Antonio di Gallura (22.5 km) — farewell to the sea, granite and maquis of the Gallura.
2. Sant'Antonio di Gallura – Arzachena (17.0 km) — giants' tomb Coddu Vecchiu, Nuraghe La Prisgiona.
3. Arzachena – Bassacutena – Luogosanto (24.0 km) — basilica with the Holy Door of 1227.
4. Luogosanto – Aggius (24.5 km) — highest point 690 m in the Gallura uplands, Monte Limbara in view.
5. Aggius – Tempio Pausania (11.5 km) — half day: Valle della Luna, museums, granite town.
6. Tempio Pausania – Figaruia – Bortigiadas (14.5 km) — cork oaks, descent to the Coghinas.
7. Bortigiadas – Giuncana – Longareddu – Santa Maria Coghinas (25.5 km) — Coghinas valley, castle ruin Casteldoria, hot springs; no shops in the hamlets.
8. Santa Maria Coghinas – Sedini – Bulzi (17.5 km) — domus de janas La Rocca, San Pietro delle Immagini.
9. Bulzi – Perfugas – Laerru – Martis (19.0 km) — well temple, Sardinia's largest retable, petrified forest.
10. Martis – Chiaramonti (13.0 km) — Castello dei Doria.
11. Chiaramonti – Ploaghe (22.5 km) — hub of the network, cathedral from 1090 to 1503.
12. Ploaghe – Codrongianos – Florinas – Cargeghe – Ossi – Sassari (29.0 km) — Saccargia, Logudoro hills; longest stage, can be split at Codrongianos.
13. Sassari – San Giacomo di Taniga – Sorso – Porto Torres (27.8 km) — St James church, Romangia vineyards, Basilica di San Gavino, harbour.

Difficulty: moderate — not because of alpine passages but because of the constant up and down: over 5,100 metres of ascent on 268 kilometres; no stage is alpine, but hardly any is flat. Surface: mostly gravel track, shepherds' path and minor road; you need no head for heights anywhere, but you do need good soles for long stretches of tarmac — the road share is considerable in places. The yellow arrows are reliable but not gapless; a GPX track is essential. Water: reliable springs are rare, and in the hamlets between Bortigiadas and Santa Maria Coghinas there is no shop — two litres from the start, provisions bought the evening before. Streams may block the path after rain. High summer is too hot inland; watch for ticks from May.

Every Seven Years a Door Opens in Luogosanto

In 1227 Pope Honorius III raised the Franciscan church in Luogosanto to the rank of basilica minor and endowed it with a Porta Santa — a Holy Door of the kind otherwise found in Rome, Santiago and a handful of other places. The rule has been the same ever since: the door is opened only every seven years, around the Nativity of Mary on 8 September, and then stays open for a whole year. The count of the Festa Manna di Gaddura, the great festival of the Gallura, has never been broken: on 7 September 2026 at 19:15 Bishop Roberto Fornaciari opens the door for the 798th edition — count back and you land in the 1220s, exactly at the papal elevation. On 8 September follows the ritual "Lu Caracolu" with the handing over of the banners; in May the sick come, in June a night-time pilgrimage on foot from Calangianus. According to legend the statue of the Virgin was found on a beach near Arzachena; the church keeps the relics of the hermits Trano and Nicola, and the bronze portal by Luca Luchetti tells their story in three reliefs. Whoever walks this route between autumn 2026 and autumn 2027 passes, on stage 3, through a Holy Door that then stays closed until 2033.

To be honest, the Holy Year of Luogosanto is the strongest dated piece of evidence on this whole route — and it has nothing to do with St James. The network was built along the places whose patron is San Giacomo, but in the Gallura and the Anglona that very dedication is the exception: Olbia belongs to San Simplicio, who died on 15 May 304 under Diocletian; Porto Torres to the martyrs Gavino, Proto and Gianuario, recorded for 303/304 — the same storm of persecution at both ends of the route, 268 kilometres apart. The one true St James church lies three kilometres before Sassari on the road to Sorso: San Giacomo di Taniga, white limestone, Italian Gothic of the first half of the 14th century, last remnant of the village of Taniga attested since 1112. And the James the island follows is in any case its own: in Sardinia Santu Jacu is regarded as protector against lightning and giver of viaticum for a good death. The route is named after a saint the island has shaped for itself — and passes a door that is older than any pilgrim path here.

Highlights Along the Way

• Basilica di San Simplicio, Olbia — built in three phases between the late 11th and early 12th century from Gallura granite, 33 metres long, above a necropolis of around 450 graves, the most imposing Romanesque building on the island; its patron died on 15 May 304.
• Arzachena — giants' tomb Coddu Vecchiu and Nuraghe La Prisgiona, the densest concentration of Nuragic funerary architecture in the north of the island.
• Basilica di Nostra Signora di Luogosanto — raised to basilica minor by Honorius III in 1227, Porta Santa every seven years, 798th Festa Manna di Gaddura in 2026; bronze portal by Luca Luchetti.
• Aggius — 515 metres, Bandiera Arancione of the Touring Club; ethnographic museum MEOC, Museo del Banditismo on the 19th-century bandit history, open-air museum AAAperto, woollen carpets — and the granite desert of the Valle della Luna.
• Tempio Pausania — the "città di pietra" of the Gallura at the foot of Monte Limbara: cathedral of San Pietro Apostolo from the early 13th century, San Francesco of 1543–48 as the island's first Renaissance building, the Rinaggiu springs, carnival with Re Giorgio and around 100,000 visitors.
• Casteldoria, Santa Maria Coghinas — ruined castle of the Doria above the Coghinas valley, hot springs.
• La Rocca, Sedini — domus de janas from the 4th/3rd millennium BC, carved from a single rock in the middle of the main street; later prison, stable, shop, party office and dwelling, today a museum. Sardinia's domus de janas have been UNESCO World Heritage since 2025.
• San Pietro delle Immagini, Bulzi — Romanesque country church of 1110–1120 in two-tone masonry, standing free between meadows and rocks; its wooden Deposition group from the early 13th century is the only work of its kind in Sardinia, today in San Sebastiano in Bulzi.
• Perfugas — Nuragic well temple Predio Canopoli, archaeological and palaeobotanical museum; in Santa Maria degli Angeli Sardinia's largest retable, 54 panels from the late 16th century.
• Foresta pietrificata di Carrucana, Martis — petrified forest on around 1,000 square metres, with opal, chalcedony and quartz in the trunks; also San Pantaleo from the 13th/14th century and the 15-metre Triulintas waterfall.
• Castello dei Doria, Chiaramonti — castle of the family whose name goes back to Brancaleone Doria, husband of Eleonora d'Arborea; fought over between Arborea and Aragon in the 14th century, converted into a church under Aragon.
• San Pietro Apostolo, Ploaghe — cathedral of the diocese of Ploaghe from 1090 to 1503, a titular see to this day; Trinity painting by the Florentine Baccio Gorini.
• Santissima Trinità di Saccargia, Codrongianos — consecrated on 5 October 1116, founded by Giudice Costantino I of Torres, entrusted to the Camaldolese; striped in black basalt and white limestone, Pisan Romanesque. The most beautiful building on the route.
• San Giacomo di Taniga — the Gothic limestone church between Sassari and Sorso, last remnant of the village of Taniga attested since 1112, the one true St James dedication directly on the route.
• Cattedrale di San Nicola, Sassari — Baroque façade of over 30 metres, the mightiest in Sardinia, on a building that came with the bishop's seat from Porto Torres in 1441; plus the Discesa dei Candelieri on 14 August, UNESCO-recognised since 2013, and the Cavalcata Sarda in May.
• Basilica di San Gavino, Porto Torres — Sardinia's largest Romanesque church, consecrated in 1080, with two apses and no main portal on the axis, 22 columns; the relics of the three martyrs were found in 1614. Behind it the harbour of ancient Turris Libisonis.

How Pilgrims Reach This Route

The most common entry is the simplest: Olbia airport or ferry port, a few hundred metres to the Basilica di San Simplicio, and off you go. That is exactly why Olbia is also the starting point of the second Sardinian northern route — from the same spot the coastal path Sardegna da Olbia runs south to Orosei instead of west through the Gallura. Whoever lands in Olbia has the choice between sea and granite and makes the decision on the first morning.

Anyone already walking in Sardinia for a while joins or changes in Ploaghe or Sassari: there this route flows into the same final stage that Sardegna Centrale from Cagliari and Sardegna da Orosei from the east coast also use. From Sassari, Ploaghe is a good twenty minutes by regional train. And whoever wants to walk the route in reverse — from Porto Torres to Olbia — can do so without difficulty: the association describes its routes in both directions.

Continuing On?

Porto Torres is finish and springboard at once. The operator explicitly sees the harbour as the point where the Sardinian way "ideally connects to the Camino de Compostela" — here the ships bound for Iberia set sail, and they still do: from Porto Torres runs Sardinia's only direct ferry to Barcelona. There the Camino Catalán awaits, leading via Montserrat and Lleida to the Ebro and on westwards — a route that ends not in a cathedral but on a quayside.

In practice that means: from the Stazione Marittima in Porto Torres, Grimaldi Lines sails all year to Barcelona, around 12 hours across the Mediterranean, once to several times a week depending on the season (as of September 2026, check sailing days beforehand). In Barcelona the Camino de Barcelona via Montserrat and the Camino Catalán via Lleida take over – and the Sardinian finish becomes the next stage of the Camino Maltés to Santiago.

If you want to stay on the island you have three connections, all via the same final stage in the opposite direction: Sardegna Centrale, the main axis of the network, from Porto Torres right across the island to Cagliari; Sardegna da Orosei via Ozieri, Nuoro and Dorgali to the east coast; and from there the coastal path Sardegna da Olbia back to Olbia, which closes the great northern loop. Walk all four strands and you have circled Sardinia once and crossed it once.

Preparation & Practicalities

The season runs from April to June and from September to early November: spring gives you flowering maquis and full streams, autumn warm light and quiet villages. High summer is simply too hot inland between Bortigiadas and Chiaramonti; in winter much is closed for the season — a pilgrim report from the network describes houses "poorly equipped against the cold". There is no hostel network. You sleep in B&Bs, agriturismi, municipal lodgings and with the association's referenti — volunteer contacts who exist for every stage. Call the day before, especially between Bortigiadas and Chiaramonti; gaps like these you plan away beforehand, not on the trail. The easiest way to plan your stages and lodgings is directly in the Camino Ninja app.

The Credenziale is issued by the Associazione Amici del Cammino di Santu Jacu — order it in good time before departure, it opens the pilgrim conditions at the lodgings; at the end you receive the Testimonium of the Sardinian way, not the Compostela. The waymarking is yellow arrows, in places with a scallop symbol — reliable but not gapless; download the freely available GPX tracks of the network before you start. Water and food you plan the evening before: reliable springs are rare, and in hamlets like Giuncana or Longareddu there is no shop. Language: Italian, in the Gallura also Gallurese, in Sassari Sassarese; English in Olbia and Sassari, rarely in the countryside. Gear: soles for tarmac and gravel, sun protection, two litres of water capacity, tick protection for maquis and pastures.

What the Route Costs

To be honest, Sardinia is no budget destination, but away from the Costa Smeralda it is not an expensive one either — the association publishes no price lists, all amounts are guide values (as of September 2026). A double room in a B&B in the Gallura and Anglona is mostly €60–90, a simple agriturismo with half board €55–80 per person; municipal lodgings and pilgrim beds with the referenti often run on a donation basis, around €10–20. A menu in a village trattoria costs €15–25, bread, cheese and sausage for the trail €6–10.

A realistic daily budget: frugal with a pilgrim bed or municipal lodging and self-catering €30–45, mid-range with a B&B or agriturismo and one hot meal €45–70. For 13 stages that comes to roughly €400–580 frugal and €590–910 mid-range, excluding travel and gear. The Credenziale costs a few euros as an association contribution. Anyone walking in July and August pays noticeably more on the coast — Olbia, Sorso, Porto Torres — than in spring; inland little changes. Churches and basilicas cost nothing, La Rocca in Sedini and the museums in Aggius a few euros.

Getting There

To the start (Olbia): Olbia Costa Smeralda airport lies around 4 kilometres from the centre and has direct flights from numerous European airports; a city bus takes you in a few minutes to the Basilica di San Simplicio, where the route begins. From the ferry port Isola Bianca there are connections to the Italian mainland, among others to Civitavecchia, Livorno and Genoa.

En route: Tempio Pausania, Ploaghe and Sassari have rail connections; the villages of the Gallura and the Anglona are served by ARST buses — tickets at bars and tabaccherie, fares by kilometre zone. Joining and leaving for partial stretches is therefore possible, but timetable-dependent; check connections in advance.

From the finish (Porto Torres): Porto Torres lies on the railway line to Sassari, around 20 minutes; from Sassari you continue to Olbia or Cagliari. The nearest airport is Alghero-Fertilia, around 40 kilometres away; Olbia can be reached by train and bus in about three hours. If you would rather not fly, take the ferry: from Porto Torres ships run to Genoa and — as Sardinia's only direct connection — to Barcelona.

• Rail Sardinia: trenitalia.com — Porto Torres, Sassari, Ploaghe, Chilivani, Olbia
• Bus: arst.sardegna.it — Gallura and Anglona villages
• Credenziale, GPX, referenti: camminosantujacu.it — Associazione Amici del Cammino di Santu Jacu
• Ferry: grimaldi-lines.com — Porto Torres – Barcelona, Porto Torres – Genoa