Arcipelago di La Maddalena National Park - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

The Maddalena Archipelago is located on the north-western coast of Sardinia, off the Costa Smeralda. It consists of 7 major islands (La Maddalena, Caprera, Budelli, Santo Stefano, Santa Maria, Spargi, Razzoli) and other smaller islands surrounded by the beautiful clear and transparent sea. It is a popular tourist destination especially among boaters. In 2006 it was placed on the tentative list for consideration as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

L'Isuledda is an area of ​​about 180,000 m², almost totally surrounded by the sea, joined to the mainland by an isthmus of sandy soil, and is, therefore, a peninsula. Administratively it is part of the municipality of Palau and is located near the towns of Porto Pollo and Barrabisa. L'Isuledda overlooks the protected marine park of the La Maddalena Archipelago, in turn part of the Marine Mammal Sanctuary.

The Costa Smeralda is a coastal stretch of Gallura in the north-east of Sardinia, which extends for 55 kilometers. The expression indicates the stretch of the coast of Arzachena, in the province of Sassari, which extends from Capo Ferro - located just north of Porto Cervo - to the Gulf of Cugnana, at the beginning of the territory municipal of Olbia, at the beach of Rena Bianca Portisco.

The Strait of Bonifacio is an international strait separating Sardinia from Corsica. Located in the south of Corsica the commune of Bonifacio. The strait is notorious among sailors for its weather, currents, shoals, and other obstacles. This urbanized area is currently a natural reserve and niche tourist destination, popular internationally as a diving location. Its maximum depth is 100 metres.

Capriccioli is a famous seaside resort on the Costa Smeralda, in the municipality of Arzachena, in Sardinia. Its two beaches, divided by a passage of granite rocks, are of fine white sand, easily accessible and served by a large parking lot. During the summer they are the destination of hundreds of vacationers attracted by the beauty of the place which is immersed in Mediterranean scrub and enriched by the view of the islands of Mortorio, Soffi, and Camere, islands included in the Maddalena Arc

GIANTS’ GRAVES, OR TOMBA DEI giganti, are megalithic gallery graves that were used as public tombs during the Bronze Age. The tombs are made of a central stele, a stone or wooden slab, which has a hole cut into it that functions as the entrance. It was built in local granite between 1800 and 1600 BC and renovated between 1600 and 1300 BC. It has a gallery approximately ten meters tall and four meters wide.