Skip to content
Voykit
Back to Alghero

In the print dialog pick “Save as PDF” to keep it on your phone. A5 makes a pocket booklet; A4 suits a desk printer.

Include in the print. Unchecked sections stay on screen, dimmed, and drop out of the PDF.

Voykit pocket guide · Italy

Alghero

L'Alguer

Give Alghero 2–3 nights: a walled Catalan old town, beaches within 20 minutes on foot, and Capo Caccia as a half-day. Skip if you want big-city sights.

Alghero is a small walled town on Sardinia's north-west coast where Catalan is still spoken and the sea does most of the work. The old town takes half a day; the rest of the trip is beaches, the Capo Caccia cliffs and eating seafood. Two nights covers it, three if you add a beach day or a boat trip.

RomeAbbiategrassoAci TrezzaAfragolaAgrigentoAidoneAlbaAlbengaAlberobelloAlbissola MarinaAlcamo MarinaAlcamoAlessandriaAmalfiAlghero200 kmdots: other places in this guide
Sketch, not to navigate by: shapes follow this guide’s areas and places, not official boundaries. North is up.
Country
Italy
Local name
L'Alguer
Best months
May–Jun, Sep–early Oct
Avoid
Jul–Aug (crowds, peak prices, hot), Nov–Mar (many places shut)
Stay
2–3 nights

Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.

Essentials

Currency
EUR
Money
Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
Daily spend
Budget €60–90 excl. bed · Mid €90–150 excl. bed · High €150+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
SIM and data
TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
Emergency
All emergencies 112 · Police 113 · Fire 115 · Ambulance 118 · Coast guard 1530
Plugs
Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
Tipping
Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
Water
Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
Toilets
Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.

What things cost

ItemPrice
Coffee at the bar€1.20–1.80
Beer: draught / can from a shop€4–6 / €1.50–2.50
Seafood pasta or a plate of fregola€14–22
Catalan lobster (per kg, in season)€60–90
Glass of local wine€4–7
Museum entry (Museo Archeologico, Museo del Corallo)€6
City bus ticket€1.00–1.50
Taxi, town centre to airport€25–35

Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.

Get in

By air

AHO · Alghero-Fertilia Airport
10 km (6.2 mi) north-west of town; ARST bus to Alghero about every hour, 20 min, €1.00. Most routes are seasonal.

Typical fares

ARST bus, airport → Alghero
€1.00, about 20 min
ARST train, Alghero → Sassari
about 35 min, separate ticket from Trenitalia
ARST bus, Alghero → Cagliari
about 3 h 30 min, €15.50
Taxi, Alghero → Sassari
about €70
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card

Get around

The old town is walkable end to end in about 15 minutes. Buses run to the beaches, the airport and Sassari; the ARST railway station is about 15 minutes on foot from the centre. A car helps for Capo Caccia, Bosa and the beaches north of town, but the old town is a camera-enforced ZTL: park outside it.

See and do

Known for

  • Catalan-language old town and Gothic-Catalan palazzi
  • Seafood, Catalan lobster and sea urchins
  • Capo Caccia and Neptune's Grotto
  • Beaches at Lido San Giovanni and Maria Pia

Day trips

WhereHowTime
Capo Caccia and Neptune's GrottoCar or seasonal bus to the Capo Caccia car park, then the 654-step Escala del Cabirol down, or a boat from Alghero harbourHalf day
Nuraghe PalmaveraCar or seasonal bus towards Porto Conte, about 8 km (5 mi)2–3 h
BosaCar on the coastal road, or ARST busAbout 1 h by car
SassariARST train from Alghero Sant'Agostino, about 35 min, or busAbout 1 h
Stintino and La PelosaCar, or seasonal bus in Jun–Sep1.5–2 h
Maddalena archipelagoCar or bus to Santa Teresa Gallura, then ferry3 h+

Sleep

Old town (centro storico)
Inside the walls: bars, restaurants and the sea on foot. Rooms are small and parking is outside the ZTL.
Lido San Giovanni / Via Garibaldi
Beach strip 10–15 min walk from the old town; more parking, family rooms.
Maria Pia and Fertilia side
Pine-backed beach and airport side; needs a car or bus for the town.
Porto Conte / Capo Caccia
Quiet bay and cliffs, 20–30 min by car; resort hotels, little else.

Phrase card

EnglishSay or show
Hello / Good dayBon diabon DEE-a
Thank youGràciesGRAH-see-es
PleaseSi us plausee oos PLOW
The bill, pleaseEl compte, si us plauel KOM-teh, see oos PLOW
Do you speak English?Parles anglès?PAR-les an-GLES
Where is the beach?On és la platja?on es la PLAT-ja

Etiquette, safety and scams

Etiquette

  • Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
  • Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
  • Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
  • Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
  • Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
  • Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
  • Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly

Scams and watch-outs

  • The old town is a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras; fines reach you even in a rental car.
  • Almost all flights to AHO are seasonal: check winter connections before booking.
  • Alghero station is ARST, not Trenitalia; you change in Sassari for Cagliari and other Trenitalia lines, with separate tickets.
  • Coral jewellery is sold everywhere but is harvested from living reefs: skip it.
  • Restaurants with a photo menu and 'menu turistico' boards are the ones to walk past.

Alghero is a low-crime town; the real risks are summer sun and sea, the ZTL camera fines, and pickpockets in the old-town lanes in August. Swim where others swim, and keep an eye on the red-flag boards.

One and two days

No timed day plan for Alghero yet. Suggested stay: 2–3 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.

  • Catalan-language old town and Gothic-Catalan palazzi
  • Seafood, Catalan lobster and sea urchins
  • Capo Caccia and Neptune's Grotto
  • Beaches at Lido San Giovanni and Maria Pia

Sources

Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.

Pocket card

Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.

AlgheroL'Alguer

A aquesta adreça, si us plau

To this address, please

My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)

No embassies in Alghero; the US, UK, Canada and Australia have embassies in Rome, and many countries keep consulates in Cagliari or Sassari.

Catalan (Alguerès) is co-official here and on street signs; Italian works everywhere.

Voykit · checked 2026-09

Printed from Voykit (/alghero). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.