{"id":2714,"date":"2026-08-26T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/?p=2714"},"modified":"2026-08-27T09:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T09:12:07","slug":"ive-been-to-9-italian-islands-but-theres-only-one-i-keep-going-back-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/26\/ive-been-to-9-italian-islands-but-theres-only-one-i-keep-going-back-to\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019ve been to 9 Italian islands, but there\u2019s only one I keep going back to"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"A\t<\/div>
Narrow, colourful streets and delicious seafood await here (Picture: Stefy Morelli\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Claudia Tavani is a Sardinian travel writer and the founder of Strictly Sardinia, a website dedicated to her home. She tells our Travel Editor Alice Murphy about the Italian island she loves most (it’s not Sardinia).<\/p>\n

I’ve traveled extensively throughout Italy<\/a> and have visited well over nine islands, including Sicily<\/a>, Sardinia where I was born and raised, San Pietro, Sant’Antioco, La Maddalena, Caprera, Tavolara, Stromboli and Vulcano.<\/p>\n

If I had to pick my favourite, it would have to be San Pietro, off the southwest coast of Sardinia. <\/p>\n

I visit all the time \u2014 in fact, I’m going back next week.<\/p>\n

Foreigners hardly know about San Pietro, but Sardinians love it. <\/p>\n

What makes it interesting is that, culturally, it feels quite different from Sardinia.<\/p>\n

Its main (and only) town, Carloforte, was founded in the 18th century by the Tabarchini – Ligurian families whose ancestors had previously settled on the Tunisian island of Tabarka. That history is still very much alive.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
The wild coastline of San Pietro, with volcanic cliffs plunging into turquoise waters (Picture: Andrea Tabaro\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Locals speak Tabarchino, an old Ligurian dialect, and the island’s food combines Ligurian, Sardinian and North African influences. <\/p>\n

The town looks a bit like Genoa, with scenic caruggi (narrow alleys with colourful buildings).<\/p>\n

But food, to be honest, is one of my main reasons for returning.<\/p>\n

Carloforte has an extraordinary tuna-fishing tradition \u2013 it’s famous for the mattanza that typically takes place in June, a centuries-old ritual for trapping and harvesting Mediterranean blue-fin tuna. <\/p>\n

It also has some excellent seafood restaurants, and if you visit during tuna season, many offer excellent dishes where tuna is the main ingredient.<\/p>\n

Other local specialties include casc\u00e0, the Carloforte version of couscous.<\/p>\n

The atmosphere in San Pietro changes dramatically with the seasons. In summer, Carloforte and the rest of the island are incredibly lively.<\/p>\n

It is a popular holiday destination for people from southern Sardinia, yet it remains surprisingly little known to international visitors.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/div>
A place foreigners don’t seem to know (Picture: Marcus Lindstrom\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was there in early August this year and took a boat tour around the island.<\/p>\n

Despite it being the peak of the Italian summer season, we saw only a fraction of the number of boats you would encounter around heavily visited places, such as La Maddalena.<\/p>\n

Beyond the food and culture, San Pietro has beautiful beaches, impressive cliffs, salt pans and some spectacular sunset viewpoints. <\/p>\n

It’s also an island shaped by the weather: strong winds are very common, and they are part of the experience of being there. <\/p>\n

That’s why I always recommend to give yourself plenty of time on the island. <\/p>\n

We only managed to do the boat tour I mentioned above, after years of trying and having it cancelled because of the wind.<\/p>\n

I’ve also visited San Pietro outside the summer season, when it becomes much quieter but is still a very pleasant place to spend a few days. <\/p>\n

That’s one of the reasons I keep going back: it isn’t somewhere I associate only with beaches or a summer holiday. <\/p>\n

I genuinely enjoy being in Carloforte, eating there, walking around town and seeing how its character changes throughout the year.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tGetting to San Pietro island\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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San Pietro island lies off the south-western coast of mainland Sardinia, about 50 miles from Cagliari.<\/p>\n

Ferries to Carloforte leave from Portovesme and Calasetta. The first one takes about 40 minutes, the second 30 minutes. <\/p>\n

There are several daytime sailings, approximately every hour, and there is a night service only from Calasetta.<\/p>\n

You can check the timetable here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

As told to Alice Murphy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Claudia Tavani is the founder of Strictly Sardinia<\/a>, a travel website dedicated to her home island. <\/em><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-preferred-source\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Narrow, colourful streets and delicious seafood await here (Picture: Stefy Morelli\/Getty Images) Claudia Tavani is a Sardinian travel writer and the founder of Strictly Sardinia, a website dedicated to her<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/26\/ive-been-to-9-italian-islands-but-theres-only-one-i-keep-going-back-to\/\" class=\"readmore\">Continue reading<svg class=\"icon icon-arrow-right\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"img\"> <use href=\"#icon-arrow-right\" xlink:href=\"#icon-arrow-right\"><\/use> <\/svg><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">I\u2019ve been to 9 Italian islands, but there\u2019s only one I keep going back to<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2714"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2720,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2714\/revisions\/2720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jvdbosch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}