Experience the best of Alghero

Alghero stands on a low peninsula on Sardinia's north-west coast, within ramparts and towers that face the sea. Catalans settled here in the fourteenth century, and Algherese, a dialect of Catalan, is still spoken, with street signs in two languages, earning the town the nickname Barceloneta, little Barcelona. In the old town stand the Cathedral of Santa Maria, the church of San Francesco with its cloister, and the Bastioni Marco Polo, a sea-wall promenade.

Red coral, gathered along this coast, has given Alghero a tradition of coral jewellery. At Capo Caccia, west of town, Neptune's Grotto is a sea cave with stalactites, reached by boat or by a steep cliff staircase. The Bronze Age tower-village of Palmavera and the rock-cut tombs of Anghelu Ruju lie nearby, the coast road leads south to Bosa, and Stintino, with its white beach at La Pelosa, lies to the north.

Catalan-style lobster with tomato and onion is the signature dish, alongside other seafood, thin carasau flatbread and Sardinian pecorino. Torbato, a white wine of the Alghero area, and Vermentino go well with it. The sea warms from June to September, and winters are mild.