Is Sardinia Expensive to Visit?

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Sardinia, a beloved holiday destination and home to countless beautiful beaches along the Mediterranean Sea. Despite its common reputation, Sardinia doesn’t have to be an expensive place to visit.

Of course, there are always ways to experience a luxury vacation in Sardinia, but understandably, this may not be feasible for just anybody.

Let us set the record straight – budget travel can still be 100% as enjoyable, especially on a remarkable island like Sardinia.

In this short guide, we’ve included some real expenses from our own trip to Sardinia, including the cost of groceries, ferries, and accommodation. Our hope is that this will shed light on how much you can realistically plan on spending and get to planning your Sardinia vacation now.

Short Price Guide for Tourists Visiting Sardinia

Cost of Ferries From and To Sardinia

Since our area of expertise is in taking road trips throughout Europe, we’re used to ferry travel to and from islands such as Sardinia. Our ferry costs account for the travel of 2 adults (young kids are free) + 1 car and 1 dog.

Based on our experience, ferry prices fluctuate quite regularly depending on availability and time of travel or year. It also does matter where you buy your ticket from. Try to avoid buying ferry tickets from third parties and purchase them directly from the carrier instead.

Corsica (Bonifacio) to Sardinia (Santa Teresa): €85.98 (one way)

Palau to La Maddalena: €45 (round trip)

Olbia to Tuscany (Livorno): €90 (one way)

Cost of Accommodations in Sardinia

We spent a few nights in La Maddalena in addition to a longer stay on “mainland” Sardinia. For a full list of recommendations on La Maddalena hotels and places to stay, head here.

Our trip took place during the month of September. This is considered to be the low or shoulder season. We ended up booking accommodation on the higher end because we wanted a kitchen to cook our own meals, so we opted for an Airbnb stay. For a destination that also hosts some of the nicest hotels in the world, the prices aren’t outrageous.

The average cost for lodging during shoulder season sits anywhere between €60 – €100 per night based on the type of accommodation. If you are planning to stay in a town center or beachfront property, the cost of living arrangements will clearly be higher.

Entire apartment in Sedini (6 nights): €65/night

Entire apartment in La Maddalena (4 nights): €88/night

Are Groceries Expensive in Sardinia?

Naturally, grocery chain stores such as Conad and even Eurospin (budget grocery store in Europe) will be more expensive in Sardinia. This is simply due to the extra cost of transportation it takes to get items onto an island.

The more you can avoid shopping for non-local food items, the lower your grocery bill will be. If you are staying in a popular area such as Costa Smeralda, expect your food costs to be comparatively higher than quieter parts of the island.

Shopping at Conad (€€ more expensive grocery chain): Expect a daily grocery budget of around €25 for two people.

Shopping at Eurospin (€ budget grocery chain): A daily grocery budget of less than €15 for two people is feasible.

Are Restaurants in Sardinia Expensive?

Most of our experiences eating out in Sardinia were centered around seafood, for obvious reasons. This is probably the reason it seemed like restaurant prices are higher than in other parts of Italy we’ve traveled to.

If you are looking for cheap ways to travel in Sardinia, we recommend keeping visits to restaurants to a minimum.

Gelato at La Finestrella: €2 per scoop

Dinner for two at Puffer Fish: €71

Dinner for two at Zi Antò: €33.50

Lunch for two at Quintilio: €70

Pasticceria (medium tray of assorted treats): €5

Dinner at casual restaurant with no name: €35

Cooking classes are the perfect way to have dinner and an experience at the same time. Browse options in Sardinia with Viator!

Souvenirs

You’ll likely want to leave with a souvenir or two from your trip to Sardinia. We personally don’t buy too many things when we travel, unless we find something really meaningful or easy to pack.

However, during this trip, I wanted to bring back a bottle of wine for my family, so we stopped in a specialty wine store.

All of the wine was incredibly overpriced. Later, we ended up finding the same brands of wine at the grocery store for half the price. On this day, the tourist trap beat us with a €25 bottle of generic local wine.

Falling for specialty stores that are well marketed instead of genuine is one of the easiest ways to overpay in Sardinia.

Transportation & Parking

If your itinerary is flexible and allows for extra travel time, Sardinia public transport is a comfortable solution for solo travelers or backpackers. A single ride starts at around €1.30, with multi-use passes offered at a discount.

If you are driving around Sardinia, do not overlook parking fees. There are countless free beaches in Sardinia, but it doesn’t mean that parking will always be free. On top of that, you could end up at a paid beach with paid parking.

If you decide to visit a particularly popular beach, parking could cost up to €5-€10 per hour. These little convenient fees add up if you aren’t mindful. Since we steered away from big crowds, the most we ended up paying for parking was €2 per hour at Spiaggia La Pelosa.