Friday 2nd
I started the day in Istanbul having just come back from my trip to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon.
I had a bit of a lazy morning before hopping in a Taxi for Sabiha Gokcen airport for my midday flight to Rome.
The Uber cost a little more than 1000TL or around $35 and took about 50 minutes to get there.
I was there by 1030 with plenty of time before boarding PC1223 to Rome.
I ended up on Pegasus and the flight cost $161 ( + $63 for excess baggage).
I landed at Rome Fiumicano at 1345 and sorted my bags and a sim card (€55/$90) before hopping on the train into Town.
The Leonardo Express takes you to Termini in about 30 minutes and cost around $22 (€14).
I arrived at Central Station around 1545 giving me just enough time to transfer to my train to Florence (€50/$82).
Two easy hours later I was pulling into Firenze Santa Marina Novella.
I arrived at the hotel around 1800 and dropped off my bags, had a quick shower before heading out to catch sunset.
The hotel was a short five minute walk from the station – which was a bonus given the long day of travel I was having.
By half past six I was back on the road, wandering through Florence to Piazzale Michelangelo.
Somehow I thought I’d be the only one up there to catch sunset. But I was very, very wrong.
I didn’t end up staying long because of the crowds, and around 2100 I ended up at Berbere for Pizza and a beer.
By 2200 I was back at the hotel, ready to call it a day.
Saturday 3rd
I didn’t have to meet my friend until about 1100 so I got up early, had a pretty good breakfast at the hotel before heading out to do a walking tour of all the main sites.
I even managed to get my drone up for a look at the city’s famous skyline.
Around 1100 I met my friend and we decided to grab some lunch before hopping on the train to La Spezia.
We checked out All’Antico Vinaio but the lines were crazy and so we continued down the road to La Panetteria e Stuzzicheria de Neri. There were fewer people there and the food is apparently just as good.
We grabbed a couple of epic sandwiches before heading back to the hotel to grab our bags and then continue on to the train station.
We got to the station at 1230 and by quarter to we were settling into our train to La Spezia. It cost us $25 each and took us 2.5 hours.
We ended up staying at Affittacamere “Angel 2” which was fairly small but in a great location with a nice little balcony looking over Piazza Saint Bon. It cost us $682 for three nights.
We got settled in before heading back up to the train station to go to Manarola for dinner.
We didn’t time the train back very well and so it was pushing midnight by the time we were back at La Spezia.
Sunday 4th
We set today aside to explore the five photogenic fishing villages that make up Cinque Terre.
We ended up buying a three-day Cinque Terre Pass – which would give us access to the trains as well as entry to the national park. It cost us $100 each.
We were at La Spezia station by 0800 and arrived at Monterosso by half past ready to start our day.
We grabbed a couple of pastries at one of the little bakeries along the waterfront before setting off on our walk. It was long and harder than I remembered and not the most pleasant in the searing summer sunshine but the views were incredible.
The hike took us about 6.5 hours (including lots of photo/drone stops) including a lunchtime stop in Corniglia for drinks and something to eat.
Around 1745 we were back at the hotel for a quick rest and freshen up before returning to Vernazza for dinner and a drink around 2000.
We caught the sunset before settling on Il Gambero Rosso for dinner. We grabbed some gelato for dessert before hopping back on a train for La Spezia around 2230.
Monday 5th
After the long few days we had a bit of a sleep in before heading back to La Spezia Central to start our journey to Portofino.
We took a train to Santa Margherita de Ligure, before transferring to a bus for the remainder of the way.
I didn’t remember there being too much to do there, but we had time and I wanted to show my friend.
What should have been a short 15 minute drive actually took us about 50 minutes on a packed hot and sweaty bus.
We grabbed a panini for lunch before setting off to explore the little picturesque town – Portofino.
We had a walk around and took a couple of pictures before deciding to take a mini-side trip to San Fruttuoso.
The boat cost about $52 for the two of us, return, but in the end we bought more tickets to take us back to Santa Margherita de Ligure ($22.50 each).
We had a swim and sun there before hopping on the boat back to Santa Margherita (to avoid the shitfight that was the bus).
We got in around 1700 and had a swim before continuing on to Montorosso for a drink and dinner.
After finally mastering the train timetable we managed to hop on a train around 2100 and were back at the hotel around half past.
Tuesday 6th
We had a late flight to Sardinia and we decided to make the most out of another sunny summer’s day.
We went to Porto Venere.
At 0930 we checked out, stored our bags at the Left Luggage close to the hotel and headed down the road to the bus stop. We found a Tobacconist to buy bus tickets before hopping on the bus across the road, around 1000.
The bus was an easy 30 minutes and so half past ten we were there. We had a walk around the port before heading up the hill to check out the Chiesa di San Pietro and the Byron Grotto.
We couldn’t help ourselves so hopped in the water to cool off. I got stung on the shoulder by a jellyfish but it was worth it. The water was so clear and fresh.
Around 1300 we set off for lunch – settling on La Pitonetta for pizza and a drink. At 1400 we hopped back on the bus en route to La Spezia.
We grabbed an ice cream from Gelateria Vernazza before continuing on to collect our bags and head back to the train station.
We got tickets for the train back to Pisa ($38 each) and by quarter past we were on the way.
We arrived at Pisa centrale around 1630 before taking a shuttle to the airport.
We arrived at 1715 with plenty of time before our 1855 flight to Olbia.
We ended up flying with Volotea (V7 1782) and paid $428 each.
At 2000 we arrived at Olbia, picked up our car and started the drive to our hotel for the night in Palau.
The accommodation was pretty basic but it did the trick. The rooms were big and clean and in a great location, right on the main street and close to the port.
We rented the car with Green Motion which was OK. It was only $695 for the week. Collecting the car was a bit of a punish. There were only a couple of girls working at the pick-up point and they were extremely slow. They also made me get an International Drivers Licence which cost about $250. I had called a couple of times to confirm they had the car. Last time I was in Sardinia they only had a manual car – despite us reserving an automatic.
The drive to Palau was 50 minutes (in the dark, on small winding roads) and so it was just after 2240 when we arrived at the La Residenzia del Re.
We had a quick walk around before calling it a night. We had a big week of adventures ahead of us in Sardinia.