40.559° N · 8.313° E
01 / Centro storico
Cattedrale di Santa Maria
Catedral de Santa Maria
A Catalan-Gothic cathedral in the heart of the old town, its bell tower a landmark seen from lanes across the city.
40.56° N — 8.32° E · Sardegna
AlgheroL'Alguer
A Catalan port on Sardinia — sandstone ramparts above the Mediterranean, lanes where algherese is still spoken, and the red coral that gave the riviera its name.
Photo Eugene Chystiakov / Unsplash
Film1:53
The town in two minutes
One pass over the ground this site covers: the walls, the beaches, the water, the food and the festival year.
A town with two names
La Petita Barcelona on Sardinia
Alghero sits on the north-western tip of Sardinia and is called the “little Barcelona” for a Catalan heritage reaching back to the 14th century, when the town passed to the Crown of Aragon. In the old town you can still hear algherese — the local Catalan dialect.
Sixteenth-century ramparts and watchtowers ring the historic centre. Behind them run narrow lanes, colour-washed houses and seafood restaurants. It was from here — from the red coral fished off this coast — that the nearby riviera took its name: Riviera del Corallo.
- Region
- Sardinia, Italy
- Inhabitants
- ≈ 44,000
- Languages
- Italian · algherese
- Known for
- ramparts and coral
- Best season
- May – September
Photo Alp Ancel / Unsplash
Sixteen days
Sea and sky
Air temperature by day and by night, cloud cover and the temperature of the water, sixteen days ahead. The sea keeps its own pace: it warms up long after the first hot days and stays warm well into autumn.
40.56° N · 8.32° EAir 21°Sea 25.3°as of 11:15 PM
Today
24 Sep
FogWind 8 kn SW
Day 27°Night 16°Sea 25.3°
Fri
25
OvercastWind 8 kn S
Day 28°Night 20°Sea 25.3°
Sat
26
Partly cloudyWind 12 kn NE
Day 29°Night 16°Sea 25.3°
Sun
27
Partly cloudyWind 7 kn NW
Day 28°Night 12°Sea 25.1°
Mon
28
Partly cloudyWind 7 kn N
Day 29°Night 17°Sea 25.1°
Tue
29
Mainly clearWind 5 kn NE
Day 31°Night 13°Sea 25.1°
Wed
30
OvercastWind 5 kn NE
Day 30°Night 17°Sea 25.2°
Thu
1 Oct
OvercastWind 7 kn NW
Day 29°Night 18°Sea 25.3°
Fri
2
OvercastWind 7 kn S
Day 25°Night 20°Sea 25.3°
Sat
3
OvercastWind 7 kn NW
Day 28°Night 19°Sea 25.3°
Sun
4
DrizzleWind 8 kn NE
Day 28°Night 19°Sea
Mon
5
OvercastWind 8 kn NE
Day 28°Night 18°Sea
Tue
6
OvercastWind 7 kn NE
Day 26°Night 17°Sea
Wed
7
Clear skyWind 5 kn NE
Day 27°Night 16°Sea
Thu
8
DrizzleWind 14 kn SE
Day 25°Night 18°Sea
Fri
9
DrizzleWind 16 kn S
Day 24°Night 16°Sea
DayNightSea· data for 10 daysWind
Wind in knots · 1 kn ≈ 1.85 km/h · the arrow points the way the wind blows
Weather data: Open-Meteo · CC BY 4.0
Coastline in four frames
From the cathedral in the heart of the old town to the sea caves beneath the cliffs of Capo Caccia — four points along the coast.
40.558° N · 8.312° E
02 / Centro storico
Bastioni di Alghero
Muralles de l'Alguer
Sixteenth-century sea walls. The decree of 1867 ended the town's life as a fortress: the landward ring came down, these bastions became the promenade.
40.572° N · 8.318° E
03 / Riviera del Corallo
Le spiagge di Alghero
Les platges de l'Alguer
White sand, limestone coves and pine-backed dunes: nine beaches along 45 km of the Coral Riviera, the nearest of them a walk from the old town.
40.567° N · 8.168° E
04 / ≈ 24 km
Capo Caccia
Cap de la Caça
Steep white cliffs with a lighthouse over the Mediterranean; at their foot the Grotte di Nettuno, karst caves reached by boat or the Escala del Cabirol staircase.
Photos Daniel Aragay, Mauriz-79, jimmyroq, Gianni Careddu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY / CC BY-SA
Riviera del Corallo — the coast took its name from the red coral, fished off these shores for centuries.Corallium rubrum · symbol of Alghero
Photos James St. John / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0