4 × 4, BY BICYCLE, BY TRAIN OR WITH TREKKING ROUTES,
CHOOSE HOW TO VISIT THE ASINARA PARK
If you decide to visit this part of Sardinia, you cannot give up a visit to the Asinara Island. Located in front of Stintino and Isola Piana, from which it is separated by a small canal, called Passage of the Fornelli, with its 51.23 km² of surface, the Asinara has miraculously preserved a practically intact natural environment, with flora and unique fauna. Called by the Romans Insula Sinuaria for its protrusions and recesses, for a long period the island was used as a shelter for the sick in quarantine, it was also an island of Ethiopian deportees following the Abyssinian War and a maximum security prison, remaining inaccessible until 1999. However, this allowed the conservation of the environment and limited the exploitation of the territory and its population.
In fact, today Asinara is a National Park, a protected natural area that is home to endangered animals, such as the famous white donkey, the mouflon and a rich birdlife. A maximum of 300 people can visit the island every day and in some areas bathing and diving are also prohibited.
You can choose to visit the park in different ways: in 4 × 4 with a guided tour and stops at panoramic points; for the whole family, the ideal is to visit Asinara aboard the tourist train, from which it will be possible to admire the beauties of the Park, from Fornelli to Cala d’Oliva, comfortably seated.
If you are an athlete and you love contact with nature, trekking or mountain biking are the best way. Much of the island can be traveled by bicycle on well-marked trails and with the help of maps, so you can visit the Castellaccio, and the various coves, from Cala Reale to Cala D’Oliva, up to Cala Sabina and Cala Giordano.
The Asinara Park is easily accessible every day from the New Port of Stintino or from Porto Torres, where you can buy ferry tickets to the island.
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Photo by: Ramon Boersbroek https://www.flickr.com/photos/ramonboersbroek/