Sardinia Family Beach Vacation – Trip Report

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VISITING CHIA & PORTO CERVO TOWNS IN SARDINIA

In June 2023, my family spent 3 nights in Chia and then 3 nights in Porto Cervo.
Sardinia is an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Chia is a seaside town in the southwest. Porto Cervo is a seaside town in the northeast corner of Sardinia.

HOW WE GOT THERE

We were coming from Spain, so we took a Vueling flight from Barcelona (BCN) to Cagliari (CAG). The flights, with seat selection and paying to have cabin & carry on bags, were about $100 per person (one way).

We landed in Cagliari and picked up our rental car. The drive to our 1st hotel was a little less than 1 hour.

WHERE WE STAYED

Our 1st hotel was Conrad Chia Laguna Sardinia (a Hilton property). We did not use Hilton points, but instead booked via Runway Travel. This agency is part of the Virtuoso travel network, which meant we paid the rack rate, and received upgrade upon arrival (if available), free breakfast daily, $100 food/bev credit, early checkin/late checkout (if available). If you are staying at a luxury hotel and do not have status and did not book with points, I highly recommend seeing if you can book through an agent for extra perks.

This hotel was absolutely stunning. It is not on the beach, but they have a private beach with seating/umbrellas and beach service that they will take you to via golf cart. This hotel is part of a larger complex. If you are a guest at the Conrad you have access to everything. I was particularly smitten with the pool and the pool’s view.

I was able to use the spa facilities because my Amex Platinum gives me Gold status at the Hilton – which means free access to the spa. It was fun to hang out there for a morning doing the different outside hot tubs, jacuzzis. There’s even a rooftop jacuzzi. Then there’s a steam room and sauna in the spa as well.

There are several restaurants on site. We ate dinner at Sa Mesa one evening and used our dining credit. The food was pretty good. But it was an odd experience as it was only us and one other table occupied in the ENTIRE restaurant.

Piazza degli Ulivi is a piazza WITHIN the hotel compound. There are shops, a pharmacy, ice creamery and restaurants. And every night there is live entertainment. It is very family friendly and each night after dinner, we’d walk down there (5 minute walk) and watch the show for a bit (the shows are in Italian but we still enjoyed the atmosphere and somewhat figuring out what was going on).

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: This is a VERY fancy hotel. Our room was perfection. Bathroom and balcony was huge. Breakfast was absolutely incredible and we ate on the restaurant terrace each morning. While it felt like more of a honeymoon hotel, we did see several children at the Conrad (and many children at the other hotels on property). Across the street (part of the complex still) there is even a little convenience store. Once you come to this property, you could simply do beach & pool vacation and not leave.

Our 2nd hotel was Hotel Balocco Porto Cervo. After 3 days at the Conrad we continued to our next stop. It was about a 4 1/2 hour drive from Chia to Porto Cervo. If you are traveling mid day, I highly suggest you get all the food/drinks you need before the trip. We tried to stop several times for lunch and everything had closed for the afternoon. We ended up eating at a fancy gas station cafe that had heated sandwiches and a full bar – yes, in a gas station!

Hotel Balocco is up a winding drive, high above the town with incredible views. This hotel was gorgeous, but not quite as fancy. A bit more laid back. It had one of the cutest bar areas I’ve ever seen and we would stop there for a pre-dinner drink each night where they served olives, chips and crackers with your drinks.

We stayed in a Junior Suite Sea View. It was a great size, as was the balcony and the bathroom. There was even a large closet which was so nice to get our suitcases out of the way. Breakfast was included with our room, which was a delightful experience. The restaurant is next to the pool with fantastic views of the sea.

Many restaurants were walkable from this hotel which I loved. To get to the beach, you do need to drive. There was also a coin laundry service shop about a 10 minute walk from the hotel. The pool is very large with tons of seating and shade umbrellas, plus it’s full service. We loved this hotel and would definitely stay here again.

WHAT WE DID

We went to the beach. A lot. In Chia we took the hotel golf cart to the Conrad’s private beach.

In Porto Cervo we drove to different beaches.

Grande Pevero Beach where you could rent chairs with umbrellas and there was a restaurant at the beach. But you could also bring your own food/drinks. The water stays shallow for a while and lots of yachts are in the cove. The water is a mesmerizing blue. Great family beach.

Liscia Ruja was another beach we enjoyed. It is a VERY long strip of beach. There are super fancy beach clubs with restaurants and also tons of sections to jut rent chairs/umbrellas. There’s also a huge inflatable play structure in the water you can pay to use. It is SUCH an odd drive to get there.. you end up on these dirt roads that you question if it’s actually a road, but it is.

Spiaggia del Pirata Capriccioli has stunning water. But we didn’t love this beach. There are no chairs for rent and it was so incredibly crowded. We ended up leaving after 30 minutes.

OUR FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

Mirage in Chia – Our favorite restaurant of the entire 2 week trip. Every single thing we ate was incredible. It’s a cozy restaurant, less than a 10 minute drive from the Conrad. For dinner you will need a reservation. Service was fantastic also.

Ristorante Trattoria Da Angelo in Chia – A tucked away, very casual trattoria. The restaurant is covered but open air. Such a mom & pop type feel. We loved the food & service.

THOUGHTS

We personally enjoyed the Porto Cervo part of this trip the most as there was so many restaurants and beaches within a short drive. Conrad Chia is more secluded and was incredibly relaxing. We did a few short drives from there, but there just wasn’t much to drive to.

Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.