Sassari
Understand
Sassari is a city in the northwest corner of Sardinia and a capital of the homonymous province. It is the second-largest city in Sardinia in terms of population with over 130,000 inhabitants.
Tourist information
- 🌍 Infosassari (Ufficio Informazioni Turistiche), Via Sebastiano Satta, 13 (Palazzo di Città), ☏ + 39 079 2008072, infosassari@comune.sassari.it. Tu-F 09:00-13:30, 15:00-18:00; Sa 09:00-13:30.
Get in
By plane
Alghero Airport (AHO IATA), about 33 km (21 mi) away is the nearest to Sassari. Another relatively close airport is located in Olbia (105 km).
By boat
From ferry terminal in Porto Torres.
By train
There are plenty of regional trains, operated by Trenitalia, that connects with Olbia in the northwestern part of the Sardinia and with Cagliari in the south. Also a local narrow gauge line between Alghero (35 min) and Sorso runs via this station. This line is operated by ARST.
- 🌍 Sassari railway station (Stazione di Sassari), Piazza della Stazione.
By bus
- 🌍 Stazione dei pullman (regional bus hub). Simply a series of bus stop with a ticket booth.
Get around
By bus
- ATP Sassari. Provides urban bus services for the city. 90 min single €1.30 (onboard €1.80); 2 hr (incl. Metrosassari) €2.00; daily pass (incl. Metrosassari) €3.30.
By tram
- Metrosassari. 06:50-21:00. The city has a short tram line. It's not very useful though for tourists at it reaches the city centre after a quite a bit of diversion into a periphery. 90 min ticket €1.30.
By car
The city center has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) (map and hours). Motorcycles are allowed, but most other vehicles are prohibited from accessing it most of the time.
See
Old town
- 🌍 Cattedrale di San Nicola (The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari). The cathedral was built in the 13th century and enlarged in Catalan Gothic style from 1480; there's a monument to the Duca di Moriana inside. The façade, belonging to the Baroque Spanish colonial restorations of 1650–1723, has a rectangular portico surmounted by three niches housing statues of saints. The bell tower is in Romanesque style.
- 🌍 Fontana di Rosello (Font of Rosello). The 17th-century fountain built at the ancient source. The fountain is considered the symbol of the city. At the top of two crossing arches there is a statue of St. Gavino.
- 🌍 Palazzo Ducale. M-F 08:00-19:30; Sa 08:00-13:00. Now the City Hall.
- Le Stanze e le Cantine del Duca (Duke's rooms and cellars). Tu-Sa 10:00-13:00 15:00-18:00; Su 10:00-13:00 (guided tours every 30 minutes). A part of the Civic Museum. €3.
- 🌍 Palazzo di Città (Museo della Città), ☏ +39 079 2015122. Tu 10:00-13:00; W-F 10:00-13:00 15:00-18:00; Sa 10:00-13:00. Entering from Corso Vittorio Emanuele II visitors could see the interiors of the Palazzo di Città including the ball room, the historic Civic Theatre. Another entrance is from Via Sebastiano Satta through the tourist information office. This part presents some Sardinian costumes and two works of Eugenio Tavolara depicting the Carnival and the Holy Week in Sassari. €3.
- Teatro Civico.
Other sites
- 🌍 Museo Nazionale G.A. Sanna, Via Roma 64, ☏ +39 079 27 22 03, museosanna@beniculturali.it. Tu-Sa 09:00-20:00, 1st Su 09:00-20:00. Largest museum institution in the north-central Sardinia in size and importance of its scientific collections, and an important cultural reference for the North of the island. Closed for restoration work as of late February, 2020 with no reopening date. €3.
- 🌍 Pinacoteca Mus'a al Canopoleno (Museo Sassari Arte), Piazza S. Caterina, 4 (at the former Collegio Gesuitico del Canopoleno), ☏ +39 079 231560. M-Tu 09:00-13:30 15:00-17:00; W-F 09:00-13:30. €2.50.
- 🌍 Palazzo dell'Università.
- 🌍 Palazzo della Provincia, Piazza d'Italia. Built in 1872.
- 🌍 Casa Cugurra (Palazzo Cugurra). Built in 1890 in Neo-Baroque style with 1906 extension in Liberty style.
- 🌍 Villa Sant’Elia (villa Mimosa). A villa in Liberty style.
- 🌍 Padiglione per l'artigianato "Eugenio Tavolara" (Padiglione dell'Artigianato Isola) (at the Giardino pubblico). Tavolara pavilion for handicrafts and design is the headquarters and the exhibition space of I.S.O.L.A. (Sardinian craftsmanship institution). Built in 1956 by the project of Italian architect Ubaldo Badas.
Eat
- Fior di Pane di Pecorini Laura, Via Amendola, 42/B, ☏ +39 079 216331. A bakery. $.
- Pasticceria Artistica Nuova Pagoda di, Via Degli Astronauti, ☏ +39 079 3767091. Pasticceria, gelato, espresso.
- Gelateria Ligure, C. Vittorio Emanuele, 53, ☏ +39 079 233610. Gelateria.
Sleep
Mid-range
- Hotel Grazia Deledda, Viale Dante, 47, ☏ +39 079 271235, info@hotelgraziadeledda.it.
Go next
- 🌍 Monte d'Accoddi (13 km from Sassari). A Neolithic altar in a form of a truncated step-pyramid resembling Mesopotamian ziqqurats.
- Alghero -- bright lively town at the Western coast of the island renowned for its Catalan heritage
- Castelsardo -- a pleasant town at the coast of the Asinara Gulf built around an old castle
- Bosa -- a beautiful medieval small town
- Porto Torres for its ancient basilica and the Roman remains