North: Iglesiente

The scenic route that connects Portoscuso and Gonnesa, leads to Porto Paglia beach with the beautifully restored tonnara and to the long sandbars of Plage Mesu, Punta Is Arenas and Funtanamare. A little further, you can find the mining villages of Nebida and Masua with its wonderful beaches, the mine of Porto Flavia and the imposing Pan di Zucchero. The road moves away from the coast to enter a boundless valley covered in Mediterranean shrubs. A sequence of smooth bends lead to Bugerru, a village overlooked by Galleria Henry, and to the gorgeous dunes of Cala Domestica. From Portixeddu, a favorite destination for surfers with Bugerru and Masua, another spectacular and wild stretch of coast starts: the Costa Verde, with the beaches of Scivu, Piscinas and the abandoned village of Ingurtosu.

Also the inland tells the peculiar past of this area. Taking a dirt road from Gonnesa, you can reach pozzo di Santa Barbara and Asproni village, abandoned since the first half of the 20th century. In Iglesias you can find not only the historical centre with many churches, but also the mines of Monteponi and San Giovanni, and the Santa Barbara caves. Moving northwards and driving along the state highway 126 to Fluminimaggiore, you’ll come across little villages that lie deep in the green hills, the archeological site of Antas and Su Mannau caves. Behind Domusnovas and San Giovanni caves, the naturalistic area of mount Marganai extends, with its centenary forests.