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Cagliari Culture & history

Our most recommended Cagliari Culture & history

Cagliari: Underground Cagliari Walking Tour

1. Cagliari: Underground Cagliari Walking Tour

Discover the secrets that lie beneath the sunny streets of Cagliari on a guided tour of the city’s underground. Enhance your experience with an optional walk through the Old Town, and choose from private and shared group options. Meet your guide to begin your tour of the caves, crypts, and tunnels under the city.  Wander between the districts of Stampace and Marina and visit a private tunnel shelter beneath a school that was used as a bomb shelter during World War II. Explore the magnificent and rich history of the crypt of Saint Restituta. Select the option including a guided walking tour of the Old Town to extend your experience. Stroll through the city’s streets and admire the highlights of the historic center with your guide.

Cagliari: Su Nuraxi Barumini & Giara Wild Half-Day Tour

2. Cagliari: Su Nuraxi Barumini & Giara Wild Half-Day Tour

Discover the nuraghe of Sardinia on a 4-hour tour of the Su Nuraxi di Barumini, the best example of a unique defence system that represented an exceptional response to political and social conditions, and an innovative use of the materials and techniques available to a prehistoric island. Recognized by UNESCO for its historical significance, the site provides a great introduction to the origins of Sardinian culture. During the tour, you will explore the vast megalithic bulk deep inside many tholos of incomparable beauty. Explore the massive central tower, built from large dressed stones without the use of mortar. Consisting of 3 chambers, one upon the other, they are connected by a spiral staircase. Learn about the construction of this remarkable site, including the massive stone curtain wall that linked 4 subsidiary towers. Time permitting, it will also be possible to enjoy a typical Sardinian lunch in one of the nearby restaurants. Alternatively, bring a picnic to enjoy in the Giara of Gesturi, where the small wild horses of Sardinia run free.

Pinuccio Sciola Museum: Giardino Sonoro Guided Tour

3. Pinuccio Sciola Museum: Giardino Sonoro Guided Tour

The Giardino Sonoro (Sound Garden) is the open-air museum of the Sardinian Artist Pinuccio Sciola in San Sperate, a few kilometers from Cagliari. The Giardino Sonoro is a magical and unexpected place, full of energy, able to involve all senses, where are kept countless sculptures, surrounded by orange trees and Mediterranean aromatic plants, that are able to create an identity in full harmony with nature. During the first 30 minutes, enter the Giardino Sonoro, watch a documentary on Pinuccio Sciola and the sounds that he managed to summon from stones, and enjoy the audioguide. Learn about the artistic revolution of Pinuccio Sciola that transformed San Sperate into a Paese Museum (Museum Town) thanks to the paintings on the home walls (Murales). For the second part of the tour, meet an expert guide for a tour that involves all the senses. Touch the sculptures, feel their vibrations, and listen to the different sounds produced by basalt and limestone.

From Cagliari: Barumini Su Nuraxi Guided Tour

4. From Cagliari: Barumini Su Nuraxi Guided Tour

Start your tour with pick up from your hotel in Cagliari and visit to the Nuragic complex of Barumini, an archaeological park that includes Nuragic architecture and parts of a nuraghe village. Visit the museum complex of Casa Zapata, an important institution, that includes an archaeological and ethnographic collection.   Continue on to discover the remains of another Nuragic complex found under this Aragonese residence. Learn about how the first civilizations on Sardinia lived and discover the main technologies known to protohistoric populations.   Explore the nuraghe Su Nuraxi, one of the most important monumental works of architecture on the island and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

From Cagliari: Nora Ruins and Pula Guided Tour

5. From Cagliari: Nora Ruins and Pula Guided Tour

The tour will start by your location, meeting your personal driving guide; After few minutes we'll cross the bridge on the highway SS 195 "Sulcitana" starting to see the beautiful pink flamingos in the middle of the pondo of Santa Gilla! In 30 minutes arrive in Pula and then parking in front of the beautiful beach of Nora, once upon a time, necropolis of the phoeinician city. In few minutes the tour will start, crossing the gates of the amazing archaeologycal site of Nora, surrounded by ruins of temples, baths, theater and mosaics. At the end of the tour, small stop in Pula to discover the nice square and make some shopping Return to Cagliari

Top Sights of Cagliari Experience

6. Top Sights of Cagliari Experience

Visit the historic districts of Cagliari, which are rich in culture and history. Start your walking tour of about one to two hours from the lower to the higher points or from the top of the hills down to the small streets of the city center, depending on your request. Visit all the monuments, churches, and most important places, such as the Crypt of Santa Restituta and Sant'Efisio, the Dome of Cagliari and other small churches, and the Pisan Walls and Towers. At the end of the tour, visit Santa Chiara's Food Market, where you can taste delicious Sardinian wines and cheese. If requested, you can be driven to Poetto Beach and the picturesque San Benedetto's Market – in this case, the city center tour will be shorter. This walking tour can also be arranged as an itinerary by car, as a stop-and-go tour if you prefer to avoid walking. In this case, it won't be possible to visit the monuments inside but stop in front of them to take photos. If you choose the underground option, enjoy an unforgettable and unexpected experience, a journey through the history of Cagliari between the cavities of the underground city. In an atmosphere full of charm, we will visit the underground areas that tell Cagliari's history, mysteries, and legends. The Underground Cagliari is an unusual and exclusive experience: hidden under the layers of the modern town; there's a whole world made of caves, crypts, and galleries. They have been given back to the city after many years of restoration work and have been exciting destinations for locals and tourists ever since.

Sardinia: Nora Archaeological Ruins Tour with Transfer

7. Sardinia: Nora Archaeological Ruins Tour with Transfer

Nora is among the best preserved Roman cities in Sardinia. It rises above the remains of an ancient Phoenician-Punic settlement in a context of immense natural charm, reflecting itself in the waters of the small peninsula of Capo di Pula. The Roman mosaics still visible, in some of the most significant buildings are worthy the all visit, but what makes the tour memorable are also the well-preserved Roman theater, the remains of the Roman forum and the numerous Roman thermal baths. A few meters from the archaeological area is the church of Sant’Efisio, patron martyr of the city of Cagliari, to whom one of the most important festivals in Sardinia is dedicated. We will also visit this sacred place and tell the details of the wonderful celebration. We will also dedicate some time to describe the natural characteristics of the Nora lagoon, which has always been of considerable naturalistic importance with the center for the recovery of sea turtles and the pink flamingos.

From Cagliari: Day Trip to Domus de Janas Fairy Houses

8. From Cagliari: Day Trip to Domus de Janas Fairy Houses

Take a guided day trip from Cagliari to the Necropolis of De S'acqua Salida to see Domus de Janas or Fairy Houses, prehistoric tombs carved into the rock. Uncover an ancient funerary cult dating back to pre-Nuragic times. Meet your guide and head to the small town and agricultural center of Pimentel, nestled between orchards and vineyards. Here lies the Domus de Janas of Corongiu and the necropolis called De S'acqua Salida dating back to 3200 BC. Marvel at the Domus of Corongiu and its spiral-shaped engravings that represent the goddess of the eyes who protected the dead. But there are many other interpretations to the engravings which your guide will share with you. Admire the craftsmanship of the prehistoric people who were able to dig and shape rocks with limited tools to create underground tombs in which they buried their dead.

Cagliari: Museum of Nuragic Civilization Entry Ticket

9. Cagliari: Museum of Nuragic Civilization Entry Ticket

Live a unique experience travelling through time and immersing yourself in Nuragic culture! This is the first interactive format dedicated to the Nuragic civilization and the museum is located in the city center of Cagliari, in southern Sardinia, so it is very easy to reach.  Thanks to this tour and virtual reality, you will discover the history of the ancient Sardinian people from another point of view. The Nuragic civilization dates back 3500 years and is known worldwide for its dry stone constructions: the Nuraghi. There are more than 10,000 stone towers on the island, and thanks to this virtual tour through the spectacular reconstructions and overwhelming tales, you will enjoy a multi-sensory and unforgettable experience that has delighted visitors from all over the world. Nuragica is an exhibition-event that unfolds along an experiential path lasting approximately one hour. The experience includes a visit with a guide who takes visitors through a thousand years of the history of the civilization of the ancient Sardinians amidst reconstructions of the living environments of that era. The tour ends with an immersive virtual reality experience, the largest on the island, where visitors can don Oculus Guest visors and take a virtual journey back in time.

Cagliari: Guided Shore Excursion to Santa Cristina Village

10. Cagliari: Guided Shore Excursion to Santa Cristina Village

This combination tour will take you into the heart of Sardinia, a little town called Paulilatino. During this experience, learn about Sardinian history, the Nuragic civilization, and their monuments. Discover the Nuragic village by walking through Nuraghe, the temple, and the cemetery. The well temple of Santa Cristina (12th-century BC) is one of the finest examples of the elaborate religious architecture of the Nuragic era. The nuraghe structure consists of an entranceway (dromos) with steps leading to an underground, circular domed chamber (tholos), all surrounded by an enclosing wall (temenos). The walls of the stairway and underground chamber are made from finely cut ashlar blocks of alkali basalt rock. Santa Cristina can, without a doubt, be considered the most representative structure of the Sardinian well temples. In the area surrounding the temple, you'll find the remains of a village, at the front of which stands a 'meeting hut' with a circular stone seat. Visit an old village and church from the Middle Ages. Your local guide will be keen to make the tour as personal as possible. He will assist you with his expertise and recall interesting anecdotes for you before bringing you back to your cruise ship.

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What people are saying about Cagliari

Overall rating

4.8 / 5

based on 44 reviews

Claudia is 100% the best tour guide I have had the pleasure of meeting. She is extraordinarily knowledgeable, caring, patient, passionate and a wonderful person. Highly recommend this tour.

The magic of stone, flexible and sonorous, in a Sardinian citrus grove: Art to be felt in all senses, with excellent organization and very prepared guides. Not to be missed!

A fantastic tour. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable snd easily switched between Italian and English.

The Underground City was fascinating and brought history alive. The guide was informative and helpful.

Francesca was very knowledgable guide and really accommodating to every guest. Would recommend.