Olbia - City Guide

Food and Drink

The area around the port has many bars and restaurants, giving credence to the town's name, which means 'happy town'. Why not have a drink in one of the bars on Piazza Regina Margherita where you can also spot some skaters and performers on the street

Olbia, Sardinia offers a large variety of restaurants, trattorias and cafes. Many can be found on Via Aldo Moro. Most places serve traditional Sardinian food, however there is also a good choice of fresh seafood, several pizzerias and even a Tex-Mex restaurant

Sardinian cuisine is strictly linked to the seasons and its secret lies in the quality of the ingredients and the simplicity of its dishes. Local pasta specialties include gnocchi - sardo in ragu sauce (potato dumplings in tomato sauce); culurgionis (a Sardinian ravioli filled with potato, cheese, mint and garlic) and homemade pastas served with sea urchins or grated fish eggs.

Among the most popular meat dishes are porceddu (roast suckling pig) and cordula, braided lamb's entrails roasted on a spit. With the sea so nearby, seafood features prominently on the menu. Try cozze e vongole, a mussels and clam duet that consists of mussels with saffron on white polenta or stockfish with thyme and homemade pasta. In the winter months, why not warm up with a bowl of zuppa gallurese, a soup made from dried durum wheat and sheep's cheese baked in the oven and served with broth.

Where to eat

Ristorante Gallura - one of the best restaurants in Italy with a combination of tradition and creativity serving both meat and fish dishes. This restaurant is extremely popular and it is recommended that you book in advance.

Trattoria Sperrittu - is a specialist fish restaurant in Olbia, famous for its traditional style of "meze"

Shopping

There are lots of places to go shopping within Olbia. Corso Umberto is lined with upmarket shops offering clothes, shoes and jewellery and Viale Aldo More also boasts several fashion boutiques as well as sport and shoe shops. These shops all close for lunch from 13:00 to 16:30, but are open until 20:00 in the evening.

Tuesdays and Saturdays are market days in Olbia. Visiting the open-air market is a great way to observe the local lifestyle. Stalls offering flowers, fruit, vegetables, cheese and sausages are in abundance as well as typically Sardinian handicrafts.

The big shopping centres are located on the edge of town and are open all day. There's Auchan, near the airport, and Iperstanda, north towards the Costa Smeralda. Here you can find food as well as fashion and sports products in addition to electrical appliances.

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