5 Best Sights in Sardinia, Italy

The most extensive of the island's 7,000 discovered nuraghi, Su Nuraxi is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Concentric rings of thick stone walls conceal dark chambers and narrow passages in a central beehive-shape tower. In the ruins of the surrounding village there are benches, ovens, wells, and other Bronze Age remnants. Tours start every 30 minutes and last about 50 minutes. The same ticket includes entry to a museum and exhibition center in Barumini. If you're driving from SS131, don't be misled to other, lesser nuraghi—follow the signs all the way to Barumini.

This substantial amphitheater arena dating from the 2nd century AD attests to the importance of this area to the Romans. You can view it from a raised walkway but not (at least for the time being) enter the seating area or the underground passages. The site isn't suitable for people with mobility impairments. If you don't want to enter it, good views can be had from Viale Sant'Ignazio.

Just outside Carbonia and strategically positioned atop a plateau that provides views inland and far out to sea, the remains of one of Sardinia's most important Carthaginian military strongholds were discovered by chance in 1962. The walls of Mt. Sirai were erected around 375 BC, and they continued to function as impregnable fortress barriers until the Roman conquest in 238 BC. For the full picture, try to combine your visit with a look at Carbonia's archaeological museum on Via Campania.

The spectacular site of the Carthaginian and Roman city of Tharros was, like Nora to the south, chosen because it commanded the best views of the gulf and could provide an easy escape route if inland tribes threatened. The Phoenician-Punic city planning here includes sophisticated water channeling and masonry foundations. Two reconstructed Corinthian columns stand as testament to the site's Roman history, and there are baths visible and mosaic fragments from the Roman city.

The chief point of interest in Sant'Antioco island's eponymous main town is the Archaeological Zone at the top of the old section, which has terrific views of the Sardinian mainland. Here you can see a tophet—a Punic sanctuary, necropolis, and burial site—which is scattered with urns that contained the cremated remains of stillborn children. Below the site is Sant'Antioco's excellent archaeological museum that showcases artifacts from the tophet as well as from the Neolithic, Byzantine, and Roman eras. You can also visit a nearby ethnographic collection and a Piedmontese fort. Various combined tickets are available.