AITO School Holiday Offers

AITO (Association of Independent Tour Operators) have just introduced a dedicated School Holiday Offers page for their specialist tour operators to promote their best deals for families. Just Sardinia have added some great offers and free child places (saving upto £2600 in August at Forte Village!) and can recommend hotels, villas and apartments for a Family Sardinia holiday to suit all tastes and budgets.

San Giuliano Cookery Competition Alghero Sardinia

Just Sardinia were very proud to be invited to the San Giuliano Cookery Competition hosted by the Manca family at Agriturismo Le Pinette on the Monte Sixeri Estate in Alghero, Sardinia. Elaine and Abi from the Just Sardinia reservations team chose to go to demonstrate their cookery skills but did not realise what they had let themselves in for!! With 30-40 tour operators, journalists and chefs involved in the competition and over 200 dignitaries from Sardinia and Italy on the final night to watch the presentation, they were the only representatives from the UK! They discovered the region and tastes of Alghero in teams and did Just Sardinia proud by becoming named winners as described in the newspaper 'Nuova Sardinia' as follows:

"The best route was told from a tour English operator, Abigail Gouldsmith (Just Sardinia), and from her German team colleague I Drive Lahner (Sardinia Travel) which was a journey from Alghero to Fertilia and Santa Maria La Palma. The best journalistic article was that of Domenico Biscardi, correspondent of Radio Aligre of Paris, that underlined the human value and hospitality received. The best dish interpreted from the teacher of kitchen Lorenza Gigli, that created "Boats of artichokes in dock of bread", with filled artichokes of mushrooms and sauce of bread. The team winner was "Nuraghe Biancu", that incorporated the two individual winners (the tour operator and the journalist) and presented a dish from Valerius Vocaturo named the Primér, the Yielded and l' Loveable, with lamb with cipollotti and tomatoes buckets, sauce of potatoes to the saffron and artichokes cristy.

Click here to read Italian article and click here to watch the video of the prize giving. Well done Abi and Elaine!

The Sweet Taste of Sardinia: BA High Life Magazine

The slow-food movement has hit this Italian island with a vengeance. Lucy Cavendish travelled with Just Sardinia and is impressed...‘This is how we feel about our country,’ said our guide. ‘We love it, we protect it and we use everything’.

We spent one night in the Sardinian countryside near a town called Abbasanta, at the truly peaceful Mandra Edera Organic Farm . On arrival, we were greeted by the sight of three beautiful Anglo-Arab horses being ridden through fields by three equally striking Sardinian men. Having driven through the lush grounds, we reached the main farm, which is surrounded by a collection of guest bungalows and a pretty pool....

We had spent the end of our three-day trip driving slowly through the central Sardinian mountain range to a wonderful hotel, Su Gologone, near the town of Oliena. This was as close to the Costa Smeralda as we were going to get and yet it felt rustic, not glitzy.

Click here to read full article.

A taste of Sardinia by Gordon Ramsay

Sardinia's culinary identity is as diverse as the cultures and civilisations that have left their mark on the island.
"I've just returned from a week's holiday in Sardinia. The thing that really struck me was the diversity of ingredients and style of cooking in different parts of the island. Being ruled by many nations and civilisations has certainly left its mark.
I was told to travel to the interior of the island to discover the original Sardinia, to where the first inhabitants fled to become shepherds, leaving the coastline to invaders. As a consequence there is a dual identity to their cooking, the most obvious being traditional meat-based dishes served inland, leaving fish and seafood to the incomers...."

Click here to read article. See Taste Sardinia with Just Sardinia at http://www.justsardinia.co.uk/

Valentine Escapes: Sardinia

While the rest of the island sleeps through winter, the people of the port town of Alghero keep busy in the tiny bistros and bars tucked away on the cobbled lanes of the old walled town. Jutting out on a rocky promontory, the Hotel Villa las Tronas couldn't have a better setting for a windswept affair.

Call 01202 484 858, justsardinia.co.uk has three nights, February 13-15 2009 for £149pp.

Click here for article.

The Sardinian coastal route, where the roads are rough and the sands are smooth

Sardinia’s wild west coast offers some of the best surfing in Europe and one of the most scenic drives. For 200 miles the coast road twists and dives from the northern tip near Stintino to Spiaggia della Piscinas in the south.

Click here to read full article.

Sardinia, where Italy Meets Spain

Can’t decide whether to go to Spain or Italy this year? Go to Sardinia and you get the best of both and food to die for.

Just out of town, at Le Pinnette, a restaurant at the Monte Sixeri agriturismo, we were served some of the best suckling pig I have ever had, known locally as maialetto. The crackling was as crisp as slabs of toffee apple and the flesh tasted like milk – not surprisingly, since that was all the animal had ever eaten. When we asked about its provenance, we were invited to go and meet its mother and eight-week-old siblings in the farmyard behind the restaurant, not something that has ever happened to me in the UK. The Algherese are certainly serious about their food – there seem to be more decent restaurants here per head than almost anywhere else in Italy.

Click here to read full article.

The best beaches in Sardinia

The island has the best beaches in Italy, says Sardinia travel expert Adele Evans, author of The AA Spiral Guide to Sardinia and AA Twinpack Sardinia, who selects her favourite sandy bits...Sardinia has some of the world’s most idyllic beaches. Mile upon mile of pearly-white sands dip into waters of dazzling shades of aquamarine and emerald green. Elsewhere, rugged cliffs plunge into the sea and tiny coves and picturesque harbours beg to be explored. The waters really are swimming-pool-blue — and the sandy coves are often deserted.

Click here to read full article.

Just Sardinia Offer of the Week

Just Sardinia have a great new offer of the week at Forte Village with Free Child Places!

Rattle and roll into old Sardinia on Trenino Verde

It used to carry farmers to market and drove DH Lawrence to despair. These days, the island's ancient Trenino Verde takes tourists to a remote world little changed in over 100 years...

The Trenino Verde, the "little green train" that runs for 100 miles from the east coast to his overnight stop at Mandas, is a roller-coaster ride through a convoluted jumble of mountains and meadows that must rank as one of the world's great small railways. The name was coined by the World Wildlife Foundation because it travels through some of the greenest, most sparsely populated parts of the island. Beyond it lies a little known treasure - a nature reserve where the last wild horses of Europe roam free with boars and wildcats on a high basaltic plateau.

Click here to read full article.

Discover Southern Sardinia

With a choice of direct flights from Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Manchester, and NEW for 2009 Bristol and Edinburgh, there is no better time to discover the unspoilt south coast with many deserted beaches and Caribbean-like azure blue sea only a couple of hours away. Just Sardinia has accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets from luxury hotels to best value apartments.


LUXURY - Forte Village
This first class resort and spa is a world of its own, where you can be as active or relaxed as you wish to be ... Prices from £991 per person per week half board.


DELUXE - Hotel Costa dei Fiori

With one of the most stunning infinity pools in Sardinia, the Hotel Costa dei Fiori is a great place for a honeymoon or romantic holiday. Prices from £410 per person per week half board.

BEST VALUE - Rey Beach Residence
Sophisticated Sardinia at affordable prices ... These modern self catering apartments are great value for a family holiday on an 8km stretch of fabulous white sandy beach. Prices from £126 per person per week.


SHORT BREAKS - T Hotel Cagliari
Take advantage of current flight discounts and grab a few days in Cagliari, the vibrant capital of Sardinia staying in ultra modern comfort at the T Hotel. Prices from £219per person for 3 nights bed and breakfast.

ITV This Morning Programme 'Family Getaways' in Sardinia

Just Sardinia were delighted to film with ITV in Sardinia for Family Getaways, a regular feature on This Morning programme. The film was a great success and to view it click here. Sardinia is best known for the Costa Smerelda (Emerald Coast) but Alghero situated on the west coast (Coral Riviera) of the island is equally as beautiful and a great place for a family getaway.

Sardinia has been named in list of 25 must-see places

Holiday Extras has compiled a list of 25 must-see places, including Sardinia, as recommended by top journalists and experienced travellers.

Just Sardinia Meets the Agents

Just Sardinia’s Reservations Manager, Elaine, has just spent a very successful weekend with the AITO Specialist Travel Agents in Warwick. “It was great to meet so many top agents in one place” commented Elaine, and the agents expect Sardinia to be a top seller even in the current climate.

Just Sardinia wins Silver at the British Travel Awards

We are delighted to be a Silver Placed Finalist at this year’s British Travel Awards in our nominated category of Best Health & Beauty Holiday Operator. To celebrate we have some great Spa Hotel Special Offers for 2009.