What is Palau known for?

Main embarkation point for the seven-island Maddalena archipelago, with year-round ferry service across the strait. The 122-meter granite bear on the headland east of town, weathered into shape over millennia and the town's emblem. Isola dei Gabbiani and the Porto Pollo bays host international windsurfing and kitesurfing events thanks to consistent mistral exposure.

When is the best time to visit Palau?

May–Oct. May through October is the working season: ferries every half hour, beaches at the right temperature, the mistral cooling the afternoons. July and August are the busy months when the campgrounds fill and the ferry queues stretch back to the roundabout. June and September are easier, same water, fewer people. Spring brings yellow broom on the granite. November to April is quiet, with reduced ferry timetables and many restaurants closed. Winter storms hit the Capo d'Orso headland hard, and the strait crossing gets cancelled when the mistral exceeds force seven.

Palau is a comune in the province of Sassari, Sardinia region of Italy, about 119 kilometers from Sassari.

How do I get to Palau?

From Sassari, Palau is roughly 119 km by road.

Sardinia · Sassari

Palau

The Gallura port that ferries to La Maddalena, with a weather-shaped granite bear on the headland that gave the town its emblem.

Known for

LA MADDALENA GATEWAY
Main embarkation point for the seven-island Maddalena archipelago, with year-round ferry service across the strait.
ROCCIA DELL'ORSO
The 122-meter granite bear on the headland east of town, weathered into shape over millennia and the town's emblem.
PORTO POLLO WINDS
Isola dei Gabbiani and the Porto Pollo bays host international windsurfing and kitesurfing events thanks to consistent mistral exposure.

When to visit

Best · May–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

Why come

Palau is the northern Gallura port where the ferries to the La Maddalena archipelago leave every half hour in summer. The town is young by Italian standards. The first houses went up in the first half of the 19th century when shepherds from Tempio Pausania came down to the coast for summer pasture.

The dialect is Gallurese. The headland east of town carries the Roccia dell'Orso, a 122-meter granite outcrop weathered into the shape of a bear, recorded by Greek and Roman navigators as a navigational landmark and now the symbol on the municipal coat of arms. Above the town stands the Fortezza di Monte Altura, built in two years between 1887 and 1889 as part of the defensive belt protecting the La Maddalena naval base. The Isola dei Gabbiani peninsula west of town is one of the Mediterranean's main windsurfing and kitesurfing sites.

The Sunday letter

We haven’t written Palau’s letter yet.

One town every Sunday, with the photo, the food, the festa. Be there when this one comes up. Free, by Peter & Sophia from Pietrasanta.

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What to see

Roccia dell'Orso
Wind-shaped granite outcrop 122 meters above the sea, used as a navigational marker since antiquity and the town's heraldic symbol.
Fortezza di Monte Altura
Late 19th-century military fortress built 1887-1889 as part of the La Maddalena defensive system, now open for guided visits.
Isola dei Gabbiani
Tied-island peninsula west of town with shallow, wind-exposed waters, a major Mediterranean venue for windsurfing and kitesurfing competitions.
Porto Palau
Main ferry terminal with crossings to La Maddalena every 30 minutes in summer, the standard gateway to the archipelago.
Porto Pollo
Twin-bay beach next to Isola dei Gabbiani, shallow and protected on one side, exposed to the mistral on the other.

The slow-trip planner

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Living here

Population 4,048
Off the beaten pathi
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Sardinia, 4 h 30 min drive
Regional capital Cagliari, 4 h 18 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

Bandiera Blu

The numbers

Elevation: 5 m
Population: 4,048
Surface area: 44.44 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Sassari

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

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