Sardinia · Sassari
Santa Teresa Gallura
The northernmost town in Sardinia, founded in 1808 on a Turin-style grid above the Strait of Bonifacio and 11 kilometers from Corsica.
121 km / 75 mi
Nearest hub (Sassari)
5,025
Population
May–Oct
Best time to visit
Recognised as
Why come
Santa Teresa Gallura sits on the northern tip of Sardinia, facing the Strait of Bonifacio. Corsica is 11 kilometers away across the water, the closest point between the two islands. The town was founded on August 12, 1808 by King Vittorio Emanuele I of Savoy and named for his wife Maria Teresa of Austria-Este, built over the older settlement of Longonsardo and laid out on a regular grid borrowed from Turin. Before the Savoy refoundation, Philip II of Spain had already raised the Torre di Longonsardo on the headland in the 1570s, one of the coastal towers built to watch for North African raiders. Capo Testa, the granite peninsula west of town, is a Hercynian outcrop weathered into round boulders and arches, with a lighthouse at its tip and the Cala di l'Ea wind-carved cove on its eastern shore. Rena Bianca, the town beach, has held the Bandiera Blu since 1987.
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Gallery
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Known for
Torre di Longonsardo
Late 16th-century Spanish coastal watchtower built under Philip II, the headland landmark above the town and a free viewpoint.
Spiaggia Rena Bianca
Town beach of white sand and shallow turquoise water, Bandiera Blu holder since 1987, a short walk from the central piazza.
Capo Testa
Granite peninsula west of town shaped by erosion into round boulders, arches and natural pools, with a working lighthouse at the western tip.
Valle della Luna
Sheltered granite cove on Capo Testa with rock formations and shallow pools, accessible by footpath from the parking area.
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele I
Main square at the heart of the Savoy grid plan, named for the founder king and ringed by 19th-century low buildings.
When to visit
Best months · May–Oct
- J
- F
- M
- A
- M
- J
- J
- A
- S
- O
- N
- D
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
May through October is the open season. May and June bring warm but not yet stifling water, with the maquis still flowering. July and August are the loud months when the campgrounds fill, ferry traffic peaks, and Rena Bianca packs out by ten in the morning. September keeps the water temperature up but loses the crowds. October is the last reliably swimmable month and the best for walking Capo Testa. November through April is quiet, with strong mistral winds, frequent ferry cancellations to Bonifacio, and many seasonal restaurants closed.
How to get there
From Sassari, Santa Teresa Gallura is roughly 121 km by road. Allow about 104–145 minutes depending on traffic and route choice (autostrada vs scenic).
Drive time to the nearest gateway airports
- Sardinia4h 30m
- Genoa14h 7m
- Turin15h 23m
Elevation 44 m
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Close by
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🟦 Bandiera Blu
Other Bandiera Blu towns in Sardinia
Badesi
Province: Sassari
A Gallura commune founded by shepherding families in the 1700s, with eight kilometers of dunes between Isola Rossa and the Coghinas river.
Castelsardo
Province: Sassari
A Doria sea fortress at 114 meters above the Gulf of Asinara, Genoese from 1100, Aragonese from 1448, Savoyard from the 1700s.
La Maddalena
Province: Sassari
The only inhabited town of a sixty-island granite archipelago between Sardinia and Corsica, and the place Giuseppe Garibaldi chose to die.
Oristano
Province: Oristano
The old capital of the Giudicato di Arborea, city of Eleonora and the Carta de Logu, host of Sa Sartiglia equestrian joust at Carnival.
Palau
Province: Sassari
The Gallura port that ferries to La Maddalena, with a weather-shaped granite bear on the headland that gave the town its emblem.