Caprera Island & Punta Rossa by bike

Mountain biking (MTB) on Caprera island. A day with sweaty lunch next to crystal clear water, a real ship wreck and Fascist regime writing on the wall. All wrapped in the rays of the hot Sardinian sun. 

Caprera – an island outside an island outside another island. Caprera is located on the North-East of Sardinia. The island is a part of the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago di La Maddalena. The National Park of the La Maddalena Archipelago).

Caprera has some of the post card and holiday brochure beaches Sardinia is so known for. Although some of them are at a bit of a walking distance form the road. Maybe that’s a good thing. Many are very busy in the hight of the summer even if you have to hike to get there.

A Military Past…Everywhere

On the North half of the island you’ll find the home of Guiseppe Garibaldi (now a museum) where you can have a tour around his house and grounds. Further up on the hilltop is the fort Arbuticci (also a Garibaldi memorial).  And the old coastal fort of Candeo. In this area there’s hiking terrain and paths to follow which also take you to some of the smaller postcard beaches, Cala Serena among others. 

But today the trip goes to the South of the island. After crossing the causeway and up a little hill we go to the right (south), and then to the left on the road Stagnali – Poggi Rasu. Continuing along this road, among beautiful pine trees and other mediterranean trees, between ragged and rough granite rock sticking up here and there.  When the road starts to wind down again the vegetation gets shorter (maybe more wind on this side of the island) and you have a grand view of the sea out to the East. 

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Poggio Rasu & Punta Rossa – ‘Blasts From The Past’

This is also where the fort of Poggio Rasu is (Il forte di Poggi Rasu). It was built at the end of the 1800, to protect the battery of Punta Rossa and to help control the eastern access to the archipelago. Today it’s slowly reclaimed by nature, but enough remains to give a good impression of the defence structure and the sheer size.

We cycle down the hill (rolling downhill creates a welcoming breeze!) and continue south, passing along the sea again. Taking a little detour to explore Spiaggia del Relitto, a beach with a real ship wreck. A gorgeous beach, white sand and crystal clear water, but everybody else was there too. Very busy and crowded, not a good place to go with a bike. Although there is a beach bar you can stop at for refreshments.

A beach proprietor ‘selling’ a wood-paved path for his customers briskly brushed me and my bike away. The path is for walking down to the sea and sun beds without getting sand on your feet (which is a bit of a contradiction as the beach is made of sand, although it prevents you from burning your feet on hot sand I suppose).

The Fascist Regime Was Here….

Just down from here is Punta Rossa, the southernmost point of Caprera. Here there are two old forts, batterie di Punta Rossa and Fortezza Bastiani. Bastiani is the most interesting of the two. In one of the rooms you can still see the slogan of the Fascist regime on the wall. ‘Credere, Obbedire, Combattere’ (‘Believe, Obey, Fight’). Seeing those words brings a seriousness over the place, one that’s easy to forget in a nature like the one surrounding this place.

The gun station at the back of the fort provides a glorious view of the seas around this narrow point of land.

Leaving Punta Rossa to go back north again, we take off from the main road  about 1 km from Punta Rossa. We go down a bumpy dirt road, leading through some shrubs and bushes which suddenly opens up to another postcard beach. Cala Caprese.

Sweaty Lunch at Cala Caprese.

There were some people there, swimming and tanning, enjoying the sun. I was trying to find some shadow, it was rather hot in black cycling gear (note to self: wear white when cycling on warm, sunny days).

I managed to find a spot with a little shadow from the surrounding trees and a perfect little rock to sit on. It came complete with a dream view, turquoise, crystal water and white sand.

The lunch was a little battered after spending 3 hours in the backpack at the back of a hot biker under the even hotter sun. But with a view like this you forgot all about lukewarm drinking water and sweaty sandwiches. It was indeed a magical moment sitting there in quiet contemplation chewing on a sticky lunch. A sweaty prosciutto and mozzarella Spianata ‘sandwhich’ (Spianata = soft Sardinian flatbread), but it tasted really good anyway.

In this heat, bringing biscuits with a chocolate filling was not a good idea. After some hours in the backpack the biscuits could have be eaten with a spoon out of the packet (if we had had a spoon). Nevertheless, sticky chocolate fingers could be rinsed in the sea after so it did not stop us devouring them all.

Stagnali

Going back up the road again to the next stop at Stagnali – Museo del Mare e delle Tradizioni Marinaresche. I believe it is a maritime museum of sorts. Unforunately it was closed when I was there so I can not say anything about the museum. But the buildings and the site itself have been an old military garrison so it was worth a look from the outside too. 

Here you can also reach a little harbour which was originally built for the military garrison, but today it is used by local fishermen and boat tourists. There’s also a little beach here, but not of the ‘postcard type’.

Coca Cola Has Never Tasted So Good!

Continuing up the main road again we stopped for a cold Coke at the bar by the road, Caffè Del Borgo. After hours of cycling in this heat and on partially on dusty roads, a cold coke tastes like heaven. Perfect sitting in the shadow watching people going past on the road. Many cyclist on the same mission, exploring Caprera Island on bike. I noticed most of them were on electrical bikes, all of the same make, so I assume there’s a rental somewhere close by for these bikes. Quite perfect on a warm day like today. Unlike us, who push hard on mountain bikes, while we’re huffing and puffing in black bike clothing.

It’s afternoon by the time we get back to the causeway crossing over to La Maddalena. It’s been a great day cycling to the south end of Caprera. 

Should Have Brought The Swimsuit……

The only thing I would have done differently was to bring towels and swimwear. Stopping for a soak in the turquoise, crystal waters seems very, very inviting, particularly when you’re pedalling and sweating along in tight, black clothing.

At the end of the ride my Garmin tracker shows a distance of 27km. That includes all those little side roads we took too, plus the distance from the causeway to the B&B on the La Maddalena side. The beauty of cycling on Caprera is that you can make it as far or as hard as you want.

You can stay on the main road or go off-road, although off-road is challenging due to the rugged landscape. Any way, there’s adventures everywhere.

P.S. Remember suncream – you can risk coming back with a glorious ‘golf tan’. Marks from your t-shirt, plus white feet where your socks and shoes blocked the sun.

Lots of love,

Bee

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Facts & particulars:

Caprera is an island outside of La Maddalalena, north-east on Sardinia. A bridge (causeway) connects Caprera’a north-west coast to the main La Maddalena island. It is a rocky island with few roads, so it’s a good place to explore by foot or bike. There are many marked hiking paths here and you can get a map from the Parco Nazionale.

I can be very busy with cars in the summer. The roads are also narrow and winding at parts so you can fast have traffic issues. Biking is a very good alternative.

There are several kiosks that serve fast food here in the summer. In addition to the usual ice cream and coffee. Some of them also have larger seating areas under the large pine trees that you find on the northern part of the island.

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The island is associated with Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general, patriot and strong contributor to a unified Italy. He bought about half of the island in 1855 and died there in 1882. He planted the first trees of the pinewood which covers parts of the island today. His house and grounds are now a museum. A century after Garibaldi’s death, Caprera island was freed from military restrictions and is completely open to the public.

Link to another post from another of the Sardinian islands: https://the-compass-adventures.com/day-trippin-san-pietro-island-by-car/