Italy · Sardinia · Premium route guide
SS-125 Sardinia Coastal Loop
752 kilometres. A full week on the bike. Up the SS-125 east coast — Muravera, Tortolì, the Baunei twisties, Genna Silana at 1,022 m, down into Dorgali and Orosei — then around Gallura's granite country to Palau and Santa Teresa, and back south along the wild west via Sassari, Alghero, Bosa and Oristano. One of the great island loops in the Mediterranean.
- Distance
- 751.7 km
- Peak elevation
- 1,022 m
- Elevation gain
- 6,076 m
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
The route
This is Sardinia as a full island, done properly. The SS-125 is the headline — Italy's most-loved coastal road, hugging the east coast from Cagliari all the way up to Olbia — but on its own it's an out-and-back. The loop adds the wild west coast (SP-105 from Alghero to Bosa is arguably as good as the SS-125 itself), the Gallura granite tors up north, and the interior between Sassari and Oristano to close it. Seven days if you want to enjoy it, five if you're moving.
Pins are motorcycle-friendly stays other riders have vetted along the loop — Cagliari is the natural start/finish (ferry from Civitavecchia or fly in), and Tortolì, Dorgali, Olbia, Alghero and Oristano make the obvious overnight anchors.
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Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route — how to load this into your GPS
What you're downloading is a GPX track — a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It's not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zūmo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner → new trip from track) if you want turn-by-turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive — it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it doesn't re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour — Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these don't read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX-capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line — pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~0 m at the base to 1022 m at the top — 6,076 m of total climbing across the route.
Day 1 gets you clear of Cagliari on the coast road via Villasimius and Muravera. Day 2 is the postcard section — Tortolì up through the Baunei twisties, over Genna Silana, down into Dorgali. Day 3 works Orosei and the gulf overlooks up to Olbia. Day 4 rounds Gallura's north tip (Palau, Santa Teresa) and drops down via Castelsardo. Day 5 is Sassari to Alghero and the SP-105 to Bosa — do not skip this one. Day 6 crosses the Sinis peninsula to Oristano. Day 7 closes the loop back to Cagliari through the Campidano.
It's 752 km on paper, but the SS-125 north of Tortolì is slow — proper twisties, not sweepers — and you will want to stop constantly. Plan on 6–7 riding days minimum. The GPX above is the full loop; break it at any of the named towns.
The road, honestly
The SS-125 south of Tortolì is a fast, well-surfaced coastal road with occasional sweepers — pleasant but not remarkable. From Tortolì to Dorgali it becomes what everyone comes for: a two-lane strip of tarmac carved into limestone cliffs, hairpin after hairpin, climbing to the Genna Silana pass at 1,022 m and dropping into the Supramonte plateau above Dorgali. The surface is good, the sight-lines are clear, and mid-week outside August the traffic is almost non-existent.
The west coast surprise is the SP-105 Alghero–Bosa. It's shorter than the SS-125 but every bit as good — a clifftop road with the Mediterranean on one side and empty macchia scrubland on the other, and no traffic at all outside the summer weekends. Locals will tell you it's the best road on the island. They may be right.
Interior sections (Sassari to Oristano, Oristano back to Cagliari) are straighter and quicker. You'll be glad of them by day 6.
When to go, weather and heat
April to October is the season. May, June and September are the sweet spots — warm but not brutal, the water is swimmable, and the roads are quiet. July and August are hot (35°C+ inland) and busy — accommodation doubles, ferries book out, and the SS-125 gets a lot of holiday cars. Avoid mid-August (Ferragosto week) if you can.
Winter is possible but not what the loop is designed for — the Genna Silana section can get snow in January/February, some coastal restaurants close, and the ferries from the mainland run less often. April opens the season; October closes it.
Getting there and fuel
Ferries: Civitavecchia (Rome) → Olbia or Cagliari, Livorno → Olbia, Genoa → Porto Torres. Overnight sailings are the civilised option; you sleep, wake up in Sardinia. Book the motorcycle rate months ahead for summer.
Flights: Cagliari, Olbia and Alghero all have European connections. Bike hire is available in all three (limited fleets — book ahead).
Fuel: no problem anywhere on the loop. Even the small east-coast villages have stations. The one gap worth noting is the Genna Silana section itself — fill up in Tortolì or Dorgali before climbing.
Seven-day pacing (suggested)
Day 1 — Cagliari → Tortolì (~180 km). Coastal SS-125 via Villasimius and Muravera. Easy first day to shake down the loop.
Day 2 — Tortolì → Dorgali (~85 km, all day). The Baunei twisties, Genna Silana pass, drop into the Supramonte. Short kilometres, long day. Detour up to the Gola di Gorropu trailhead in the afternoon.
Day 3 — Dorgali → Olbia (~130 km). Orosei, the gulf overlooks, Siniscola, up to Olbia. Costa Smeralda territory — pricier, but the coast between Siniscola and Olbia is beautiful.
Day 4 — Olbia → Alghero (~180 km) via Palau, Santa Teresa di Gallura and Castelsardo. Granite country up top, Genoese sea forts on the way down.
Day 5 — Alghero → Bosa → Oristano (~110 km). Short kilometres because you'll ride the SP-105 twice and stop at every viewpoint. Do not skip this day.
Day 6 — Oristano loop or push south (~50–150 km). Sinis peninsula and the Tharros ruins if you have time; otherwise start closing the loop through the Campidano.
Day 7 — Oristano → Cagliari (~95 km). Fastest section of the loop, straight through the plain. Aim to be back in Cagliari by lunchtime.
What to see along the way
- Baunei twisties (SS-125) — The core of the route. About 25 km of continuous hairpins between Baunei and Genna Silana, cut into limestone with sea views on one side and the Supramonte on the other.
- Genna Silana pass (1,022 m) — Top of the SS-125's climb out of Baunei. Small albergo/café at the summit — coffee stop before the descent into Dorgali.
- Gola di Gorropu — Europe's deepest gorge (some claim), just off the SS-125 near Dorgali. The road access is short; the walk to the entrance is 90 minutes each way. Worth an afternoon detour.
- Costa Smeralda — Between Olbia and Palau. Overhyped for beaches, but the coast road is genuinely pretty and the granite headlands look like nothing else in the Med.
- SP-105 Alghero → Bosa — The west coast's answer to the SS-125. ~45 km of empty clifftop tarmac with the Mediterranean on your right the whole way. Best ridden south from Alghero mid-afternoon for the light.
- Castelsardo — Genoese fortress town on a headland between Santa Teresa and Sassari. Old town worth an hour, viewpoints at the base of the walls.
- Tharros (Sinis peninsula) — Phoenician-Roman ruins on a headland west of Oristano. Optional day-6 detour — the road out is flat and empty, the ruins are on a beach.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for SS-125 Sardinia Coastal Loop
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Cagliari (start) · Dorgali or Alghero (mid-loop bases) — change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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