Sassari

Sassari is a city in Sardinia. It is one of the oldest cities in Sardinia.

Understand

Province of Sassari in Sardinia

Sassari is a city in the northwest corner of Sardinia and a capital of the homonymous province. It is the second-largest city in Sardinia in terms of population with over 130,000 inhabitants.

Tourist information

• 1 Infosassari (Ufficio Informazioni Turistiche), Via Sebastiano Satta, 13 (Palazzo di Città), ☏ + 39 079 2008072, infosassari@comune.sassari.it. Tu-F 09:00-13:30, 15:00-18:00; Sa 09:00-13:30. (updated Jul 2017)

Get in

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, piazza d'Italia

By plane

Alghero Airport (AHO ^IATA), about 33 km (21 mi) away is the nearest to Sassari. Another relatively close airport is located in Olbia (105 km).

By boat

From ferry terminal in Porto Torres.

By train

There are plenty of regional trains, operated by Trenitalia, that connects with Olbia in the northwestern part of the Sardinia and with Cagliari in the south. Also a local narrow gauge line between Alghero (35 min) and Sorso runs via this station. This line is operated by ARST.

• 1 Sassari railway station (Stazione di Sassari), Piazza della Stazione. (updated Apr 2019)

By bus

• 2 Stazione dei pullman (regional bus hub). Simply a series of bus stop with a ticket booth. (updated Feb 2016)

Get around

By bus

• ATP Sassari. Provides urban bus services for the city. 90 min single €1.30 (onboard €1.80); 2 hr (incl. Metrosassari) €2.00; daily pass (incl. Metrosassari) €3.30. (updated Jul 2017)

By tram

• Metrosassari. 06:50-21:00. The city has a short tram line. It's not very useful though for tourists at it reaches the city centre after quite a bit of diversion into a periphery. 90 min ticket €1.30. (updated Jul 2017)

By car

The city center has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) (map and hours). Motorcycles are allowed, but most other vehicles are prohibited from accessing it most of the time.

See

Façade of the Cathedral

Fontana di Rosello

Casa Cugurra

Old town

• 1 Cattedrale di San Nicola (The Cathedral of St. Nicholas of Bari). The cathedral was built in the 13th century and enlarged in Catalan Gothic style from 1480; there's a monument to the Duca di Moriana inside. The façade, belonging to the Baroque Spanish colonial restorations of 1650–1723, has a rectangular portico surmounted by three niches housing statues of saints. The bell tower is in Romanesque style. (updated Feb 2016)
• 2 Fontana di Rosello (Font of Rosello). The 17th-century fountain built at the ancient source. The fountain is considered the symbol of the city. At the top of two crossing arches there is a statue of St. Gavino. (updated Feb 2016)
• 3 Palazzo Ducale. M-F 08:00-19:30; Sa 08:00-13:00. Now the City Hall. (updated Jul 2017)

• Le Stanze e le Cantine del Duca (Duke's rooms and cellars). Tu-Sa 10:00-13:00 15:00-18:00; Su 10:00-13:00 (guided tours every 30 minutes). A part of the Civic Museum. €3. (updated Jul 2017)

• 4 Palazzo di Città (Museo della Città), ☏ +39 079 2015122. Tu 10:00-13:00; W-F 10:00-13:00 15:00-18:00; Sa 10:00-13:00. Entering from Corso Vittorio Emanuele II visitors could see the interiors of the Palazzo di Città including the ball room, the historic Civic Theatre. Another entrance is from Via Sebastiano Satta through the tourist information office. This part presents some Sardinian costumes and two works of Eugenio Tavolara depicting the Carnival and the Holy Week in Sassari. €3. (updated Jul 2017)

• Teatro Civico. (updated Jul 2017)

• 5 Palazzo Tola, Piazza Tola, 42. There are still some traces there of its initial Renaissance façade. (updated Jul 2017)
• 6 Chiesa di Santa Maria di Bethlem. Despite its modest exterior it's richly decorated inside. (updated Jul 2017)
• 7 Vecchie mura. A fragment of the Pisan city walls. (updated Jul 2017)

Other sites

• 8 Museo Nazionale G.A. Sanna, Via Roma 64, ☏ +39 079 27 22 03, museosanna@beniculturali.it. Tu-Sa 09:00-20:00, 1st Su 09:00-20:00. Largest museum institution in the north-central Sardinia in size and importance of its scientific collections, and an important cultural reference for the North of the island. Closed for restoration work as of late February, 2020 with no reopening date. €3. (updated Jul 2017)
• 9 Pinacoteca Mus'a al Canopoleno (Museo Sassari Arte), Piazza S. Caterina, 4 (at the former Collegio Gesuitico del Canopoleno), ☏ +39 079 231560. M-Tu 09:00-13:30 15:00-17:00; W-F 09:00-13:30. €2.50. (updated Jul 2017)
• 10 Palazzo dell'Università. (updated Jul 2017)
• 11 Palazzo della Provincia, Piazza d'Italia. Built in 1872. (updated Jul 2017)
• 12 Casa Cugurra (Palazzo Cugurra). Built in 1890 in Neo-Baroque style with 1906 extension in Liberty style. (updated Jul 2017)
• 13 Villa Sant’Elia (villa Mimosa). A villa in Liberty style. (updated Jul 2017)
• 14 Padiglione per l'artigianato "Eugenio Tavolara" (Padiglione dell'Artigianato Isola) (at the Giardino pubblico). Tavolara pavilion for handicrafts and design is the headquarters and the exhibition space of I.S.O.L.A. (Sardinian craftsmanship institution). Built in 1956 by the project of Italian architect Ubaldo Badas. (updated Jul 2017)

Eat

• Fior di Pane di Pecorini Laura, Via Amendola, 42/B, ☏ +39 079 216331. A bakery. $. 
• Pasticceria Artistica Nuova Pagoda di, Via Degli Astronauti, ☏ +39 079 3767091. Pasticceria, gelato, espresso. 
• Gelateria Ligure, C. Vittorio Emanuele, 53, ☏ +39 079 233610. Gelateria. 

Sleep

Mid-range

• Hotel Grazia Deledda, Viale Dante, 47, ☏ +39 079 271235, info@hotelgraziadeledda.it. 

Go next

Monte d'Accoddi

• 2 Monte d'Accoddi (13 km from Sassari). A Neolithic altar in a form of a truncated step-pyramid resembling Mesopotamian ziqqurats. (updated Jul 2017)
• Alghero -- bright lively town at the Western coast of the island renowned for its Catalan heritage
• Castelsardo -- a pleasant town at the coast of the Asinara Gulf built around an old castle
• Bosa -- a beautiful medieval small town
• Porto Torres for its ancient basilica and the Roman remains