What's on in Olbia (Costa Smeralda), Italy through the year

Busy — Christmas holidays in Italy, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr), Maestrale (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr), Maestrale (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr), Maestrale (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Busy — Easter holidays in Italy, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr), Maestrale (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — San Simplicio, Summer flights and ferries

• Festival

  San Simplicio

  12–18 MayMajor festivalCrowded

  The town's own days around the granite Romanesque basilica: a procession, horse races and a mussel supper laid out in the streets. It happens before the resort season starts, so it is locals rather than visitors. Source ↗

• Season

  Summer flights and ferries

  15 May – 1 Oct · usuallySummer season opensCrowded

  Olbia is the gateway to the Costa Smeralda and its airport and the Golfo Aranci ferries run on a summer timetable; out of season the direct routes to northern Europe disappear almost entirely.

Peak crowds — Summer flights and ferries, Summer holidays in Italy

• Season

  Sea warm enough

  20 Jun – 5 Oct · usually

  The gulf and the Maddalena beaches are comfortable from late June and best in September, when the water is at its warmest and the yacht traffic has gone. June water is bracing.

Still on: Summer flights and ferries (15 May – 1 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer flights and ferries, Summer holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Summer flights and ferries (15 May – 1 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough (20 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer flights and ferries, Ferragosto on the Costa Smeralda

• Holiday

  Ferragosto on the Costa Smeralda

  1–31 AugSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  The dearest fortnight anywhere in Italy: Porto Cervo and the beaches north of here are booked from spring and the coast road crawls. September is the same sea for a fraction of it. Source ↗

Still on: Summer flights and ferries (15 May – 1 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough (20 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer flights and ferries, Summer holidays in Italy

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Summer flights and ferries (15 May – 1 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough (20 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Busy — Summer flights and ferries, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Costa Smeralda shuts

  15 Oct – 30 AprOff-season shutdownClosures

  Porto Cervo and the resort villages close down almost completely and Olbia carries on as an ordinary working port town. Good for the Gallura interior and the nuraghi, no use at all for a beach holiday.

Still on: Summer flights and ferries (15 May – 1 Oct (usually)), Sea warm enough (20 Jun – 5 Oct (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Maestrale

  1 Nov – 30 Apr · usuallyWind seasonRisk

  The northwesterly arrives hardest in the cold half of the year and can cancel the Corsica and mainland ferries for a day. It leaves clear air and a hard blue sky behind it.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr)

Busy — Christmas holidays in Italy, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Costa Smeralda shuts (15 Oct – 30 Apr), Maestrale (1 Nov – 30 Apr (usually))