How To Travel By Train In Sardinia: 10 Best Things To Know

Traveling by train in Sardinia can be challenging sometimes. The island’s railway system isn’t the most modern one (though constant works try to improve the situation) and the trains lack upgrades as well.

All in all, I continue thinking that renting a car in Sardinia is the best way to move around the island. You will have the freedom to go anywhere, no time restrictions, and a comfortable means of transportation.

However, if for whatever reason, you can’t drive during your trip to Sardinia, you can count on public transportation (albeit at times lacking), which includes trains. I take the train in Sardinia regularly myself (even though I have a car), so I know all the tricks to make sure you have smooth journey.

Here’s a list of things you should know about traveling by train in Sardinia.

My guide How To Get Around Sardinia helps you decide the best way to move around the island.

What To Know About Traveling By Train In Sardinia

Are there trains in Sardinia?

Your first question will likely be “are there trains in Sardinia?” Yes, there are trains in Sardinia. However, they aren’t exactly the best way of traveling around the island. I will explain more in a bit.

Most trains are operated by Trenitalia

Government-owned Trenitalia operates the main, long distance trains in Sardinia. ARST (Azienda Regionale Sarda Trasporti) is the regional company that manages the connection to smaller towns.

For example, if you need to travel from Cagliari to Sassari, you will hop on a Trenitalia train. On the other hand, if you are need to travel from Sassari to Alghero, you will get an ARST train.

There are two main railway lines, and a tourist one.

The main railway line goes from Cagliari to Golfo Aranci (Olbia), going through the towns of Assemini, Sanluri, Oristano, Macomer, Ozieri-Chilivani (an important junction station between Sassari, Cagliari and Olbia) before reaching Olbia.

Another line goes from Cagliari to Sassari via Macomer, Abbasanta and Oristano.

Finally, there is a tourist train line – we call it Trenino Verde – that takes tourists around the most mountainous areas of Sardinia. This is not a means of transportation, but more of a sightseeing experience. The trail travels very slowly through the scenic countryside and mountains of Sardinia.

You can get tickets online and at the ticket counter

There’s hardly the need to book your train tickets in advance when traveling by train in Sardinia – most people get them directly at the station. But if you do want to check the timetable or book your train in advance anyways, there are several apps to do so.

First of all, you can buy tickets on the website or app of Trenitalia, which is the main train service here in Italy. Alternatively, you can also use Omio, an easy to use and reliable app.

Many trains have only a few daily departures

If you choose to travel by train when in Sardinia, you have to manage your travel schedule carefully! Several trains depart only few times a day and are quite slow.

To give you an example, going from Cagliari to Olbia takes more than four and a half hours by train, and only about three by car. There are 7 daily trains available, but at the time of writing none of them is direct because of works on the rail line, which means the journey is even longer than usual.

Many smaller towns don’t have a trail station at all

Many smaller towns and villages in Sardinia don’t have a train station at all, which means you can only get there by car, if you have one, or by bus. If you are looking to travel by train, you will see that oftentimes the trains don’t provide connections with the regional buses, which makes the overall journey more of an odyssey.

If your train is running late (which often is the case at the moment, since there are rail works everywhere on the island) you will find getting a connecting bus to the village you wish to reach even harder.

Some trains are old and railways can be even older

Sardinia is the only Italian region that doesn’t have electrified railways: the trains still run on gasoline. This makes for a lot of problems, from air pollution (and terrible smells at the stations) to more modern troubles: no matter how new the trains are, they can’t run at full speed.

It was only a year ago that public authorities announced works for the electrification of the railways in Sardinia. Obviously it will take years until Sardinia will finally have a system of electrified railways.

Sardinian trains aren’t the newest, top-engineered machines either: their average age is about 20 years and there are even more ancient wagons!

But some newer models were introduced in 2015. These new trains could travel faster than they do if only the railroads were more up-to-date.

The wagons themselves are often crowded (since trains don’t run as often as they should). Furthermore, they aren’t always equipped with heating or air conditioning. Yeah, traveling by train in Sardinia during the hotter and colder months isn’t a great experience overall.

Also, since the trains aren’t the newest models in the world, they break down easily and you could end up stranded somewhere – or just never catch your train. Punctuality is the real problem of public transportation in Sardinia – much like elsewhere in Italy.

Direct trains are utopian

Direct trains are really rare in Sardinia on long distances. If you need to go from a side of Sardinia to the other, be ready to switch a few trains.

Some of the most common switching stations are Macomer and San Gavino Monreale. If you need to go to the North of Sardinia from Cagliari, you’ll probably have to stop either in Macomer or in Ozieri-Chilivani.

If you are departing from Olbia, the situation gets slightly better – the area has a bigger touristic flow – but the best means of public transportation are buses, which run quite thoroughly in the area.

On top of this, you need to consider the current works on the railroad system, which means that you even trains that used to be direct will now require a change (typically to a bus) at some point.

Alghero is yet another separate reality because it has its own railway system (ran by ARST) which is probably the most efficient on the whole island.

Airports are easy to access

A good point about trains in Sardinia is that you can easily reach the major airports.

Cagliari has its own stop (Elmas Aeroporto) which is directly linked to the airport building by a covered path – about 200 meters (0.1 mile) on foot.

Olbia offers shuttle buses from its train station in the city center and so does Alghero.

In case you need to reach any major airport, Sardinian public transportation has got you covered.

Some routes are seasonal

This is another awful thing about trains in Sardinia. Despite the routes being already minimal and insufficient, some are cut during the less-crowded months. This causes a lot of trouble for locals (especially students) and tourists who like traveling in the off season.

Furthermore, some routes to the villages close to the beaches only run in summer, and some going to the inner parts of the island are only activated during the ski season (which is minimal in Sardinia, really).

This creates huge discomfort for the locals, who find themselves cut out from the rest of the region for six months at a time. The only exception to this is during festivals such as Autunno in Barbagia when several special routes accommodate the huge amount of visitors flocking the area.

Conclusions On Train Travel In Sardinia

To sum it up, traveling by train in Sardinia isn’t exactly a walk in the park. You will need to plan your trip with care to detail (and timetables!); be patient; make sure that the route you choose is currently operating and so on.

There are better options than trains, but if you really have no other choices, good luck on your adventure!

Further Readings

These posts may come in handy when planning your trip to Sardinia:

• How To Get From Cagliari To Alghero
• How To Get From Cagliari To Olbia

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