In the late 1950s, the rocky shores of northeastern Sardinia lay desolate, save for some resident goats and the shepherds who tended them. Its fate changed dramatically when a raging storm led 21-year-old Prince Karim Aga Khan to seek refuge on its shores. Spiritual leader to the Ismaili Muslims, Aga Khan found himself on the island’s wild coastline surrounded by turquoise blue waters. In his joyous relief, he declared the land a paradise. More than 60 years on, the sentiment still rings true.
Sardinia’s savage natural beauty is unlike anything you’re likely to come across in mainland Italy, or anywhere else in Europe, for that matter. Years before Aga Khan fell rapturously on its shores, English writer D. H. Lawrence called it an island “lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere” in his 1921 travel memoir Sea and Sardinia. This remoteness, combined with gnarled, century-old junipers and Mediterranean scrub, cast a spell on the young Aga Khan, who went on to develop a 35-mile stretch of land flanked by crystal waters and dramatic cliffs, known today as Costa Smeralda.
Costa Smeralda
In the beginning, there was no electricity, no water, and no roads on Costa Smeralda, and Aga Khan emerged as something of an early conservationist in his determination to use only local stone and timber, sticking to Mediterranean architectural styles, which were built around juniper trees to honor their protected status.
Over the years, however, Costa Smeralda became something of a billionaire’s club, and still welcomes a who’s-who list of A-listers, with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jeff Bezos, Elton John, and Madonna all soaking up its understated luxury. Architecture is designed strictly in harmony with the surrounding nature; terracotta tiled roofs, whitewashed buildings, and domed arches draped with bougainvillea abound.
Porto Cervo
At the center of it all sits Porto Cervo, a picturesque town built as a playground for the rich and famous in the 1960s. Famed for its designer stores, pseudo-Moorish architecture and superyacht-clogged marina, the town comes alive in the summer months when the hoi polloi flock to its cobbled streets. Sushi lovers can make a pitstop at the island’s sprawling Zuma outpost, a rooftop restaurant overlooking the pretty town below. A Nikki Beach pop-up bar also hits all the right notes for laid-back lounging and acts as an aperitivo for the beach club brand’s Costa Smeralda branch, accessible only by private yacht and nestled within a protected nature reserve.
For local cuisine, Frades-La Terrazza restaurant is a seven-minute drive from Porto Cervo, perched on a panoramic spot on Cala di Volpe Bay. James Bond fans will recognise the winding mountain road from Roger Moore’s famous car chase scene in The Spy That Loved Me. Dishes are fresh and authentic to the region without being overly elaborate. Don’t leave without trying culurgiones, homemade pasta stuffed with potato and cheese and served with a lick of tomato sauce. If you’re heading out for dinner, Phi Beach mixes DJ sets with dramatic sunsets in one of Sardinia’s prettiest sundowner spots.
