Capo Testa

Granite rocks sculpted by the wind

At the northern tip of Sardinia, a few kilometres from Santa Teresa Gallura, the promontory of Capo Testa is a small peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus, with a beach on each side. It is one of the most extraordinary natural landscapes on the island: a chaos of enormous granite rocks sculpted by the wind and the sea over millions of years into the most bizarre shapes, holes, arches, mushrooms, animals and faces, which change colour with the light, from grey to pink to gold.

In Roman times the granite of Capo Testa was quarried and shipped to Rome, where it was used for the columns of the Pantheon, according to tradition; the remains of the Roman quarries, with half-worked columns, can still be seen. The most magical place is the Valle della Luna, the "Valley of the Moon", a valley among the granite rocks leading to the sea, which in the 1960s and 1970s became a refuge for hippies and alternative communities, some of whom still live in the caves. Paths cross the promontory to the lighthouse at its tip, with a view over the Strait of Bonifacio and the white cliffs of Corsica, only 12 kilometres away. Small coves such as Cala Spinosa and the Rena di Levante and Rena di Ponente beaches are ideal for swimming.

Tip: walk the trail to the Valle della Luna at sunset, when the rocks turn red; from Santa Teresa ferries leave for Bonifacio in Corsica.

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