The slow train that crosses the mountains
The Trenino Verde, the "Little Green Train", is one of the most fascinating ways to discover the interior of Sardinia. It runs on the old narrow-gauge railway lines (950 mm) built at the end of the nineteenth century by the Compagnia Reale delle Ferrovie Sarde to connect the isolated villages of the interior; when regular service ended, some stretches were kept for tourist trains, which run from spring to autumn.
The most spectacular line is the one that connects Arbatax, on the coast of Ogliastra, with Mandas, in the centre of the island, about 160 kilometres of track, which the train covers slowly, at about 20 to 30 kilometres per hour, among mountains, gorges, woods of holm oak and chestnut, viaducts, tunnels and hairpin bends, with views of lakes, the "tacchi" of Ogliastra and the Gennargentu. It passes through villages such as Lanusei, Gairo, Seui, Seulo and Sadali, where you can stop to visit grottoes, waterfalls and old stations. The trains, often pulled by restored diesel railcars or, on special occasions, by vintage steam locomotives, carry passengers in wooden carriages. D. H. Lawrence described a journey on these lines in his book "Sea and Sardinia" (1921). Other routes of the Trenino Verde cross the Gallura and the area around Macomer.
Tip: the timetable changes every year, check before going and book in summer; choose a short stretch if you have only a day.
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