Sardinia

Sardinia's reputation as Europe's most beautiful island deserves at least some scrutiny: there are days in August when the roads from Olbia airport feel like a managed traffic event rather than a holiday. Go in June or September, base yourself in the north, and you'll find something that more than earns it.

Stay - Albero Capovolto, Golfo Aranci

The name means "Upside-Down Tree," which tells you something about the approach. This is a six-room B&B built inside a summer home just outside Golfo Aranci, where owner Alessandro discusses dinner options with you over breakfast - because there's no menu as such, just a chef cooking in the home kitchen and the willingness to bring it wherever you want on the property. Rooms are named after family members, the bed throws were made by an actual Italian mamma, and the furniture has a lineage you'd notice if you thought to ask about it.

From around £260 a night (including breakfast)

Eat - Il Fuoco Sacro, San Pantaleo

In the hills above the Gallura near San Pantaleo, Il Fuoco Sacro holds a Michelin star and the kind of stillness that reminds you why dining in Sardinia is different from dining in a city. Chef Alessandro Menditto works with mentor Enrico Bartolini - three stars at Mudec in Milan - but the cooking is firmly rooted in the island: local mullet bottarga, Sardinian suckling pig, herbs from the surrounding scrubland. Order whatever involves the bottarga, and book the terrace if the evening allows it.

cilfuocosacro.com

Do - Sunset kayak to Figarolo island

The guided kayak that departs Golfo Aranci in the late afternoon is one of those experiences that works precisely because it has no aspirational framing. You paddle south along a granite coastline to Cala Moresca, snorkel in water that's probably the clearest you've been in, and continue out to Figarolo island for a Sardinian aperitivo on the rocks as the light turns gold over the Gallura hills. Dolphin sightings in the channel are common once the day-trip boats have cleared. Plan for two to three hours.

Bookable via kayakingmoresca.it

Know

A few hundred metres off the main beach at Golfo Aranci, the MuMart underwater sculpture park sits at between 4 and 7 metres depth: 14 stone artworks placed on the seabed and left for the sea to do what it does. Some pieces are now more coral and sea-grass than stone. You can snorkel to most of them without anything beyond a mask. There are no signs, no entrance fees, and virtually nobody else there.

Practical

• Best time to go: June or early September. The island is extraordinary in July and August but arrives with Italian summer crowds; shoulder season gives you the same water and a fraction of the traffic.

• Getting there: Direct flights from London Gatwick or Heathrow to Olbia take around 2.5 hours and can be found under £200 return. Albero Capovolto is 15 minutes from the airport.