Where to take a friend visiting Sassari for the first time: 10 stops

Ideal for: starting the visit and immediately explaining that Sassari is not just its historic centre.

The first stop should almost certainly be Piazza d'Italia.

It is the city's grand drawing room, built during Sassari's nineteenth-century expansion beyond the walls and surrounded by some of the city's most representative buildings.

At the centre stands the statue of Vittorio Emanuele II, while Palazzo della Provincia and Palazzo Giordano are located around it.

It is also the right place to start because practically the whole centre can be reached on foot from here.

Ideal for: showing the Sassari that cannot be seen from the surface.

From Piazza d'Italia, it takes just a few minutes to reach Piazza Castello.

Almost nothing remains on the surface of the great Aragonese castle that occupied this area for centuries, but beneath the square you can still visit the Barbacane, part of the defensive system built between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The underground route preserves corridors, defensive structures and numerous gun ports.

It is a good stop because it immediately allows you to explain one of Sassari's defining characteristics: the medieval and Aragonese city still exists beneath the modern one.

Ideal for: truly entering the city's atmosphere.

At this point, you need to stop following the map for a few minutes.

Walk down Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, turn into the side alleys and make your way to Piazza Tola.

This is the part of Sassari to observe without necessarily having a monument as your destination: narrow buildings, balconies, small squares, shops and streets that still preserve the structure of the historic city.

Piazza Tola, the ancient Carra Manna, is also one of the best places to stop for a drink.

If you want to add a distinctly Sassarese experience, the evening is also the right time to look for a faineria in the historic centre.

Ideal for: history, architecture and the historic centre.

In the maze of the old town, you will reach the Cathedral of San Nicola, one of Sassari's most surprising buildings.

Its origins are medieval, but what immediately stands out is above all the monumental Baroque façade overlooking Piazza Duomo.

Nearby is Palazzo Ducale, built at the end of the eighteenth century and now home to the Town Hall. Inside, you can visit the Duke's Rooms and Cellars.

These are two places that effectively convey the different souls of historic Sassari: its religious and aristocratic sides.

Ideal for: showing Sassari's historic symbol.

If your friend asks which is the most distinctly Sassarese monument, take them to the Rosello Fountain.

Built in its present form between 1605 and 1606 over an ancient spring, it is characterised by the twelve spouts symbolising the months and the four statues dedicated to the seasons.

For centuries, this area was essential to the city's water supply.

The fountain is lower than the centre, so prepare your guest for an unavoidable reality of the visit: after going down, sooner or later you will have to climb back up.

Ideal for: understanding what the Candelieri mean to Sassari.

You can visit Sassari without knowing about the Faradda, but it would be much more difficult to understand the city.

The church of Santa Maria di Betlem is one of the city's symbolic places and, above all, the point where the Descent of the Candelieri ends every 14 August.

This is where the Gremi arrive after crossing the city, and where the festival's religious rite comes to an end.

It is therefore worth visiting even outside the Candelieri period: it helps explain to visitors why 14 August is not exactly an ordinary day in Sassari.

Ideal for: those who want to understand what existed before Sassari.

At this point, it is worth broadening your view from the city to Sardinia.

The Sanna Museum, on Via Roma, houses important archaeological and ethnographic collections, mainly from the north of the island.

Since 29 April 2026 the visit has become even more interesting thanks to the new layout of the Marcialis Pavilion, with rooms dedicated to the Nuragic, Phoenician-Punic and Roman periods.

If your friend thinks the area's history began with medieval Sassari, after an hour here they will probably have changed their mind.

Ideal for: slowing down after a few hours in the centre.

After palaces, museums and uphill streets, you need a break.

The Monserrato Park is one of the city's most elegant places: an old noble estate transformed during the nineteenth century into a large garden with paths, citrus trees, palms, fountains, pools and architectural features.

It is particularly pleasant in the late afternoon, when you can stroll without the traffic of the city centre.

It is also a good reminder of the historic relationship between Sassari and the countryside that once immediately surrounded the city.

Ideal for: leaving them completely astonished.

If you have a car and a few extra hours, this is probably the most surprising stop.

Just a few kilometres from Sassari lies Monte d'Accoddi, a prehistoric sanctuary built in the Nurra thousands of years before the city.

The large terraced altar with its monumental ramp is a complex unique in the western Mediterranean. The first structure dates back to the Ozieri culture, between the fourth and third millennia BC, and the area also includes traces of villages and funerary structures.

In 2026, the site is regularly open to visitors and, from April to October, is open from Tuesday to Saturday, including in the afternoon.

It is one of those places where the phrase works particularly well: “Yes, we are still in the Municipality of Sassari.”

Ideal for: ending the day by the sea.

After showing them the city, you also need to show them its coastline.

Porto Ferro is one of the most beautiful beaches in the Sassari area, with amber-coloured sand, a large bay open to the west and three historic towers dominating the landscape.

It is very popular with surfing and windsurfing enthusiasts and retains a decidedly wilder character than the developed coastal areas.

The perfect time to arrive is in the late afternoon.

A swim, a walk and then the sunset over the sea.

After a day that began in Piazza d'Italia, it is probably the best way to explain how difficult it is to reduce Sassari to just the city you see on maps.

If time is short, focus on the first six stops.

Start at Piazza d'Italia, cross Piazza Castello and Corso, enter the historic centre, reach the Cathedral and Palazzo Ducale, then head down towards the Rosello Fountain and finish at Santa Maria di Betlem.

Almost everything can be done on foot.

Add the Sanna Museum and then choose between Monserrato and Monte d'Accoddi.

If, instead, you are willing to extend the day until sunset, take the car and head towards Porto Ferro.

This way, your friend will have seen in just a few hours nineteenth-century Sassari, medieval Sassari, the Sassari of the Candelieri, prehistoric Sardinia and even the sea.

And at that point, if they continue to say that Sassari is just the place you pass through on the way to Alghero, you will at least know that you tried.