UKC

Looking for tips and recommendations for either via ferratas or (very) family friendly climbing in Sardinia. Until about a two weeks ago we were off for a family holiday in Turkey next weekend, but the Monarch collapse put paid to that! After some desperate googling to find an alternative we got a last minute deal to Sardinia, which is actually somewhere I've always wanted to go!

My family is myself and my partner, our 13 year old, 11 year old and now for the first time on this holiday our 3 month old newest addition to the family. Before the baby, we all did a number of via ferratas in France last year and my oldest son and myself did a couple of more challenging ones together - hence we were quite excited to see there are via ferratas to do in Sardinia. We are staying SW of Obia which seems to be very close to Via Ferrata degli Angeli. Has anyone done this? The description makes it sound more like a challenging hike with via ferrata passages. And I wondered if anyone had done any of the other ones on Sardinia, particularly with kids?

Also, has anyone been to any climbing areas that are a) close to the parking, as we will have to carry the baby with us and b) have some nice lower grade routes which my older kids might be willing to have a go on? I can't persuade them very often to come out in the Peak, but some sunny bolted limestone or granite might be more tempting and would allow me got get my tick of a route or two in a country I've never climbed in before. We have hired a car so are reasonably mobile but I realise Sardinia isn't tiny, it does look like the Cala Gonone is about an hour away from where we are staying.

Cheers all!

In reply to TobyA:

Sorry to hear that you plans have been forcibly changed but I'm sure you'll still have a great time. The beaches along Costa Smerelda absolutely beautiful. Crags we found accessible when our kids were young included Cala Fuili and Dorgani, both in the Cala Gonone area. For easy routes try sector Bimbi at Cala Fuili (if they're not too polished by now!) Pikachu 4a was my son's first lead. The kids also enjoyed the boat trip to Cala Luna with cragging from the beach. Hope you have a great trip.

In reply to TobyA:


I've not tried any via ferrata on Sardinia but If you have climbing gear there the gorge descent of Codula Fuili was an excellent day out with our daughter when she was about 7.

In reply to timjones:

Cheers Tim. What sort of thing is the gorge descent? Presumably if your daughter was 7 it's not too extreme? So not full on canyoning? But then what equipment is needed? Cheers!

In reply to heleno:

Thanks Helen. I'll look up those crags. As there isn't a Rockfax to Sardinia, a bit more research is needed!

In reply to TobyA:

I've done this VF:-
http://www.ferratacabirol.it/
Not difficult (nor easy), and recently re-equipped. Ridiculously exposed (300m straight down to the sea), more so than most in the Dolomites. There's also climbing below the carpark, but I dunno how easy it is - looks steep.
It was the only one we could find info for when we went in 2013, but I see there's more now:-
https://www.climbingsardinia.com/all-the-via-ferrata-in-sardinia/

In reply to Toerag:
Thanks Toerag! I had found those sites so was thinking of trying that one - we did some very exposed ones in France last year so I think at least my older son would be happy on it.

In reply to TobyA:


It's a fairly spectacular dry gorge with several abseils all of whoch are equipped with bolts at the top and one of which has bolt anchors approached by a very short (maybe 10 feet section of via ferrata style cable.

We did it with a 70m rope, harnesses, helmets, descenders and slings for the short section of cable. You may get away with a shorter rope but you would need to check up on this as once you are into the top end of the gorge it would be hard to escape without completing the downhill trip.

When we went there were guidebooks for the local gorges in the shops in Cala Gonone and I just made a mental ote of the entry point at the top. We found it quite easy to park up at Cala Fuili and walk up to the start on a path to the south of the gorge in order to avoid having to shuttle cars from start to finish.

Gola Su Gorropu is another gorge that is well worth a visit, we didn't need any gear and just entered from the bottom end and went as far up as we could meanderiung through large boulders and using short section of fixed rope that were easily ascended and descended hand over hand. There may be a man in a tent at the gorge entrance to take a small admission fee but if you avoid weekends and get there early he may not be there.

I'd also recommend the walk to Tiscali and it's hard not to be impressed by many of the other well preserved Nuragic sites in the area.

If you'e lucky at this time of year you may also find that there is a great cultural festival going on in Dorgali.

In reply to TobyA:

Did Cabirol earlier this year. It was my first ever via farrata, great location easy access and shiney new cables and fittings. Most of the route is on wide ledges with the odd spicey exposed section thrown in. Was my first via f and i did it alone with no problems. The situation is superb and i would say could be done safly and easily by anyone with climbing expiriance. You could also do some of the rock climbs near by or even visit Neptunes Grotto.