The best time to visit Sardinia, month by month, for the south of the island: Pula, Chia, Nora and Cagliari. The weather and the sea, the crowds, the festivals and their dates, the right beach for each month, and the producers worth a visit in every season.
The sea keeps its own calendar. It spends the summer storing up heat and gives it back slowly, so that off the south coast of Sardinia the water in late September is warmer than it was in June, long after the beaches have emptied and the schools have gone back. That one fact explains most of what follows.
When to go to South Sardinia depends on what you want from it: the sea, the quiet, a festival, a harvest. Here is the year as we know it from our house above Pula, month by month.
What is the best time to visit Sardinia?
For the south, our short answer is June or September. Both give you a warm sea, long days and room on the beach. If you can only choose one, choose the middle of September: the water is still at about 24°C, the days are around 28°C, and the crowds of August have gone home. July and August are the hottest, busiest and dearest weeks of the year. Spring is for walking, food and festivals rather than swimming, and the winter belongs to Cagliari.
South Sardinia weather and sea temperature by month
The figures below are the 1991 to 2020 averages for Cagliari airport, about thirty-five minutes from Pula, with long-term averages for the sea off Cagliari.
| Month | Day | Night | Sea | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15°C | 5°C | 14°C | 6 to 7 |
| February | 15°C | 5°C | 14°C | 6 |
| March | 18°C | 7°C | 14°C | 6 |
| April | 20°C | 10°C | 15°C | 6 |
| May | 24°C | 13°C | 17°C | 4 |
| June | 29°C | 17°C | 21°C | 2 |
| July | 32°C | 20°C | 24°C | under 1 |
| August | 32°C | 21°C | 25°C | 1 to 2 |
| September | 28°C | 18°C | 24°C | 4 |
| October | 24°C | 14°C | 22°C | 5 |
| November | 19°C | 10°C | 19°C | 8 |
| December | 16°C | 7°C | 16°C | 8 |
Rainy days are days with at least a millimetre of rain. July gets about eleven hours of sunshine a day on average, December about four and a half.
Spring in South Sardinia: March to May
Spring is green, mild and, by the sea, still cool: the water is around 14 to 17°C until the end of May, which is a matter for the brave. The days are another story, warming from about 18°C in March to 24°C in May. This is the season for the hills, the ruins and the table.
It is also the season of processions. In Cagliari, Holy Week is kept with the city's confraternities carrying their statues from church to church; in 2027, Easter Sunday falls on 28 March, and that morning brings S'Incontru, when the Risen Christ and the Madonna, carried in two processions, meet and bow to each other three times. The regional culture portal describes each day of the week. In April, the citrus town of Muravera, in the Sarrabus, in the south-east, holds its Sagra degli Agrumi, with a parade of decorated carts; the 2026 edition, the 52nd, ran over two weekends in the second half of April. And Monumenti Aperti, the weekends when Sardinian towns open their monuments to visitors, began in 2026 in Cagliari, on 18 and 19 April.
Then comes the great one. Every year from 1 to 4 May, Cagliari keeps the vow it made during a plague in 1652, and carries Sant'Efisio from the city to Nora, where a church to the saint was consecrated in 1102, and back. The procession first set out in 1657, which makes 2027 its 371st. Some three thousand people walk with it in traditional Sardinian dress, with horsemen, decorated carts and the saint's own cart, drawn by oxen. In 2026 it reached Pula around midday on the second day and went on to Nora that evening, so you can watch it pass on our side of the gulf, away from the grandstands of the city. The city's tourism office publishes the programme each spring. We wrote about the site itself in our day guide to Nora.
June: the first warm sea
June is our other favourite. The days are long and warm, about 29°C, with two rainy days in the month on average; the sea reaches 21°C; and the island is busy without being full. At the turn of May and June, the island of San Pietro, off the south-west coast, holds the Girotonno, Carloforte's festival of red tuna, with a tuna competition between teams from eight countries; in 2026 it ran from 29 May to 2 June.
June is also when the beach rules begin. Tuerredda, the white crescent on the Costa del Sud, takes a capped number of visitors a day, booked online, from early June; check the 2027 arrangements with the town of Teulada before you plan a day around it.
July and August: high summer
The hottest months, and the busiest. Average highs are about 32°C, it hardly rains, and the sea is at its warmest, 24 to 25°C. It is also the moment when much of Italy is on holiday at once, gathered around Ferragosto, the public holiday of 15 August: the beaches fill, the roads slow down, and flights and everything else cost the most. If August is your only window, come anyway, and live by the clock of the south: the sea early, the shade at lunch, the beach again after five, dinner late.
Summer evenings bring their own reasons to stay out. In July the archaeological park of Nora hosts La Notte dei Poeti, theatre and music among the ruins; the 2026 edition, the 44th, ran from 9 to 25 July, and the 2027 programme had not been announced when we wrote this. In late August, Santa Margherita di Pula celebrates its patron saint over four days, with processions, music and, on one night, the Sagra della Vitella; in 2026 that was 20 to 23 August. Our summer day at Il Polpo Nero shows how we spend the hours in between.
September and October: the best time to visit South Sardinia
This is the secret the sea keeps. In September the water is still at about 24°C, within a degree of its August peak, while the air eases to around 28°C by day and 18°C at night. The August crowds have gone home, the beaches thin, and the roads go quiet. There is a little more rain: four days in September on average, five in October.
October is softer: about 24°C by day, a sea of 22°C, which is warmer than June's. Autumn is also when the maestrale comes back in earnest (it blows hardest from October to April), so some days are for the beach and some for the hills. Inland, the olive harvest begins in October, and in the mountains of the Barbagia, Autunno in Barbagia opens village courtyards weekend after weekend, so that each place can show off what it makes; in 2026 it ran from 5 September to 13 December, in 33 villages. It is a long drive from the coast, and a good one.
If you can choose any fortnight in the year, choose one between mid-September and mid-October.
November to February: the quiet months
November is the wettest month, with about eight rainy days, but it has its own small glory: saffron. Sardinia's saffron, protected as Zafferano di Sardegna DOP, is grown inland, around San Gavino Monreale, Turri and Villanovafranca, and all three hold saffron festivals in November, Turri's on the second Sunday of the month.
From December to February the days are mild, around 15 or 16°C, and the nights cold, around 5 to 7°C. The sea, at 14 to 16°C, is for looking at. This is when the coast sleeps and Cagliari carries on as a real city all year, with its markets, museums and trattorias full of people who live there; we spent a day in Castello and the Marina to show what we mean.
What is closed out of season
- Beach bars: the kiosks and beach tables along the Chia shore are summer creatures, and are shuttered out of season.
- Tuerredda: the booking system ran from 2 June to 15 October in 2026.
- Nora: the site keeps long hours in summer and shorter ones in the shoulder months; check the timetable before you go.
- Flights: many direct routes to Cagliari are summer-only, while connections through Rome and Milan run all year. Our guide to getting to Sardinia has the details.
- Restaurants: some of the best tables on the coast, Fradis Minoris among them, are seasonal. See our guide to Michelin dining near Pula.
Which beach for which month
In June and September, everything is open and nothing is full: this is the time for the long dune beaches of Chia, Su Giudeu and Porto Campana. In July and August, go early, or choose the beaches nearest home, Nora and Su Guventeddu, shallow and ten minutes away, and keep Tuerredda for a booked weekday. In October, let the wind choose: a maestrale day is a Tuerredda day, and a scirocco day belongs to Cala Cipolla, on the far side of Chia. Our index of the beaches near Pula goes through them one by one, and our Sardinia packing list tells you what to bring for each month.
Producers to visit, season by season
Some of our favourite days in the south are spent inland, with the people who make the island's wine, cheese and oil. All of these welcome visitors, by booking.
- Cantina Santadi, in the Sulcis hills west of Pula, helped make the name of Carignano del Sulcis, and its Terre Brune is one of the island's great reds. It offers a tour of the cellars and the barrel room, ending with a tasting, Monday to Saturday, booked in advance.
- Argiolas, in Serdiana, about half an hour north of Cagliari, runs cellar tours and tastings from Monday to Saturday, booked at least a day ahead; the classic tasting finishes with its red Turriga.
- Argiolas Formaggi, the sheep's cheese maker in Dolianova, runs a one-hour tour of the dairy, ending with a tasting and a glass of wine, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, booked online. A good spring outing.
- Olio del Tempio, also in Dolianova, offers guided visits and tastings at its mill and at the Museo dell'Olio Sa Mola de Su Notariu, an olive oil museum in a late seventeenth-century house, by booking. Go from October, when the new harvest begins.
If you would like help planning a day like this, our concierge can do it on request, along with our other experiences with local partners.
Quick answers
What is the best month to visit South Sardinia? September, for a warm sea, kind temperatures and quiet beaches. June is a close second.
When is the sea warmest in Sardinia? In August, at about 25°C off Cagliari, with July and September close behind at about 24°C.
Is Sardinia busy in August? Yes. It is the peak of the Italian holidays, around Ferragosto on 15 August, and the busiest and most expensive time to go.
Can you swim in Sardinia in October? Yes. The sea is around 22°C on average, warmer than in June.
When is the Festa di Sant'Efisio? From 1 to 4 May every year, from Cagliari to Nora and back.
Il Polpo Nero is a house for the warm months. For this year's dates, ask us: we will tell you which weeks are still free, and which festival you might catch.
Lola
The house
Il Polpo Nero, Perd'e Sali, near Pula, South Sardinia. Ten guests, a pool and a rooftop facing the sunrise. Ask us for dates.
