Sardinia · Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
Badesi
A Gallura commune founded by shepherding families in the 1700s, its territory running from a hilltop village down to eight kilometers of dunes at the Coghinas river mouth.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Badesi is on our list
It holds Bandiera Blu and Città del Vino.
Subscribe and you get Badesi's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- May–Oct
- By car
- 3 h 24 min from Cagliari
- Population
- 1,832
- J13°
- F14°
- M15°
- A18°
- M21°
- J26°
- J29°
- A29°
- S26°
- O23°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Going to the sea? How to find the free beaches in Italy.
Why come
Badesi sits on a hill above the Gulf of Asinara, its municipal territory running north to the dunes and down to the river that forms the natural boundary between Gallura and Anglona. The village formed in the eighteenth century, when shepherding families settled in a Spanish baron's fief and gathered around the parish church built in the early twentieth century. Badesi became an autonomous comune in 1969, later than the settlement itself, which had already taken shape around the church a generation before.
The pattern of the place follows this same line from hill to water: a village core inland, vineyard hillsides around it, and a coastal strip of dunes and river mouth at the far edge of the same territory, held together by the Coghinas, which both feeds the wetlands and marks where Gallura gives way to Anglona. What began as a shepherding settlement in a feudal fief has ended up governing a stretch of coast and river protected for its water quality and its birdlife, the same land put to grazing now carrying a wine designation and a conservation status instead.
How to get there
From Cagliari (CAG), about 3 h 42 min by car.
Coming by train into Sassari? Badesi is about 53 min away by road.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Spiaggia di Li Junchi
Eight-kilometer beach of fine white sand and juniper-covered dunes from Isola Rossa to the Coghinas mouth, holder of the Bandiera Blu.
Vermentino di Gallura vineyards
Hilltop vineyards inside the only DOCG zone in Sardinia, white-wine producers concentrated north and west of the village.
Foce del Coghinas
River mouth marking the boundary between Gallura and Anglona, an EU-protected site for migratory birds nesting in the reed beds.
Chiesa del Sacro Cuore
Early twentieth-century parish church around which the modern village formed, the original civic anchor of Badesi.
Isola Rossa headland
Red porphyry headland west of Badesi, frazione of Trinità d'Agultu, named for the red rocks visible from the coast road.
Living here
Could you live here?
Badesi is at the end of the road.
- A village of 1,832. The nearest town of 5,000 people, Castelsardo, is 18 min away: past our 15-minute rule, which makes this the end of the road.
- Tempio Pausania, a city of 13,036, is 37 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 1,832, down 1.7% since 2015
- Nearest city Tempio Pausania, 37 min drive
- Nearest national health service hospital Tempio Pausania, 21 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,300 to €1,800 per m² to buy, €5.40 to €7.50 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- Remote
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Alghero airport (AHO), 1 h 22 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Cagliari, 3 h 24 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Ukraine and Russia, against 9% across Italy. There are 278 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 73% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. The old province of Sassari ranks 74th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Tempio Pausania, 21 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Sassari, 50 km away. The nearest IB school is Viterbo International School, 312 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is Sardinia International School, 54 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 0.92% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Sardinia spends about €1,790 a month, €530 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €539 a year for water, on the Sardinia average. In Sassari, the capital of the old province, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.31, a meal in a pizzeria €15.08 and a man's haircut €19.33.
Climate and risk
2% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 2% in a high or medium one. Under 1% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
LI JUNCHI
Eight-kilometer Bandiera Blu beach of dunes and juniper between Isola Rossa and the Coghinas, the longest in northern Gallura.
VERMENTINO DI GALLURA
Inside the only DOCG zone in Sardinia, Vermentino producers on granite-rich hillsides, the commune holds the Città del Vino designation.
COGHINAS WETLANDS
EU-protected marshland and river mouth where Gallura ends and Anglona begins, nesting site for migratory and marsh birds.
Common questions
- What is Badesi known for?
- Badesi is a Gallura commune founded by shepherding families in the 1700s, its territory running from a hilltop village down to eight kilometers of dunes at the Coghinas river mouth.
- Where is Badesi?
- Badesi is a comune in the province of Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna, in Sardinia, at 102 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Badesi?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Alghero (AHO), about 1 h 22 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Badesi?
- Best in May–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 29 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 13 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Badesi?
- Calasetta, Palau and Castelsardo.
- How many people live in Badesi?
- 1,832 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Badesi a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Badesi is at the end of the road: the nearest town of 5,000 people, Castelsardo, is 18 min away. The nearest city, Tempio Pausania, is 37 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Tempio Pausania, 21 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 102 m
- Population: 1,832
- Surface area: 31.3 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Badesi appears in
Similar
Towns like Badesi
What all six share with Badesi: near sea level
Calasetta
Province: Sulcis Iglesiente
both on the Sardinian coast · both under 3,000 people
Palau
Province: Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
both on the Sardinian coast
Castelsardo
Province: Sassari
both on the Sardinian coast
Santa Teresa Gallura
Province: Gallura Nord-Est Sardegna
both on the Sardinian coast
San Nicola Arcella
Province: Cosenza
both under 3,000 people
Galtellì
Province: Nuoro
both under 3,000 people
The letter
Read a sample letter
Chioggia | Everyone is wrong about this town
It’s not an alternative to Venice
Letters from the towns we visit. Free.
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.