Olbia is a lovely town in Sardinia. I briefly stopped here for a few hours to get some rest having travelled from Genoa and with an onward journey to Civitavecchia the following day. To save some money and to stretch my legs having been aboard a ferry for 10hrs I decided to walk to the town. Bit of a mistake as the sun was going down and I had no map, so i just followed the signs. Again, this was a mistake as the signs took me towards the motorway so it was necessary to walk along several verges therefore, if you are not the adventurous type I would suggest paying the few Euro and get a taxi! Fortunately the road was not busy and I opted for the same route back to the port the following day.
I stumbled upon a lovely little budget hotel in a back street of Olbia. It was at the far end of town so location wise it wasn't the best however, the excellent room made it worth it. Olbia has some expensive restaurants and shops which were open late into the night. Everyone dressed up as they drank fine wine and ate their meals which smelt lovely; I felt out of place walking past in my sandles, covered in sweat, sun cream and dust carrying a large backpack!
The port its self is dwarfed by giant cruise ferries which are all perfectly lined up as if waiting for the starting gun to shoot out of the port; was was almost literally the case as they all depart at roughly the same time. With this in mind get to the port early, check-in and be ready to board as the terminal gets very busy very quickly and although the ships appear very close by, it is still necessary to get on the courtesy bus from the terminal - don't do what I did and hang around for an announcement as there are none. Just ask EVERY bus driver you see whether that bus if for the ship you need.
