Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara

The Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara opens in Iglesias, historic capital of Sardinia's Sulcis-Iglesiente mining district and a surprisingly handsome medieval city with Pisan-Aragonese fortifications and a cathedral that rivals anything in mainland Italy. From the first kilometre underfoot is the oldest limestone-dolomite rock in Italy, sitting over the lead, zinc, and silver deposits that drove centuries of intensive extraction here.

Leaving the city, the route takes on a quietly devotional character: small chapels and churches along the way are dedicated to Santa Barbara, patron saint of miners, and the path passes directly through the Santuario della Madonna del Buon Cammino, giving the day's opening stretch a particular spiritual weight that recurs throughout the cammino.

The stage is only moderately long but earns its difficulty rating from two sharp climbs rather than distance — up to the Colle del Buon Cammino (339m) and again to the Cungiaus excavations (323m) — before dropping to Nebida, a clifftop former mining village that marks the dramatic start of the coastal section proper.

A short stage that packs in a disproportionate amount of climbing and descending, threading along limestone sea cliffs with the Mediterranean immediately below. The brevity of the day leaves time to properly absorb the industrial archaeology this stretch is known for, rather than rushing past it.

The standout is Porto Flavia: an underground gallery cut directly into the cliff face in the 1920s to allow ore to be loaded straight onto ships moored below, still considered one of the most audacious feats of mining engineering on the island. Nearby, the Laveria Lamarmora ore-washing plant clings to the same cliffs, and the exposed rock strata along the path read like a cross-section of the earth's geological history.

Masua arrives with the Pan di Zucchero sea stack filling the view out to sea — a striking welcome, but a practical note is worth heeding: Masua has no food shops, only a restaurant open seasonally, so plan supplies accordingly before arriving.

The hardest stage of the coastal section, and one the route's own organisers explicitly warn against combining with the previous day. Carry at least 3 litres of water per person — there is no reliable resupply along the way — and download offline maps before setting out, since mobile signal drops out across long stretches of this exposed plateau.

The terrain's reward is geological: the Canal Grande plateau preserves fossils of some of the earliest life forms found anywhere on the planet, crossed here in full sun with essentially no shade. The old mining railway that once served these workings is still traceable underfoot, running toward the loading point at Cala Domestica, alongside the large excavation at Planu Sartu.

Cala Domestica itself — a narrow cove once used to ship ore, with a seasonal beach kiosk — is the one real reprieve on this stage, a chance to refill water and catch shade before the final push into Buggerru, a mining town with a long and difficult labour history.

A short stage that deliberately leaves the morning free to take in Buggerru's mining history before setting out. The town carries real historical weight: it was here in 1904 that striking miners were fired on by the army, an event — the eccidio di Buggerru — that became a catalysing moment in the early Italian labour movement and is still marked by a memorial in the town.

Beyond the memorial, the Galleria Henry and the town's mining museum are both worth the extra hour before departure. The trail itself follows the scenic Golfo del Leone coast road past the disused Nanni Frau mine, with the sea a constant presence below.

The day ends at the dune system of Portixeddu, where the Rio Mannu meets the sea. A practical note: outside the summer months, Portixeddu has no shops or restaurants open, so plan the evening's food before leaving Buggerru.

The final stage of the coastal section trades mining heritage for pure landscape, opening through the characteristic granite boulders and tafoni rock formations of this stretch of coast. An inland variant via Pitzinurri avoids the beach entirely and is the recommended option in strong wind or heavy seas.

The closing kilometres are the most physically demanding of the day: roughly six kilometres of soft sand and loose stone along the shore, where careful footing matters more than pace. The Capo Pecora watchtower, a lookout point on the headland, marks the transition from rocky coast to dune.

Piscinas arrives as one of the most striking landscapes on the entire cammino: the Scivu-Piscinas dune system, among the largest in Europe and home to one of the continent's largest naturist beach areas. There is no public transport here — Piscinas is genuinely isolated, reachable only on foot or by private transfer, which is part of its appeal.