Forte Village resort captures the island at its best, with meals that make your heart sing, salty sea air, a seriously restorative spa, and a lush landscape of tropical plants and flocks of pink flamingos.
When you want to eat deliciously, Italy is always a primo destination. And when you want to eat deliciously and healthfully—food freshly pulled from the sea, soil, or farm, locally grown, full of nutrition, under sunny skies or starry nights with the sound of waves tapping the sand—head to a Blue Zone in Italy, namely Sardinia.
And more specifically, Forte Village, a resort that sprawls across roughly 50 hectares of Mediterranean flora and soft white sand on the island’s southern coast. True to its name, it’s essentially a small village designed around incredible food, stunning scenery, joy, and wellbeing. There are eight hotels and over a dozen villas that provide any style of living one might desire, whether beachy, secluded in greenery, sprawling, or warm and cozy. Pretty paths meander through the grounds, leading you to outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, spots to sit, places to dine, and an indoor-outdoor spa. Cars are replaced by bicycles and golf carts. It is calm when you want it to be, and hopping at more festive hours. The verdant landscape, surrounding mountains (you can hike them for spectacular views of the sunrise), blue-green sea, and an astonishing population of pink flamingos capture the beauty of this island, which is closer to Tunisia than to mainland Italy, with a history that reaches back to 1800 BC. It’s worth taking an afternoon field trip to Nora, an ancient Phoenician and Roman city with mosaics and temple ruins, and when you do, hire Maria Paola Loi, an incredibly knowledgeable local guide.
As much as the atmosphere and historical relevance feeds your soul, it’s the food here that literally will feed your every craving. There are twenty-one restaurants to explore that range from casual pizza and tiki drinks with sushi (we are on the ocean, after all), to gourmet Sardinian mind-blowers helmed by Michelin-starred chefs. For real star cred, Beachcomber by Heinz Beck is the headliner. Beck earned three Michelin stars for his restaurant in Rome and personally oversees the menu, bringing his super-high standards and talented flavor-building to the coast. Another standout is Belvedere Restaurant, where Chef Giuseppe Molaro uses Japanese techniques combined with a Mediterranean POV, and Ristorante Sardo goes Sardinian-traditional, with dishes that honor the island’s shepherding traditions.
Meanwhile the Acquaforte Thalasso & Spa, is another draw. Thalassotherapy is a practice that dates back to Sardinia’s Nuragic civilization. Water drawn from offshore is enriched with magnesium and salt until it’s nearly twice as saline as the Dead Sea. You become weightless when floating in it and the mineral content is said to ease inflammation and improve circulation. Here, there’s a six-pool circuit, ranging in salinity and temperature. You can even book a massage that takes place in a salty pool, along with other blissful treatments and bespoke wellness retreats (4–7 days) that focus on holistic metabolic balance and recovery.
Outside the spa, the landscaping of indigenous plants is as relaxing as any massage. The resort maintains its greenery with biological pest control and has been running reforestation efforts in nearby Sardinian countryside, planting olive, carob, and wild pear trees. When strolling the paths, you will see birds and insects you’d miss in a more manicured resort.
A note on travel: The food journey can start before you even get here. ITA Airways now flies direct to Rome from several U.S. cities (a very short connecting flight will take you to Sardinia), and in business class, the airline highlights Italian cuisine with menus created each season by Michelin-starred chefs. Color-shifting cabin lighting is timed to the rhythm of the day, creating a calm, restaurant-like atmosphere that gets you in the country’s food mood.
Photos courtesy of Forte Village