Itinerary: C1, C2, C3, C4
Oristano
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Description
Oristano is a very flat place located near the river Tirso but has a historic centre which is a pleasure to wander around and explore, and it sees relatively few tourists. It is not a bad place to pick up some handicrafts, including copies of the distinctive masks worn during the Sa Sartiglia festival held every year during Carnevale, and has a seafood based cuisine a little different to the rest of the Island. It is also the centre for production of a dessert wine called Vernaccia (equally as good as an aperitivo) and has its own style of traditional sweets and biscuits.
From Oristano it is possible to make several day trips to surrounding areas including to several parts of the coast on and near the Sinis Peninsula, to the ruins of the Punic/Roman city of Tharros (in summer only), and even up to the medieval river based town of Bosa.
The town can be fairly confusing when you first arrive, so arriving with a map is a must.
If you arrive at the train station (C1, C2, C3, C4) cross the piazza full of parked cars out the front and head off west along Via Vittorio Veneto. After a short while you arrive in the small piazza of St Efisio, entering the piazza alongside the light coloured stone church of the same name. Standing in front of the door of this church, as if you had just exited from it, Via Vittorio Veneto exits from the Piazza straight ahead of you. Continue to follow Via Vittorio Veneto until it finshes at a junction with Via Lepanto, where you turn left and immediately enter into the large tree filled Piazza Mariano. Cross this Piazza keeping to the left hand side and exit following Via Giuseppe Mazzini all the way until its junction with Via Tirso where there is an open Piazza (Piazza Roma) to the left containing a large stone bell tower (Torre di Mariano II). Leaving this piazza from behind the tower is Corso Umberto 1 which marks the centre of the historic part of town and is full of people in the evenings. It is a 15 minute walk to this point from the FS station.
To get to the FdS (ex PANI) bus stop (C3, C4) Walk from Piazza Roma roughly North along via Tirso for a few blocks and turn right into Via Lombadia. The FdS (ex PANI) buses arrive and depart from outside the Bar located on Via Lombardia near the junction with Via Calabria. Tickets can be bought in the same Bar.
From Piazza Roma it is also only a 5 minute walk to the ARST Bus Satation (C2, C3, C4). Walk along Corso Umberto 1, through the Piazza Eleonora di Arborea and along Via Eleonora until you hit the Duomo. Turn left and follow along Via Vittorio Emanuele II a short distance before finding and entering the small lane to the right (Vico Episcopio) where there will be visible the back door into the Bus Station. Otherwise enter from Via Cagliari.
There are several accommodation options available in Oristano, see our accommodation section for a few ideas.
