I’ve been to 9 Italian islands, but there’s only one I keep going back to

Narrow, colourful streets and delicious seafood await here (Picture: Stefy Morelli/Getty Images)

Claudia Tavani is a Sardinian travel writer and the founder of Strictly Sardinia, a website dedicated to her home. She tells our Travel Editor Alice Murphy about the Italian island she loves most (it’s not Sardinia).

I’ve traveled extensively throughout Italy and have visited well over nine islands, including Sicily, Sardinia where I was born and raised, San Pietro, Sant’Antioco, La Maddalena, Caprera, Tavolara, Stromboli and Vulcano.

If I had to pick my favourite, it would have to be San Pietro, off the southwest coast of Sardinia.

I visit all the time — in fact, I’m going back next week.

Foreigners hardly know about San Pietro, but Sardinians love it.

What makes it interesting is that, culturally, it feels quite different from Sardinia.

Its main (and only) town, Carloforte, was founded in the 18th century by the Tabarchini – Ligurian families whose ancestors had previously settled on the Tunisian island of Tabarka. That history is still very much alive.

The wild coastline of San Pietro, with volcanic cliffs plunging into turquoise waters (Picture: Andrea Tabaro/Getty Images)

Locals speak Tabarchino, an old Ligurian dialect, and the island’s food combines Ligurian, Sardinian and North African influences.

The town looks a bit like Genoa, with scenic caruggi (narrow alleys with colourful buildings).

But food, to be honest, is one of my main reasons for returning.

Carloforte has an extraordinary tuna-fishing tradition – it’s famous for the mattanza that typically takes place in June, a centuries-old ritual for trapping and harvesting Mediterranean blue-fin tuna.

It also has some excellent seafood restaurants, and if you visit during tuna season, many offer excellent dishes where tuna is the main ingredient.

Other local specialties include cascà, the Carloforte version of couscous.

The atmosphere in San Pietro changes dramatically with the seasons. In summer, Carloforte and the rest of the island are incredibly lively.

It is a popular holiday destination for people from southern Sardinia, yet it remains surprisingly little known to international visitors.

A place foreigners don’t seem to know (Picture: Marcus Lindstrom/Getty Images)

I was there in early August this year and took a boat tour around the island.

Despite it being the peak of the Italian summer season, we saw only a fraction of the number of boats you would encounter around heavily visited places, such as La Maddalena.

Beyond the food and culture, San Pietro has beautiful beaches, impressive cliffs, salt pans and some spectacular sunset viewpoints.

It’s also an island shaped by the weather: strong winds are very common, and they are part of the experience of being there.

That’s why I always recommend to give yourself plenty of time on the island.

We only managed to do the boat tour I mentioned above, after years of trying and having it cancelled because of the wind.

I’ve also visited San Pietro outside the summer season, when it becomes much quieter but is still a very pleasant place to spend a few days.

That’s one of the reasons I keep going back: it isn’t somewhere I associate only with beaches or a summer holiday.

I genuinely enjoy being in Carloforte, eating there, walking around town and seeing how its character changes throughout the year.

As told to Alice Murphy.

Claudia Tavani is the founder of Strictly Sardinia, a travel website dedicated to her home island.

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