Holiday apartment in Ales: Discover culture, festivals and landscapes

Ales offers a remarkable range of experiences: from handcrafted toys and medieval defensive architecture to sacred architectural history and landscape experiences. The Museo del Giocattolo in Zeppara, the Castello di Barumele and the Cattedrale di San Pietro provide cultural and historical highlights; Aquafrida on Monte Arci offers a viewpoint overlooking the Gulf of Oristano.

Holiday apartment in Ales between culture and history

The Museo del Giocattolo Tradizionale della Sardegna is located in Zeppara, a district of Ales. Its collection includes handcrafted toys made at home from materials provided by the local environment. In the museum's workshop area, visitors can try out the toys directly – an engaging introduction to a culture of making things oneself.

The Castello di Barumele is one of the most important castles of the Giudicato of Arborea and preserves a medieval fortification wall as well as a polygonal tower. Piazza Antonio Gramsci offers a different accent: it was inaugurated on 1 May 1977 and includes a symbolic cavea with steps, a black basalt block shaped like a fountain, a millstone and a triangular limestone boundary marker.

The Cattedrale di San Pietro was rebuilt in 1686 under the Genoese master builder Domenico Spotorno. Its distinctive features include a 36-metre-high main dome and a Roman-school wing organ, which is Sardinia's oldest surviving instrument. The Museo cinematografico complements the cultural themes with a permanent exhibition of historical photographs of Ales.

Landscape and excursion destinations

Aquafrida on Monte Arci offers a viewpoint overlooking the Gulf of Oristano. At the same time, Aquafrida is an equipped picnic park with dining and accommodation options. Alongside the museums and buildings, this also provides a landscape destination with a clear focus on spending time outdoors.

The remains of an old road to Ales run for extended stretches alongside the gorge of the Rio Canali. In the village of Conca de s’eda, a pre-Nuragic burial site is located at Gemitoriu. Both facts add historical traces connected with the landscape and early settlement to the overall picture.

Festivals with fixed dates

The celebration of Santa Maria in Ales includes processions and musical activities on 8 September. The celebration of San Sebastiano in Ales includes fires, Sardinian dances and processions on 20 January. The two festival dates fall in January and September; their different elements each add distinct cultural highlights to Ales throughout the year and thus provide fixed points of reference for personal travel planning.

How to get to Ales

From the SS 131, Ales can be reached via the SS 442 after approximately 18 kilometres.

Other places for your travel planning

Abbasanta, Siamaggiore, Tresnuraghes, Bauladu, San Nicolò d'Arcidano, Porto Alabe, Baratili San Pietro, Tinnura

To the higher-level travel overview: Oristano.