Riga to Olbia, Sardinia from €147

🌍 About Olbia, Sardinia

Most people land at Olbia and bolt straight for the Costa Smeralda beaches, but the town itself earns a half-day. The Gulf of Olbia is Sardinia's largest mussel and clam farm — roughly 5,000 tonnes a year, with beds going since 1920 — so the cozze and fregola con arselle (toasted-pasta-pearls with clams) here are about as fresh as shellfish gets. The dish to actually order is zuppa gallurese, which despite the name isn't soup but baked layers of stale bread, sheep's cheese and broth. Worth a look too: the Basilica di San Simplicio, a spare 11th-century church built entirely from local granite. Come May, June or September — warm and walkable, and far cheaper than the July–August crush when the yacht crowd descends and prices spike. The sea stays bracing until late June.