Baja Sardinia

Baja Sardinia is the more relaxed western shoulder of the Costa Smeralda, a resort settlement gathered around a crescent of fine sand looking toward the granite scatter of the Maddalena archipelago. It carries the glamour and the price tags of the coast — boutique hotels, a hilltop piazzetta, sleek beach clubs — but in a softer, more family-leaning key than Porto Cervo proper. The serious cooking here arrives by way of the design hotels, where named chefs run sea-view kitchens built on Sardinian seafood and Mediterranean precision. It is the Costa Smeralda for those who want the polish and the panorama without the full theatre of the marina.