A 656-steps walk overhanging the sea: the Escala de Cabirol

If you want to reach the Grotta di Nettuno (accepted that you don’t know how to do), you’d probably think you’ll need to rent a boat or to do an excursion. Not many people know that you can reach it descending along a staircase like the one you can see in the photo: it’s the Escala de Cabirol.

That literally means “staircase of the roe deer” in Catalan. An appropriate name: it’s a staircase which is 656 steps long along the steep promontory of Capo Caccia, near Alghero, and leads at the cave. Before 1959, the date when the staircase was finished, the Grotta di Nettuno could be visited just from the sea and, consequentially, only when the sea was calm.

Descend the Escala de Cabirol is particularly demanding. And it’s harder when you’ll have to climb it. Despite this, many people every year walk through it, in both directions. Visiting one of the most beautiful places in Sardinia and, at the same time, doing some physical activity.

Especially in summer, the Escala del Cabirol can give incredible panoramas, between the rocks of the cliff and the sea of this beautiful side of Sardinia. But, we should remind it, this walk is really demanding especially under the sun: before doing it, judge your physical conditions e bring with you a cap, sunglasses and a lot of water.

Image source: Flickr.com/photos/roberto_ferrari