Domu Antiga

Domu Antiga

In Gergei, a village stacked into the plateaus of Sardinia's Sarcidano, a guest can walk into the courtyard before breakfast and collect her own eggs from the henhouse, then watch the bread come out of the same wood-fired oven that has scented this house since the early 1800s. Domu Antiga is a four-room B&B built into that original stone building, restored by owner Samuel and his family with stone, lime, cork and river reed, and the walls keep the rooms at a steady temperature through the year, unaffected by the swing of seasons outside. Each of the four doubles has its own bathroom, air conditioning and a juniper-wood balcony opening onto the cobbled lane below; the headboards are dressed in orbace, a wool traditional to the island, and the rugs and bedspreads come from local craftsmanship rather than a supplier catalogue. Meals, cooked by Maria Grazia, are served under the old portico or by the fireplace, and guests who want to do more than eat can join her for a hands-on course in Sardinian cooking, learn to turn milk into pecorino and ricotta with Samuel, or bake civraxiu and cocoi bread themselves. The Sinnos dairy is a walk away in Gergei's old center; a short drive reaches a copper and textile museum in Isili, the nuragic complex of Su Nuraxi, and the sanctuary of Santa Vittoria. This suits someone who wants a slow stay in a small inland Sardinian town and enjoys learning a craft on holiday, not someone looking for a resort with a pool and a lobby bar. That's the one thing here you won't find at a resort down the coast. In Gergei's old town, this four-room B&B in an 1800s stone house has guests gathering eggs from the courtyard henhouse, learning to make pecorino, and baking bread in the original wood oven. It suits travelers wanting a hands-on stay in inland Sardinia, not a resort.