It's a nice start to our stay and we laugh at the romantic silliness of it all over the first of many delicious ice creams in the Piazza Civica. A walk around the Algherese walls could be wasted by arm-swingers in a short afternoon but it took us a couple of days (blame the ice cream parlours) to find our bearings and a further few days to be able to stride like a local. Join the passagiata, the locals' evening saunter through the town, and you'll catch a glimpse of most of what's on offer. And that's as it should be, because to visit Alghero and to expect a hustle-bustle holiday with late nights and afternoon risings would be folly indeed.

The Catalan influence is everywhere . . .Alghero is still sometimes referred to as 'Barcelloneta'. The town was founded by the Genoese Doria family in 1102 but was conquered by the Catalan and Aragonese in 1353.

The architecture of the town walls and many of the streets and buildings date from the 14th and 16th centuries. The cathedral of Santa Maria has two 'front' doors, one pointing to Barcelona, the other opened towards Rome when the Italians reclaimed control of the area in the 18th century. Official street signs here are the only ones in Italy on which the government allows the use of two languages.

The Catalans stayed for 400 years and the Algherese dialect, still spoken by the older generation, is a mix of Catalan and Italian.

Many of the prominent features . . . the buildings, the outlook towers along the town walls, Jack B's teeth . . . have a golden hue but nothing feels olde-worlde contrived. That false yellow tinge is only really seen on the strip of hotels built along the sandy Lido beach heading north to the imposing Copa Caccia headland but even they are built with the conservation of a certain style of resort in mind.

Porto Terra, the most impressive of the seven defensive towers, was once the main entry point to Alghero by sea and it's a good starting/finishing point to discover the town jewels. One of our favourites is the charming 15th century church of San Francesco on Via Machin, home to summer classical music concerts the adjoining cloister. Another is the Catalan-Gothic cathedral on Piazza Duomo.

The cafe bars on any of the piazzas, which are the nodal links to the numerous cobbled streets, provide the best position for peoplewatching. Eating and drinking here is not particularly cheap, especially if you choose one of the restaurants close to the town walls with views over Copa Caccia. There's plenty of choice, though, from the standard pizzeriastyle joint to the high-class restaurants which we found to be quiet and too expensive for the quality of food we received. Wherever you choose, try the malloreddus, a local pasta speciality made with minced sausage and tomato, and wash it down with an Ichnusa beer. The Spanish influence is also evident on the menus with gazpacho and paella dishes featuring prominently.

Skip dessert because you simply can't visit Alghero, or any part of Italy for that matter, without stopping at one of the many icecream parlours. For someone who has insisted that nobody, and I mean nobody, could improve on a Golly Bar for creamy perfection, my thoughts cooled somewhat when sampling Sard-style yoghurt ice cream. Love at first bite.

If you're going to indulge at all, you may as well do it properly. On the road to the worldrenowned 1,600-acre Sella and Mosca vineyard, we get a fleeting glimpse of Sardinian life.

Locals are proud of their island heritage and say they are very much Sard before Italian.

During our tour of the vineyard, regression was rampant as every single adult wore the look of a giddy kid with a golden ticket to the chocolate factory. (Swear to God, there was even a river of red wine. ) Of the wines we tasted, the refreshing La Cala was the best white while the Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva is an award-winning red to be kept for special occasions, such as Friday and Saturday nights.

The northwest coastline of Sardinia is quite breathtaking and that's why the Aga Khan came a-knockin' in the late 1950s looking to set up a sun-kissed playground for the rich and famous. Locals were having none of it, however, and he was forced to buy his 5,000 hectares of coastline, piece by piece, on the slightly less appealing northeast coast instead. The Costa Smeralda, as it's now known, is the kind of place where celebrities go to make a song and dance in front of the Italian paparazzi about getting away from it all. It's best avoided; the people spoil the views.

The promontory of Copa Caccia is known as the 'giant in the sea' because when viewed from a certain vantage, it looks like a horizontal pot-bellied person with their head, torso and feet above water. To stand on the shoulder of this giant will remind city slickers that nature is a beast not to be messed with. The waves smash against the rocks and the spray gives you a free salt-shower . . . it's not one for the wobbly of knee.

There are 654 stone steps down from one point in Copa Caccia to the area's most famous tourist attraction, Neptune's Grotto. If you're feeling brave, go right ahead but remember that what goes down, must come up. We opted for a boat trip from the Alghero marina instead, which in itself was hairy enough when getting off at the cave entrance, but the views back to the town, the beaches and of course the headland itself were more than worth the 12 fee.

Neptune's Grotto is a series of natural lime caves formed over many thousands of years, which looks like a film set from Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a must-see, if only to see the head-to-toe covering of stalagmites and stalactites that dominate the caves.

Watersports enthusiasts will be in their element in Alghero, with everything from speedboating to snorkelling available from any of the beaches. One of the beaches, Le Bombarde, is hilarious. A favourite with Italian tourists, especially in August when most who consider Sardinia 'abroad' take their holidays, there's an unwritten rule that no Milky Bar men who can do an excellent Copa Caccia impression in the bath are allowed to do their best Adonis impression here. Oops.

Childish, yes, but hilarious.

On our final day, we go for one last walk through Barcelloneta when we spot our friend Jack B. He's wearing that same arty face as he fixes a young English girl with a stare and asks for her name. We stall a while and watch as he darts his eyes between his new muse and the unfurling masterpiece. All the while, her boyfriend is leafing through the notes in his wallet. Jack B's handwriting hasn't improved in the last week so he recites the poem. "The light is the smile, the smile is the light. . ."

Ever get the feeling you're in the wrong business?

THE FACTS

Getting there Sunway Travel is the sole Irish agent travelling to Sardinia. Its weekly Saturday charter starts on 14 May and continues until 1 October.

Staying there One week's self-catering in the three-star Bouganvillea Apartments, situated across from the Lido beach and beside the Pizza al Metro restaurant, starts from 469 per person sharing. A week's bed and breakfast in the sumptuous four-star Carlos V Hotel, which will reopen on 1 July after renovations, starts from 779 per person.

Further information Sunway Travel (www. sunway. ie, 01 2886828); Italian state tourist office (www. enit. it, freephone 00800 00482542).