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Now let the city of be doing hello, my name is Claudia. I was born and raised in Sardinia and I still call it home. I am the mastermind behind the Streetly Sardinia Travel Blog and now the Streetly Sardinia Podcast where each week I'll bring you the best Sardinia has to offer and share my most useful tips that will help you plan ahead. Memorable trip to my wonderful island in the last episode I talked to you about the best archaeological sites in Sardinia. This week I will share with you all you need to know about the Sardinia Blue Zone and how to visit. Let me stress that you will find a more detailed version of today's episode on my blog streetleastsardinia.com as always, you'll find the link to my blog post in today's episode description, so don't forget to read that for more information. And now the Sardinia Blue Zone. Where is it? Why does it matter and how can you visit? You may have heard about the Sardinia Blue Zone in a documentary or read about it in a paper once and will surely have a bunch of questions. Let me be clear. Sardinia's Blue Zone isn't the whole island. It's a cluster of small mountain towns and villages in the regions of Barbaja and Olgiastra where people, especially men, reach 100 years old at rates that astonish researchers. They eat simple food, they exercise daily, they have tight knit families and live a slower paced life. Now the Spardinia Blue Zone became famous with the docu series down to Earth with Zac Efron, which you may have seen on Netflix, and this caused an upsurge of tourism in more rural areas of Sardinia you can only experience Expect this to increase now that there are direct flights from JFK New York to Obia Costa Esmeralda Airport as of May 2026. You probably want to learn the secrets as to why Sardinians live such long lives and visit the small towns where the centenarians live. I have been to a bunch of them. In fact, somebody in my immediate family got to live more than a hundred years old and there were articles in the paper too. Now, just to be clear, Sardinia is the first ever declared Blue Zone. By that we refer to a region of the world where a large part of the population, compared to other places, lives up to a hundred years old. There are five Blue Zones in the world. The others are Okinawa in Japan, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, Icaria in Greece, and Loma Linda in California in the United States. The first person that introduced the concept of Blue Zone in the early 2000s was the French scholar Michel Poulain. He paired up with Gianni Pess, who's been studying the longevity of Sardinians for more than 20 years. And together they mapped the Blue Zones until their official acknowledgment in 2016. The locations are named Blue Zones after an anecdote. Basically, they just use a blue marker, draw circles on the map in order to identify the areas with the longest living populations in Sardinia. The two researchers, and with them Dan Buettner, who soon joined the research, were fascinated by the longevity of Sardinia. So where is the Blue Zone in Sardinia? As I said before, the entire island is a Blue Zone. It's a natural area where ultracentenarian saturnarians live, is limited to a cluster of villages in the regions of Ugliastra and Barbaja and in the following villages, specifically Villa Grandestrisaili, Artsana, Talana, Baune, which you may know because of the incredible beaches of the Baune coast, Urtsulei, Trier, and now in the Parpagian region, Tiana Ovoda Ololai, which you may know because he made the news about a year ago for the sale of the 1 Euro houses in Sardinia. Gavoi Fonni, which is the only ski station in Sardinia, Mamoyada, famous for its carnival, Orgozolo, famous for the many murals, Olena, which is one of the many small towns of the Otunim Barbaja festival. And as of September 2025, we have a new small town added to the Sardinia Blue Zone. And this is the town of Arzakena in the Galura region, or better for you maybe to identify it. In the Emerald coast of Sardinia, there are several microfactories that are exclusive to the Blue Zone, but researchers managed to pinpoint a few of them that make this long life miracle possible. Let me tell you a bit more about them. So, first of all, the food. Food is one of the main reasons for everything that happens to our body. If we follow a nice balanced diet, we'll feel better and probably never suffer from severe health problems. And this is exactly what the people in the Blue Zone do. The average diet of Sardinians, and especially that of Sardinians living in the Blue Zone, is rich in antioxidants and omega 3 acids, which are essential to a healthy heart. Sardinians love eating their traditional dishes and usually cook in a very healthy way. Now, people in the Blue Zone don't follow a particular diet, so don't come here thinking that they're vegan or vegetarians or that they only eat fish or seafood they just eat a little bit of everything. They prefer seasonings like olive oil to things like butter, which are higher in saturated fats. They eat small amounts of homemade and homegrown products like cheese, like, for example, the famous pecorino cheese. They also eat lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of legumes, and consume meat sporadically, like for example, for a Sunday meal. It's somewhat related to the traditional culture of Sardinia. Sardinian people are quite religious overall, believing God and attending mass. And at this time, they believe that eating meat is a celebration. But there's one more secret. There's a Sardinian wine called cannonau, whose chemical compositions favors the body's wellness. And if drunk in moderate quantities, and this is exactly what happens here, give Sardinia another great alley for longer life. Another factor that contributes to Sardinian in the Blue Zone living so long is exercising. Don't think of anything like going to the gym, spending hours at the pool, which is what I do. They won't go on any of those challenging hikes. In Sardinia, exercising comes very naturally when you live in more rural areas. They people in these areas walk everywhere. They live in small towns, so they will not take the car to go visit their friends. They will not take the car to walk to their vegetable garden, which they need to attend. This area, the Sardinia Boutzone, is also very mountainous. And combine that with the healthy diet that I told you about, the fact that they have very social, very strong social bonds. This means that people in this part of the world walk a lot. They take a walk to go chat with their friends, and believe me, they are quite strong people and quite fit. Talking about the social bonds, family is everything for people in the Sardinian Blue Zone. Modern society, you see, often thinks of elderly people as a burden. There is a general lack of respect for them. Younger generations see them as fragile. In the Blue Zone communities, they have great respect and great care for their elder, who are not a burden at all. They are integrated, a valued part of the family. Two or three generations often live under the same roof. Older people in the Sardinian Blue Zone share the valuable opinions. They participate in social activities and for a variety of reasons. For example, lack of kindergartens and nurseries. They are busy. They take care of their grandchildren all the time. The feeling of being loved and being part of a family, of having a purpose, keeps them young, keeps their mental and emotional health steady. In Sardinia, we see the older generations as wise teachers. They have lived the longest. They have lots of stories to tell. They know how to better crop plants, they know the secrets of healthier livestock. So of course we take good care of them and we listen to them. Long story short, no one in the small towns of the Sardinian Bouzon would ever think of placing the family members that are older in older people's residences. This way they live a communal life that is emotionally better. They are always part of something. And this is my next point. There is little space for individualism. Older people are no exception to this rule. They take part in everything related to the village, from simple personal gardening tasks to organizing festivals and events. Small towns in Sardinia are quite religious, so even going to church is an essential part of the community's well being. No one is ever forgotten or left out. They have festivals they participate in with their traditional costumes of Sardinia. And this leads me to one last important factor that makes Sardinia one of the five Blue zones in the world. There is no smoking. That's it. The fact that tobacco smoking considerably shortens our lifespan shouldn't be a surprise. People from the Sardinia Blue zone hardly ever smoke. They live free of major stressful events. There is no rush to do anything, no social pressure, and many people feel the urge to smoke. People from the small towns aren't obsessed with their health. They just live naturally, a healthier life. They're not heavy drinkers, they're not smokers, and overall it's a nicer, satisfactory life. But how? Now let's see. How can you experience the Blue Zone in Sardinia? Let me give you a few few tips. First of all, pick a good base. Of course you can visit the Blue Zone on day trips. I suggest staying in the area to experience it a little bit more. Pick a base in Nuoro or perhaps or Gozolo, which is a lovely small town. Even the towns of La Nuse and Baune in the Olasa region. But if you want better choice of accommodation, you could stay in Santa Maria Navarrese, which is a coastal town on the Boune coast. Or Tortoli, which is nearby in Ugliastra. What can you do? So I suggest spending 3, 4 days in the area to enjoy a bunch of things. First of all, attend the Autuno in Barbaja festival. Fall in Barbaja. It's one of the best festivals in Sardinia. Especially good if you visit Sardinia in October. But celebrations start in September and end in December. The calendar is published in August. So make sure that you look at the calendar to learn which towns are hosting the event and when. Basically, there's a different town hosting an event, hosting the festival every weekend starting in September. And all the way till December in the region of Barbaja. This is your chance to observe local crafts tradition. Listen to traditional singing, music, dancing. Try to have a shepherd's walk and lunch or dinner. Ask locally for a reputable shepherd where you can experience a traditional lunch. There are some cases where you can go with a guide and sometimes guides actually organize even nights and stays at this shepherd's. You sleep in very basic conditions, but it's an interesting experience. You could visit the Ethnographic Museum of Nuoro. It's one of the best museums in Sardinia to learn about local traditions. You could join a cooking class to make one of the many dishes that we love here in Sardinia. There are cooking classes all over the island. Finally, you could go on a hike in the Supramonte region. There are many hiking trails in the area. I particularly recommend one of the many trails that go into the Goropo Gorge, one of the deepest canyons in Europe. Now, what to eat and drink in the Blue Zone? There is no specific Sardinia blouson recipe or diet, as I said before. And if they try to sell you that, they're sort of preying on the fact that you're a tourist. Here are a few dishes that you might want to try regardless. First of all, Coulurgiones traditional stuffed pasta typical of the Oliassa region. By the way, if you pop on my site, I do have a recipe for great pani carazao, one of traditional breads from Sardinia. You can also observe a carazao bread making workshop during the Ottunnim Barbaja festival. Pani Fratau which is made with layers of pani caracao, plain tomato sauce, Sardinian pecorino cheese and topped with a poached egg ceadas, which are Sardinia's famous fried and honey pastries. Obviously Sardinian pecorino cheese. In the winter months you could have a soup like minestrone or the more traditional Minestra di Merca, which is typical of the Barbaja region. Merca is a cheese by the way. And finally there's can Nonao wine that you can drink. But remember, most people in the Blue Zone only drink very sparingly. Now finally, a respect checklist. This applies to anywhere in the world. If you're taking photo of someone, make sure to ask permission privilege buying from small local producers anytime you have a chance. And some stay at a local atriagriturismo if you can. There are a bunch in Sardinia. I have a selection of that of them on my site. So make sure to read that too. Remember to keep the level of noise down. People here in Sardinia are not loud and you may want to adapt to that and finally dispose of any trash appropriately. We are quite strict about recycling and differentiating our garbage here in Sardinia. There are a bunch of guided tours that go to the streetly to the to the Blue Zone of Sardinia. You can take day trips if you prefer, but and here is the big news. Streetly Sardinia has partnered with Cancu Travels and offers a multi multi day guided tour of the Sardinia Blue Zone that visits Cagliari, visits archaeological sites in South Sardinia, goes wine tasting, explores the churches of and Dolianova and goes to the Sardinia Blue Zone. Final considerations to do and to have nothing. Just make sure that you visit the Sardinia Blue Zone when you are in Sardinia next time this brings me to the end of my episode. Before I share the topic of the next episode, let me remind you that if you ever need more tips to plan your Sardinia trip, you can book a one hour travel consultation with me. The link for that is in the episode description, so make sure to read that. Of course there's my blog, streetlysardinia.com that has even more tips to plan your trip and is 100% free to read. Now next week I will be talking about the lovely town of Boza. Finally, if you like my podcast, make sure to share it with your friends who are coming to Sardinia. Give it a five star rating and a good review and until next week, goodbye.