DINING
Most restaurants in Costa Smeralda are outrageously expensive. They're also outrageously delicious (Giovanni's is the best), but in Italy you don't have to pay a lot for good food. However, in Costa Smeralda those places are difficult for tourists to find because they are off the beaten path. One such place is La Vecchia Costa (tel.: tel. 39-07899-8688). It's inland, and is known as the best pizza place in the area. It's also the cheapest (a margharita cost just �uro 3.50 [$4.50], which is why you'll find a line of locals out the door. La Vecchia Costa also serves Terre Brune Carignano del Sulcis, Sardegna's best wine -- which can only be found on the island -- for just �uro 29 ($37).

CAF� SPINNAKER
Another reasonable restaurant that does not require a lot of driving is Caf� Spinnaker. They too have excellent pizza and gelato. Caf� Spinnaker, Res. Alba Ruja - Liscia di Vacca - 07020 Porto Cervo; tel.: 39-0789-91226.

HOTEL CALA DI VOLPE
The 125-room Hotel Cala di Volpe is regarded as the best hotel in Costa Smeralda, and possibly all of Europe. In 2005 Cond� Nast Traveler magazine listed it as "One of the World's Best Places to Stay in Europe." Be sure to have plenty of credit left on your card, because this place costs $2,500 a night in the high season. Pulling up to the hotel with its traditional architecture and colored tiles, you feel like you're visiting a charming fishing village. If you can't manage to find a vacancy, at least have drinks on the patio overlooking Cala di Volpe Bay. When we were there we watched them set up an incredible ($1,000 a person) dinner buffet, at which Enrique Inglese performed by the Olympic-size saltwater swimming pool. Hotel Cala di Volpe, Costa Smeralda, Porto Cervo 07020; tel.: 39-0789-976111. For more click HERE.