‘Doesn’t look like we’re going to get the Irish holiday this year. Let’s go away soon, instead.’

This was late April.

‘Okay,’ my husband said, getting out his diary. ‘When are we both free?’

We found a slot between 10 and 18 May.

‘Where shall we go?’

‘Somewhere south, cheap, a short flight, and where we’ve never been before,’ was my suggestion.

[More:]

We’re not big fans of package holidays, and decided to go for something tailor-made. We logged on to the Ryanair site. From Brussels South (which is the posh name for the cheap flight airport near Charleroi, about 30 miles from our home) you can reach dozens of holiday destinations, including Alicante, Barcelona, Malaga and Majorca. But it only took us about two minutes to settle on Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia.

I’d been on a hitch-hiking holiday on the nearby island of Corsica as a student, and just loved the wilderness, sea, mountains and feeling of strong tradition. I’d studied the Sardinian 1926 Nobel Prize winning author, Grazia Deledda, at university, and was fascinated by the harsh environment, the people, the sense of fatality. Apart from that, I knew little about Sardinia: just that they speak Sardinian there, which is a very ancient Romance language influenced by Latin, Italian, and Spanish, that it’s a popular destination for Italians in the summer, and that there’s a fancy bit called the Costa Smeralda, or Emerald Coast.

The cost of the trip was a deciding factor. We couldn’t believe it: €1.98 each for the return flight on exactly the dates we wanted. That’s £1.70. Okay, once we’d added on taxes and on-line check in and priority boarding which my husband insists on because he’s tall and needs leg space, it came to €47.12 each, which is £41.00. Not bad.

Admittedly, this is hardly luxury travel. If any of you have been on Ryanair recently, you will understand what I mean. No frills. Or pay heavily for every available frill, including a plastic cup of water on the flight. We decided not to foot the €20.00 per piece for hold luggage, and limit ourselves to the one permitted 10-kilo piece of cabin baggage (that’s a whole other story, which I will share with you soon).

But Ryanair’s top priority is to get to its destination on time, or preferably, early. You’re very unlikely to be delayed. Their system is efficient. You just have to accept that you’re going to be treated like cattle, and suspend dignity for the duration of the journey.

Five hours after closing our front door at home, we were in our hotel room in Cagliari. Sardinia turned out to be an absolute dream. Very few tourists, deserted beaches

and coves,

sunshine every day except one, clear air filled with the scent of wild flowers,

long days, walks,

gorgeous inexpensive places to stay,

traditional celebrations,

women dressed just as I had imagined,

wonderful archaeological sites.

But all that will come in later stories.

Meanwhile, if you’re thinking of a Sardinian holiday in the next few months, avoid July and August like the plague: way too hot and crowded. I’ve just checked the Ryanair website. Here’s one of many cheap options: you can get from Stansted to Alghero (we would have flown to Alghero rather than Cagliari had I known it was in northern Sardinia!) for £0.00 (yes, zero pounds return) leaving on 3 September and returning on 17 September. With online booking and taxes, the cost is £20.00. Probably by the time you read this the price will have changed, but if you’re flexible with your dates, you’re bound to find something. In September the days won’t be as long as in May, but it will still be beautiful!