Genoa's Doria family founded Alghero as a fortified port around 1102; the Crown of Aragon seized it in 1354 and resettled the town with Catalan families, whose descendants still speak Alguerese, a Catalan dialect co-official since 1997 and a mother tongue for roughly a quarter of residents — unique in Italy. Ferdinand the Catholic's 16th-century bastions, seven towers and three forts, still wall the harbour side of the old town. Alghero-Fertilia Airport, 10km out, runs year-round mainland routes to Rome and Milan, not just summer charters. Red coral, worked by local corallari for centuries, gave the coast its name, Riviera del Corallo.
Nights sit around 19°C and afternoons around 25°C, though some days reach 30°C.
Alghero has real seasons: summer afternoons sit around 27°C, winter ones around 13°C.
Some summer days reach 34°C, and some winter nights drop to 6°C.
Most of the rain falls in autumn, least in summer. In November it rains about 11 days in 30; in July, 0.
Wind is rarely an issue; most months sit between calm and a light breeze. The air stays clean through the year.
Days stretch to about 14.9 hours of light in June and shrink to 9.1 in December — something to weigh if you work to a fixed timezone.
For what you're after, the best months in Alghero are July – August. Expect fast internet (283 Mbps) and a moderate cost of living (about €1450 a month).
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