Life is good here!
The Lemon House
The Lemon House is our Guesthouse in Lotzorai, Ogliastra, on the east coast of Sardinia from which we provide bed & breakfast accommodation and specialist support for climbing, road cycling, mountain biking, trail running, walking and kayaking. But also eating and drinking. It takes 15 minutes to walk to the sea, and 10 minutes by car to the nearest climbing venue. We named the house after the lemon tree in front of the house with produces fruit all year round in our mild climate. If all this activity seems too tiring and you just fancy chilling out, going to the beach, and have a nice drink in a winery, you’re equally welcome!
Territory
Ogliastra on the east coast is Sardinia’s wildest and most unspoilt region. The mountains rise to over 1000m within just 20 km of The Lemon House within sight of the beautiful coastline. Our aim in this paradise for active outdoor holidays is to help our guests enjoy all the activities to the full, and enjoy a beach holiday as well! Our mild climate means you can climb, bike, walk and kayak all year round, including in the height of summer.
Beaches
The beaches in Ogliastra don’t need an introduction. You just have to google to for having a good overview! The beaches of the area are ranked in the top 10 in almost all European lists. Cala Mariolu, Cala Biriala (in the picture) not to mention the more plural Cea and Orrì
are worth a visit. Our beach in Lotzorai might not be so famous, but his clear water and nice pine tree forest are something you can bet on!
Climbing
Enjoy year-round Sardinia climbing in spectacular settings, like Elena in the photo on the climb “Vez Slavi” F6a just up the coast from us. Ogliastra is one of Sardinia’s newer climbing areas, with 900 single-pitch climbs, 130 multipitch climbs, 50 trad lines, bouldering and DWS within an hour of The Lemon House. Many of the routes were bolted by Riky, Peter and his friends, although the indiscusse bolting masters of this area are Jan Kares and Maurizio Oviglia. Choose grades from 4 to 8c+, and altitudes, climbing style and crag orientation to satisfy everyone.
Mountain bikingWe’ll be fair: we don’t do so much mountain bike! But in our closest friendship, there is the couple formed by Clait and Melina, owner ion the rental “Agri bike Ogliastra“, that is 100 mt from our home. The ex owner, Peter, is a passionate biker, and had helped found Mountainbike Ogliastra and had championed and co-authored the first mountain bike guide to Sardinia for 20 years, which includes 25 routes in Ogliastra. We did many of those, some only walking, and we sell the new guidebook, that is a “to have” tool for biking here.
Road cyclingOgliastra is great for road cycling, with traffic-free roads, fabulous scenery, climbing from sea level to 1000m in just 20 km and technical descents on good surfaces. We just bought a road bike and started to “test” our territory to enjoy it and be able to give good tips! I personally started cycling now. I’m not a great advisor, but hopefully in the future I will be able to guide clients in their trips!
WalkingFrom easy coastal walks to rugged terrain up to 1800m, with snow in winter, and Italy’s toughest trek, the Selvaggio Blu, Ogliastra offers some of the most varied walking in Sardinia. We have walked many of these routes, helped authors to document walks for their guidebooks to Sardinia (in the photo, Elena during the cleaning of a new trekking at Monte Oro) and have a wide range of guidebooks and maps for the use of our guests.
KayakingThe beaches in Ogliastra are famous throughout Italy for their beauty and cleanliness, and the coastline is perfect for sea kayaking. Of all the activities, kayaking is the one that requires least experience and is suitable for complete beginners. In the photo, we are kayaking at Cala Goloritzé with our kayaking partner Francesco Muntoni, the Sardinian reference for this sport. We can help you organise a kayak trip with an instructor including hire of the canoes.
MOUNTAIN GUIDING
We started a side project with some UIAGM Mountain Guides to offer you a better, more complete and professional offer. Check http://www.ogliastraoutdoorparadise.com for programs, rates and booking. It’s something well done!
Activities
Choose from some of the most popular activities
Photography
Riky, outdoor professional photographer, can organize 1 to 3 days of outdoor sports photography. Groups of min 4 persons. Call or mail for details.
Eating
Obviously one of the adding value reasons to come to Sardinia ia eating. I’ll be fair: vegetarians will be happy with first dishes (culurgiones are a veggie typical food), but will struggle with main courses, where meat is dominant. It’s a rural colture, where tastes are as good as simple. We discovered many nice little places where, usually on reservation, you can enjoy local cuisine out of the “standard” restaurants. Ask us in advance!
Trail Running
Out territory looks fantastic for trail running. You can run all year, totally into postcard-style locations, usually on technical terrain and with the potential of having good climbing withing a short run. My average training is about 15 km (10 miles) where I have 5/800 meters of vertical gain. I use Strava app, HERE my trails, and I will shortly publish small guidebook with a selection of trails. In October there is a big trail running competition, the Baunei UTSS, check the LINK. We take part of the competition, sometimes with decent results…
Horse Riding with Elena
We can organize horse rides, Elena (center in the picture) is passionate rider herself and we have a great link with the Cavalieri di Baunei, a great company managed by Tito (right in the picture). Tito Puccioni is a great guide, very well acknowledged about local culture, English speaking and obviously great rider! But you have to book in advance!