Guide to Sardinia and reviewing its exclusive resorts.

You might want to rethink if Sardinia is not on your shortlist for a trip. While tourists are busy debating whether gelato qualifies as a real breakfast, this Italian island loves to creep up on them and steal their hearts. Sardinia is the sort of spot where the mountains grow so suddenly you begin to feel bad about your city gym membership, and where the sea is so brilliant blue it causes you to question every other body of water you have ever seen.

Here, the beaches are almost absurdly ideal. Imagine soft, white sand going for miles, waves like someone spilt liquid sapphires, and sun so reliable you start to think it's paying you to come back next year. You might find yourself pondering profound, philosophical questions like why you own shoes or why you haven't done this sooner while lying on a towel. If you're feeling daring, there are tucked-away coves that call for a small trip to get to. But really, the real challenge is persuading yourself to leave after a day of total laziness.

Then there's the food, which is both amazing and horrible since once you taste it, your life will never feel quite full without it again. Sardinian cuisine is full of cheeses so strong that you either fall in love immediately or rethink every choice that led you here. And the pasta—oh, the pasta, particularly the fregola or malloreddus—has this crafty ability to make you forget every diet you've ever tried. You'll tell yourself you're only having a small lunch, and then all of a sudden you're ordering the whole menu and you'll feel no regret at all.

Sardinia is also a place where history casually strolls into your holiday photos. Throughout the island are these enigmatic stone buildings known as nuraghi, some of which date back to pre-Instagram times. Walking amid them, you begin to believe you have entered another world where time passes more slowly and anxieties about email replies vanish. Naturally, that fantasy ends when your phone ultimately dies, but for a few lovely hours, you can imagine you have found something hidden.

Let's be honest, though, Sardinia's tourism reflects itself. It pushes you to see your personal stereotypes. You discover yourself doing the same things you criticise on the internet, such as spending hours taking sunset photos, judging others based on their sun hats, and questioning whether you're actually absorbing culture or simply following visual trends. And that's acceptable. One of the pleasures of Sardinia is knowing you are both the observer and the visitor, a travelling critic who finally laughs at herself anyhow.

Ultimately, Sardinia is lovely, beautiful, and a little humbling. It's a location where you're encouraged to slow down, eat healthy, respect the absurdity of flawless beaches, and accept that perhaps, just perhaps, the Instagram photos weren't false. And when you return home, you will bring with you not just a tan but also a little unpleasant self-awareness and a tremendous yearning for more cheese.