6 Tourist Scams in Sardinia

You rent a car from a company at Cagliari airport and return it at Olbia. The return agent inspects the vehicle carefully and claims to find damage to the underside of the bumper that was not documented at pickup. He demands payment of €300-500 for repairs. You know the scratch was there when you picked up the car, but since you did not photograph it, you have no evidence. The agent threatens to charge your card on file and blocks you from leaving until the matter is 'resolved.' The Rick Steves Travel Forum has a thread titled 'Bad experience with Sicily-by-Car in Olbia' describing this exact scenario in Sardinia. A visitor rented a car in Cagliari and returned it in Olbia, where 'the rental agent claimed damage to the underside of the bumper' — the poster noted that 'it would be unrealistic for a car in Sardinia not to have scratches underneath in normal driving and considered it an obvious scam.' A separate Rick Steves thread titled 'BEWARE! Car rental scam in Italy' describes being charged for damage that was documented on the rental agreement but the agency claimed was new. TripAdvisor's Cagliari Forum has a thread titled 'Warning, don't use! - Avis car rental Cagliari' with similar reports. Mel365.com's comprehensive Sardinia car rental guide lists the damage claim as the most common scam.

You arrive at one of Sardinia's stunning beaches expecting to lay your towel on the sand. But the beach is almost entirely occupied by rows of sunbeds and umbrellas managed by a concession operator. A staff member tells you that you must rent a set for €30-50 per day — or up to €80 at premium Costa Smeralda beaches. When you try to set up your own towel in a gap, the staff become aggressive and intimidating, insisting the entire beach is under their management. At La Pelosa, there is an additional catch: towels on the sand are banned entirely, and you must use a rigid mat or face a €100 fine. Euronews reported that Sardinia's popular beaches are 'protected with towel bans, pre-booked tickets, and entry fees,' with La Pelosa requiring a €3.50 booking fee, a cap of 1,500 visitors, and a mandatory bamboo mat purchase. Lonely Planet documented Italy's beach rules including Sardinia's 'no towels' policy. France24 reported on a wider Italian crackdown, with over €350,000 in fines for illegal beach occupation — but Italy's Dolcevia.com notes that many beach clubs operate on expired concessions, raising questions about the legality of their charges. The Local Italy describes Sardinia's beach pricing as among 'Italy's worst tourist scams,' with some Italian Riviera locations charging up to €380 per day for a sunbed.

You sit down at a lovely restaurant overlooking the sea in Alghero. A basket of bread and a dish of olives appear at your table. You enjoy your meal and ask for the bill. It includes a €2.50 per person 'coperto' (cover charge), €3 for the bread, €4 for the olives you thought were complimentary, and a 15% 'servizio' (service charge). Your €30 meal is now €45 for two people. At a premium Costa Smeralda restaurant, the surprise charges can double the expected bill. The Italian tradition of coperto is legal but often catches tourists off guard. My Sardinian Life blog explains that 'in the coperto is usually included bread' and that the average coperto in Sardinia is €2.50 per person. Rick Steves Travel Forum has a thread titled 'Service charges added onto bills in Italy' with travelers expressing frustration about unexpected charges. Away To Italy's guide to understanding Italian restaurant bills explains that coperto 'goes towards the cleaning of the linens, glassware and sometimes it is divided among the staff.' The scam element enters when tourist-oriented restaurants inflate these charges well beyond the norm, add unauthorized service charges, or bring unrequested items to the table and charge for them.

You pick up your rental car at Olbia Airport and the agent explains the fuel policy: 'full to empty' — you prepay for a full tank at the agency's rate of €2.20 per liter (versus €1.80 at local stations) and return the car empty. The problem is that it is nearly impossible to time your return with the tank exactly at empty. Most people return with a quarter tank remaining, which means you have paid for fuel you never used. The rental agency keeps the money and the leftover fuel. Mel365.com's comprehensive guide to renting a car in Sardinia explicitly warns about the 'full to empty' fuel policy: 'some companies use a full-to-empty model where you prepay for a complete tank at inflated rates, then likely return with remaining fuel — meaning you overpay.' The guide strongly recommends requesting a 'full to full' or 'same-level' policy instead. TripAdvisor's Italy forum contains multiple complaints about this fuel policy at Sardinia airports. The Rick Steves community has discussed this issue extensively, with travelers reporting that agencies push the pre-paid fuel option as 'more convenient' without disclosing that it is almost always more expensive.

You drive your rental car into the charming old center of Alghero to find your hotel. You see no 'no entry' signs that you recognize. Three months after returning home, an official-looking letter arrives from Italy: a fine of €100 for entering a ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato) without a permit, plus a €50 administrative fee charged by your rental car company for forwarding your details to the authorities. You drove through the zone for 30 seconds to reach your hotel and now owe €150. The Rick Steves Travel Forum has an entire thread titled 'TRAFFIC VIOLATION SCAMS IN ITALY' and multiple threads about ZTL fines from rental cars, including one titled 'Nightmare Italy traffic infractions with rental car.' Italian traffic authorities have up to one year to formally notify violators. The Italian consulate in Toronto confirms that ZTL fines are legitimate and enforced by cameras that automatically photograph license plates. Rental agencies charge an administrative fee (€30-75) for each fine processed, on top of the fine itself. Sardinia's historic towns all have ZTLs, and the signs are small, often only in Italian, and easy for tourists to miss.

You are walking near Cagliari's train station when a well-dressed man approaches with an elaborate story: his car broke down, he lost his wallet, and he is short exactly €2.60 for a train ticket to get home. The amount is small enough that most people hand it over without thinking. The same man tells the same story to dozens of tourists each day, collecting €50-100 daily in small amounts. The Rick Steves Travel Forum thread titled 'Sardinia — attempted scam' describes this exact scenario, with 'a man who told an elaborate story about bureaucratic problems and was short 2 euros and 60 cents for a train ticket to Cagliari.' The poster recognized it as a common scam where 'people are approached asking for donations using stories about broken cars, stolen cars, or accidents, typically requesting only a few dollars that most people will not miss.' While not dangerous, it is a deliberate deception that targets tourists' goodwill. The same technique is used across Italy, with scammers varying the specific story but always requesting a small, specific amount that seems too trivial to refuse.