Italy beach caps at La Pelosa and Tuerredda require €3.50 entry fees

Two of Sardinia's most photographed beaches now gate entry through a booking site and a QR scan at the sand and walk-ups get turned away during peak hours.

Booking, QR code, entry fee

La Pelosa in Stintino caps admission at 1,500 people a day between May 15 and Oct. 15, with QR checks running 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the info-point and access walkways. The fee is €3.50 ($3.80) per person, one reservation per day, up to four people per booking. Half the daily allocation, 500 slots, sits open all season; the other 1,000 drop two days before the visit date.

Tuerredda in Teulada runs a tighter operation: 1,100 visitors a day, €3 ($3.24) per person, up to six per reservation, from June 2 to Oct. 15. Bookings open at 8 a.m. for the next day only, so planning a week ahead isn't possible here. QR checks run the same 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. window.

Children under 12 don't count against either cap and shouldn't be added to the Tuerredda reservation at all.

What travelers should do differently

Anyone building a Sardinia itinerary around these two beaches needs to reverse the usual planning order: pick the beach date first, then the accommodation. Tuerredda's next-day-only release means setting an 8 a.m. Italy-time alarm the morning before and having the booking site open with passport details ready. La Pelosa is more forgiving because of the season-long 500-slot pool, but the 1,000 late-release slots move fast in July and August.

Bring the QR code on a phone that will actually get signal at the entrance or screenshot it. Staff scan at the walkways, not at a distant car park, so there's no talking past the check.

Rules vary beach by beach across the island. Cala Mariolu, Cala Brandinchi and others run their own systems with different caps and windows, so a booking for one Sardinian beach covers nothing else. More context on regional entry quirks sits in the Italy guide.