Sorrento

Overview

Sorrento's orange and lemon groves, its seductive light and deep blue sea, its charm and peacefulness, all add up to a little piece of magic. It is built on a reddish tufa rock about 50 metres above the sea. Sitting in the gardens of Villa Comunale you can see stunning views of Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples. Sorrento is a very pretty old town and from the harbour it's possible to catch a ferry to Naples, Amalfi and Capri.

There's not much sightseeing to do in Sorrento, so lazy walks around the town are all that's called for. There are many tourist shops as well as more upmarket boutiques selling clothes, perfume and jewellery.

In the centre of Sorrento is Piazza Tasso, named after the town's favourite son, the poet Torquato Tasso (1544-95), whose famous poem La Gerusalemme Liberta, modelled on Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid, is considered to be the best Italian example of a Renaissance epic. The Sedile Dominova, a strange Renaissance loggia with a 17th century majolica dome, is used as a meeting place for the Sorrento men where they gather to play cards, talk politics, drink coffee and read newspapers. The baroque church of San Francesco, with its medieval cloister hosts summer classical music events.

There is a wide variety of accommodation in Sorrento from hotels perched on the cliff edge with terraces looking out across the bay to self-catering apartments. English is widely spoken so there should be no communication problems. The blue SITA buses that run between Sorrento and Amalfi can become very crowded so avoid peak times if you can and get to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare before its departure. There is the also the Circumvesuviana metro train that goes to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples among many other destinations.