Naples - East to the Sorrento Peninsula Travel Guides | Naples | Sub Regions | Naples - East to the Sorrento Peninsula

Perched on a plateau above the sea, Sorrento is a seaside town strangely detached from the sea. It's there, but it's a long way down, or perhaps more pertinently, a long way back up afterwards. In a day here you're likely to hear as many English voices as you would in a month in Naples. The Grand Tourists of the 19th century gradually retreated from Naples to this more genteel base and two centuries later they're still here in their busloads. It remains a very civilized place but coming from Naples it can seem a little tame – a pallid version of its big neighbour. It is however, much more at wease with tourisn and with itself in general.

It's a relaxed and laid-back town, however, and a good base from which to explore the surrounding hills and coast, some of which is spectacular. The mountainous Sorrento Peninsula has an excellent network of paths running between its many villages and has some good walks, with spectacular views over the Bay of Naples, across to Capri and along the Amalfi Coast.

Sights

Sorrento

(Museo Correale di Terranova: via Correale 50, Sorrento, T 081-8781846. 0900-1400, closed Tue. €5. Giardini di Limoni: entrance either from via Capasso or Corso Italia. Open 1000-1630.)

The old centre of town is set back between Marina Piccola and Marina Grande, to the west of the main square, piazza Tasso and the railway station.

Piazza Tasso is the site of a statue of Sorrento’s treasured 16th-century poet Torquato Tasso, a vertiginous view down towards Marina Piccola, and cafés vying for space with the traffic. This is the heart of passeggiata (evening stroll) territory, and the passeggiata is a serious affair here.

Further west, to the north of corso Italia, a network of little streets weaves to the edge of the cliffs. Sorrento gets interesting amongst these alleyways, piazzas, shops and churches. One of them, San Francesco, near the cliffs, has a beautiful little 14th-century cloister, with flowers tumbling down amongst its gnarled stone columns. Beyond, the Villa Comunale, a narrow, shady, tree-lined park, has excellent views across the sea to Capri. A path winds down from here to the marina and cramped beaches far below.

On the corner of via P R Giuliani and via S Cesareo, another of Sorrento’s landmarks, the Sedile Dominova, is a large open- domed structure complete with 15th-century frescoes. It was once a meeting place for the local aristocracy. Nowadays a working men’s club uses it, and card games carry on seemingly oblivious of the staring tourists.

On the south side of corso Italia, the Catedrale di Sorrento (originally Romanesque but rebuilt in the 15th century) is strangely dark and gloomy despite its pastel colouring. There are some good examples of local intarsia (inlaid wood) work.

A little further west along corso Italia is Bougainvillea, one of the world's great gelaterie..

Northeast of piazza Tasso (follow via Correale around to its end) the Museo Correale di Terranova has a collection of local art and archaeological finds, including some interesting depictions of the town before the onslaught of 20th-century tourism. An overflowing garden leads down to the cliff edge.

Around the corner from here is a lemon tree plantation, the Giardini di Limoni, unexpectedly near the middle of town. It’s open to the public and free, presumably in the hope that you will buy some lemon-based products afterwards.

Many of the town’s small beaches are private though good alternatives can be found around the peninsula (see below).

Penisola Sorrentina

Away from Sorrento itself, the rest of the peninsula is a flowery hilly patchwork of lemon and olive groves and quiet towns and villages. Little is wild, the emphasis generally being on manicured cultivation, though the very tip at Punta Campanello is an exception to this rule. An excellent network of paths, many of them old mule tracks between terraces of olives and lemons, means that walking is the best way to see the area.

Near Sorrento, a great day can be had doing the route from Massa Lubrense to Termini and on to Sant’Agata and back to Sorrento. (A SITA bus goes between Sorrento and Sant’Agata via Massa at least once an hour through the day if you wish to shorten this.) High on the ridge of the peninsula above Termini is an excellent place for a picnic, with spectacular views over Capri and the sea to either side.

Near Nerano there are some good beaches: Marina del Cantone to the southeast has a good pebbly stretch while a path to the southwest leads to Capitiello beach on the steep-sided Baia di Jeranto. Other possibilities are accessible on foot, such as le Fontane, due west of Termini, whereas some, such as Cenito just to the south, are only reachable from the sea. Boats can be hired from Marina del Cantone or from Sorrento.

The islands

Rising steeply from the sea at either end of the Bay of Naples, Ischia and Procida to the north and Capri to the south must have all once seemed wild, even forbidding places with their steep cliffs dropping down to occasional narrow beaches. Now, however, all three are tamed, cultivated and quite densely populated, entirely at ease with their tourist destination status.

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