Sorrento city in Italy: attractions, tours, leisure, cuisine, how to get

Sorrento is a picturesque resort town on the Amalfi coast of Italy. Today Blogoitaliano will tell you how to organize your holiday in Sorrento: what Sorrento attractions to see, which beaches are best to relax on and what local cuisine is worth a try.

Sorrento's distinctive dignity is its natural wealth: the blue sea is adjacent to high mountains, unfading valleys harmonize with citrus groves. It is worth going to this corner of the planet to relax a bit, soak under the bright rays of the hot sun, frolic in the blue sea waves, wander through the lemon thickets, which sooner or later lead to fishing villages, where the locals will no doubt offer to try delicious pasta with seafood.

How to get to Sorrento

The nearest airport to Sorento is in Naples. You can find flights to Naples in the form below, and last-minute tours to Sorrento are most often found on this site.

From Naples to Sorrento go some 45 km. There are several options for overcoming this distance:

by bus: You can leave directly from Naples Airport to Sorrento with Curreri Viaggi buses. The stop is opposite the departure terminal. The bus runs from 9:00 to 19:30. About 6 flights are organized per day;
by train: trains depart from Naples train station every half hour. To find the train in the direction of Sorrento, go down to the underground level of the train station. You can go down opposite the 13th path. Naples-Sorrento tickets are purchased directly at the box office;

Sorrento Train Station

on a ferryboat: if you have time and desire to admire the scenery, take a boat or a ferry from the port of Naples Molo Beverello;
by car: You can also rent a car directly at the airport or pre-book a transfer. By car, follow the A3 and SS145 motorways. Some sections of the road are paid, but you will be generously rewarded with picturesque views. For those who plan to rent a car in Italy, we recommend reading our article "Car rental in Italy: everything you need to know when booking a car"

Sorrento Attractions

The city of Sorento is comfortably located on a high cliff. It is famous for its green terraces and citrus gardens. The city is divided into two parts, between which the gorge is located.

At the bottom of the gorge runs a small street Via Luigi di Maio, leading from the central Piazza Tasso to the city promenade and port. This street is considered to be a local attraction.

Sandwiched among the cliffs, Via Luigi di Maio is one of Sorrento's famous landmarks.

Be sure to stroll through the historic city center. It is best to start the walk from the central square of Tasso. It is named after the Sorentian poet Torcuato Tasso, whose monument can be seen here. The central square also attracts attention: the statue of the patron saint of the city of San Antonio, and the church del Carmine, built in the XV century. Baroque style, known for its paintings of the XVII-XVIII centuries. Tasso Square is full of life in the evening. Numerous restaurants and clubs open their doors.

Santuario della Madonna del Carmine Church in Piazza Tasso

From Piazza Tasso you can stroll along the largest shopping street in the city of Sorento - Corso Italia, which will certainly lead to the cathedral of the city, or climb higher along the street Caruso to built in the XII century. Villa Correale, famous for its majolica compositions.

A few words about the Cathedral. The cross-shaped base of the cathedral appeared in the XI century. The facades were made in the neo-Gothic style at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. In the inner room, the main value is the ancient frescoes, paintings from the Neapolitan school of art and the throne made of marble.

Cathedral

Another highlight of Sorrento is the Temple of St. Antonio, the city’s patron saint. Noteworthy is the church of St. Francis. Behind her is a picturesque park decorated with tropical flowers and trees. From the observation deck of the park you can view the sea landscapes and reliefs of the volcano Vesuvius. In the summer, in this cozy park, music festivals "Sorrentine Music Summer" are organized.

Sorrento's attractions do not end there. The ancient Greeks, who settled in these parts long before the Romans, left their mark in the form of fortress walls, designed to hold the defense of the city until the Middle Ages. Fortifications restored and ready to receive visitors daily.

Valley of the mills - one of the most romantic places in the city

Do not miss the opportunity and enjoy the Valley of the Mills. The chickenpox, abandoned at the end of the 19th century, has long been overgrown with moss, which gives the place mystery and mystery. Once the valleys were used as a border symbol.

Attracting attention in the city of Sorento and a large number of exquisite villas. The most famous of them is Villa Komunale, one of the most romantic villas in the city, located on a hilltop villa Tritone and surrounded by greenery Villa Fiorentino. Preserved in Sorrento and the house of Cornelia Tasso - the sister of the famous Sorrentine poet.

Villa Fiorentino - one of Sorrento’s exquisite villas

Museum lovers are advised to inspect the Correale brothers' art collection at the Correale di Terranova Museum, as well as a look at the Bottega della Tarsia-Lignea Museum, where technical and decorative objects from various Sorrento artisans schools have been preserved.

Vacationers also like to visit the factory for the production of local alcoholic beverage "Limoncello," because at the factory the drink can be purchased at a reduced cost. Be sure to stroll through the extensive lemonarium, which exudes a pleasant citrus aroma.

And finally, do not forget to look into the city park and enjoy plenty of floral aromas, saturated with the brackish smell of the sea breeze.

And if you plan to stay in Sorrento for a few days, be sure to ride around the surrounding villages. So in Punta Campanella you can see the ancient tower for protection against pirates and the ruins of a Roman settlement. In the village of Marina Puolo, on the contrary, a pirate tower was preserved, from where robbers tracked down future victims. Marina Grande is known for its unique Moorish architecture, while in Punta del Capo you can admire the ruins of ancient Roman villas and the harbor Bagni della Regina Giovanna locked in the rocks.

From the sea, the city looks like an impregnable fortress

Sea trips along the Amalfi Coast, which is surrounded by high cliffs, will also bring a lot of pleasure. The place was very fond of bohemia and the art elite, who set up luxury villas surrounded by parks and gardens along the coast. The towns of Amalfi, Salerno, Praiano, Ravello, Positano and many others look especially romantic from the sea. Tours that include visits to the most interesting places on the Aalfi coast can be found on this page.

Beaches

Sorrento beaches are considered one of the most picturesque in Italy. The transparent sea, cliffs and lush evergreen vegetation help to relax and enjoy amazing landscapes. True, you will have to make your way to the treasured waters along the cliffs and narrow paths, and some beaches can only be reached by sea. Nevertheless, in Sorrento, for the convenience of tourists, piers are built on the coastal zone, allowing you to easily enter the water.

The most beautiful beaches of the city: the harbor of Bagni della Regina Giovanna, sandwiched surrounded by rocks; Marina di Cassano, Marina Grande, Marina Piccola, characterized by soft volcanic sand.

Bagni della regina giovanna

If you managed to get a car, feel free to go on vacation to towns and villages neighboring Sorrento. So to the north-east of the city is Castellamare di Stabia, a resort very popular among Neapolitans due to its mineral and sulfur springs, beautiful beaches and clean air. On a beach holiday, you can go to the old town of St. Agnello, hiding on the tufa rocks, and in the small settlement of Vico Equense, and in the resort Massa Lubrense.

Sorrento's beaches are covered with fine volcanic sand.

As you can see, the choice of places to stay in Sorrento is great. A pleasant bonus will be the fact that all the resort towns of the city are well developed and equipped with everything necessary for a comfortable, relaxing stay.

Holidays in Sorrento: hotels, tours

Sorrento is pleased to present a variety of accommodation options: from cheap 3-star hotels to 5-star apartments. An undoubted plus is that the city is not rich in noisy resort complexes. The hotels are small and comfortable, filled with a homely atmosphere. Note that no matter how stellar the place of residence has, everywhere travelers will find excellent service. There are ancient hotels in the city with centuries of history. Maxim Gorky also stayed in one of these.

You can choose your best hotel by clicking on the picture below.

Restaurants and cuisine

Local cuisine, as throughout Italy, is hard to imagine without traditional pizza and pasta. They also love vegetables and seafood here. In various combinations, they form the basis of any dishes in the region.

Potato gnocchi with cheese and tomatoes (Gnocchi alla Sorrentina) - Sorrento's most popular dish

Especially popular are garlic soups, sun-dried tomato, pasta with seafood, potato gnocchi with mozzarella, baked in tomato sauce. Eggplant or artichokes are also baked here with cheese and tomatoes.

An integral attribute of many dishes on the Amalfi Coast is lemon. Lemon is added to meat, fish, seafood. Salads are seasoned with lemon juice. Lemons make the region’s traditional liquor limoncello, which is actively used in the preparation of desserts. Even the rum woman known throughout Italy, the Sorrentians cook with limoncello.

A traditional pastiera pie with a glass of limoncello - a great end to a hearty meal

Olive oil, which is also famous for this southern region, is not inferior in terms of consumption.

Well, you can complete a hearty meal with traditional, most delicious ice cream. Davide's best gelateria is located at 35 Giuliani Street.

In the end

Sorrento in Italy is a wonderful city to organize your vacation. A lot of attractions, filled with citrus flavors and salty breezes of air, incredible seascapes, as well as the proximity of other famous cities in Italy made this resort very popular among Russian tourists. If you plan to take your next vacation to Italy, be sure to sign up for our free course with Italian life hacks. Country experts will reveal secret pieces that 95% of travelers are not aware of.