Sorento itineraries

A guide to planning your time in Sorrento

Sorrento has maybe 2-3 hours of sightseeing in it at best (and even at that, none of it is truly great; it's just stuff to see and do when you happen to be in town).

If you're on the road for three months then sure, spend a day in Sorrento. In Italy for just a week or two? Skip it.

Again, I have nothing against Sorrento, but to be brutally honest it is probably the least interesting of the well-known towns in this region.

Sorrento is not famous for itself or its attraction; it is famous for one thing only: location, location, location.

Sorrento make an ideal base for exploring Campania thanks to its location at the nexus of public transit for the region. It's pretty much the only place from which you can get to the top destinations in Campania without having to change mode of transportation: Trains direct to Pompeii and Naples; ferries to Capri; buses or ferries down the Amalfi Coast.

If you prefer this method of travel—to stay in one home-base for a few days and make day trips to surrounding destinations—Sorrento is pretty perfect.

The amount of time you actually spend in Sorrento will depend on how much touring of the region you want to do—figure at least a day for the Amalfi Coast, another day for Capri, and a day to hit Pompeii and/or Herculaneum (though you can just as easily hit Pompeii on the train ride down from Naples; just store your luggage at the Pompei train station while you our the site, then continue on to Sorrento, saving yourself a day).

However, if you're the type who prefers to travel from town to town, spending one or two night in each as you go, then just treat Sorrento as a way-station to switch from train to bus or ferry, but actually sleep in a more interesting locale (an Amalfi Coast town or Capri).

If all you ever see of Sorrento is the ten meters of enclosed piazza between the train station and the Amalfi Coast bus stop, you haven't missed much.

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