Visit Sorrento: what to do and to see in Sorrento

Visit Sorrento, the core of the Sorrento Peninsula in the Gulf of Napoli.

It is between Sant’Agnello and Massa Lubrense, and its beauty inspired many artists, and it keeps bewitching thousands of tourists that choose Sorrento to spend their vacation.

Sorrento is about an hour away from Napoli. Leaving from the Capodichino airport you can take the CURRERI bus towards Sorrento. It only costs about 10 euros.

To get to Sorrento by train, you have to go to the Napoli central train station and take the Circumvesuviana train towards Sorrento. The ticket is about 4 euros.

Sorrento is well connected with the Amalfi Coast. In fact, from Amalfi you can just take the SITA Sud Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento line bus. Instead, if you are in Salerno just take the the bus to Amalfi (Sita line 5120) and once there just take the Amalfi-Positano-Sorrento line bus. .

In summer, from Salerno, Amalfi, Positano, or even Napoli you can reach Sorrento by either the ferryboats or the hydrofoils heading to the harbour of Sorrento.

If you reach Sorrento by bus, just get off at Piazza Tasso, the core of Sorrento, where the main street and the narrow streets full of shops, coffee bars and restaurants begin.

Next to Piazza Tasso there are the Basilica di Sant’Antonino, a monumental Baroque style cathedral dedicated to the patron saint of Sorrento, and the Villa Comunale of Sorrento, the municipal villa with a terrace overlooking the Gulf of Napoli and the Vesuvius.

Not far from the cathedral there is the Chiostro di San Francesco, a cloister that is part of a church of the same name that houses photographic exhibitions.

Walking along Corso Italia (the main street) you will reach the Cattedrale di Sorrento, a cathedral dedicated to both San Filippo and San Giacomo, built in both Baroque and Neogothic style, that houses the baptismal font where Torquato Tasso was baptized. Proceeding along the street, you’ll get to the Museo bottega della Tarsia Lignea, a museum dedicated to wood decorating, an ancient Sorrento craft.

Cross the street and proceed along Corso Italia to reach the park of Villa Fiorentino, where you can take a walk among the camellias of the well-kept gardens that at Christmas time house the Santa Claus village. You can enter the villa only when it houses exhibitions.

On the other side of Sorrento there is the Museo Correale di Terranova, a museum built by the Correale brothers Earls of Terranova.

It is a 4 floors villa that once belonged to the Correale family, preserving their history through ancient items and paintings. Don’t miss the gardens and the terrace overlooking the Gulf of Napoli.

If you want to enjoy a one-of-a-kind bath, besides the beaches of Sorrento, you should visit the Bagni della Regina Giovanna, a bay hidden by the cliffs of Capo di Sorrento, named after the Regina Giovanna D’Angiò that loved this small inlet where she used to bath completely naked.

Take one of the buses heading to Capo di Sorrento that leave from the piazza of the Sorrento Circumvesuviana train. From here you can reach the Bagni della Regina Giovanna walking a 15 minute path. The bay looks like a natural pool surrounded by rocks. A unique experience!

Another interesting thing to do is walking the path that begins in Piazza Tasso and gets to the Vallone dei mulini, a deep valley rich in greenery that in the past housed the corn grinding mills built by the Correale family.