Sorrento in 3 days
- pat kelly
- Jul 17
- 5 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
We flew from Catania to Naples and from there it is an hour train to Sorrento. Sorrento sits on the top of a modest volcanic cliff, affording a great view of the Bay of Naples. The center of town is Tasso Square, named after Renaisance poet Torquato Tasso. A few streets extend outwards from the square with fun shopping and a couple of nice museums
Our rental was right on Tasso Square. It was very fancy apartment and had the best location I could imagine in Sorrento. It was definitely loud at night, with the adjacent bar noisy until late at night. It is called Cuomo Charming House.
The first day, we checked into our AirBnB and just wandered around town. We had lunch and did some shopping and exploring.
The next day we had a Pompeii adventure planned. From Sorrento, the train is about a half hour. We went with no tour and it was very easy to wander self directed. That is often the preference of the kids.
You will deal with some crowds, of course, but its easy to wander away from them in Pompeii. Initially you enter a large open area which was the forum. This part looks very different from most of Pompeii which is made of single family dwellings made of brick.
Everyone knows the history of Pompeii. Once it was conquered by the Romans in 80 BC, it became an important port of trade and a vacation spot for fancy Romans.
Unfortunately, Mount Vesiuvius' eruption wrecked the party in 79 AD. Ash and pumice covered everything, sealing things for future generations to explore.
Another area you will quickly encounter after entering is the Antiquarium. This is an enclosed area with a lot of artifacts. They have plaster casts of multiple victims of the Vesuvius eruption. There is both a small child and a dog in a twisted pose that is a little tough to look at.
Specific houses to visit include House of the Vettii and the House of the Faun. Both are impressive. There is enough open space for kids to have fun in Pompeii running around.
Their are several baths you can visit. The Forum Baths were awesome. The walls are lined with terracotta statues and a skylight offered enough light to appreciate the incredible interior.
You could wander around all day if you are interested, as the area is pretty big. Most people are targeting a few places: Roman porn frescoes, phallus symbols in the road, along with the earliest known welcome mat and beware of dog signs. We actually checked out all of the above. The spooky thing is you can always see Mt. Vesuvius sitting on the outskirts of town. Fortunately, we avoided flying ash and pumice.
After a few hours, everyone was ready to call it a day- it was a hot one, as usual for Italy in August. We headed back to Sorrento by train. We got dinner in town and chilled in our super fancy AirBnB in Tasso square.
The next day we chilled out after the busy Pompeii day. The beach is directly below your feet when you are hanging out in Sorrento.
After breakfast at Fauno Bar on Tasso Square, we walked down to Marina Piccola. This beach is located directly below the center of town. We walked down some steps along the cliff but there is also an elevator from Villa Comunale park. Like most Italian beaches, there are beach chairs to rent and it had a modest crowd.
After a dip in the ocean, we spent the day leisurely shopping in town and went into a museum: Museo Correale di Terranova. This is a quick but satisfying stop. It is a converted villa with a lovely yard around it that the kids played in for a while.
Tracy got a great leather jacket in a cute shop and everyone enjoyed a day without a heavy schedule.
The next day we checked out the Societa di Mutuo Soccorso, which is a landmark because it has been a community meeting place since the 14th century. Originally it was used by the aristocrats, but following Italy's unification it became more of a safety net organization for the working class. The frescoes remain bright and it still functions as a place locals meet and as a cafe.
We did a little shopping and then visited another green space just off the main drag: Parco di Villa Fiorentino. This has great gardens and an art collection.
Our afternoon plans were for a beach trip that would require a short bus ride. For whatever reason, we jump on every train we can in Europe but never take the bus. This destination would even be worth walking it (45 minutes on foot): The Baths of Queen Giovanna. Pick up a bus for Sorrento Capo stop and then you have a short walk.
Bagni della Regina Giovanna (the Baths of Queen Giovanna) was my favorite spot in Sorrento. We didn't even check out the 1st century BC ruins (Villa Pollio Felice) for which this is part of the landscape. The first sight was the traditional Italian beach scene: Lounging on big rocks that are in the water and jumping off those suckers.
After taking a swim in this external portion, we made our way down a cool little path to an incredible lagoon.
The water was an awesome green color and the lagoon had a arch shaped exit from the limestone cliffs that you could swim through. There were a few families enjoying the shallow, safe lagoon. We swam around this magic little spot for a while.
The last element of this great stop was cliff jumping right outside where the lagoon empties out. The height was chill enough to not be intimidating but still very fun. We all jumped a couple of times and then headed home.
We had dinner in the square (we seemed to eat most of our meals very close to Tasso Square), at O' Canonico Ristorante. This place has been around for more than a century, so it must be good. It was our good bye to Sorrento- tomorrow off to Capri for two days and one night.
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