Cinque Terre or Sorrento?
 

We'll be honeymooning in early March in Italy. Right now our plans include Pompeii, Rome and Venice. We'd like to spend a few days at a nice village--which one: Cinque Terre or Sorrento? Thanks for your help!

Brandi

Haven't been to Sorrento or anywhere in the south myself, but have been to Cinque Terra. CT is actually 5 small villages along the coast. Absolutely gorgeous (We went in October), with hiking trails and a local train service connecting them. Small shops, friendly folks, tasty food, excellent local wine. But I think it is pretty far away from the rest of your plans? CT is lovely if you enjoy meandering through small towns, sampling wine, hiking along trails that hug the coastline and traverse through olive and grape groves. Not much to "do" in terms of sights except relax and enjoy it all. It is very romantic for sure - there is even a stretch of trail called the equivalent of lovers lane! Enjoy!

Since you want to saee Pompeii you will be very close to Sorrento. You can use that as your base for the Amalfi coast, Capri and Pompeii.
It is a wonderful area and will be a good complement to Venice and Rome. The only caveat will be the length of time you will be in Italy. If it is a short trip (week or so) IMO skip the south.

Good morning, Brandyandmatt
Might look at the weather as for March
for Rapallo, the northern end of the CT
would be about 55deg f. Avr. Hi. 44 deg f. avr. lo. with about 3.8" rain. For57 deg f. hi, 41 deg f. lo, and 3.7" rain...
Both areas show very close range of temperature and rain.
Would pick Sorrento as there would be
much more to see using Sorrento as a base. 1. You can take the train back
to Naples for a day of sightseeing there. 2. you can take the train back to
Pompeii .... 3. Take a boat to Capri to
spend a day there., or 4. yoiu can take the bus to any of the towns of the
Amalfi its entire length to Salerno
and return or any of the towns enroute..
heres a couple of urls to surf:
www.napoli.com/
www.giubileo.regione.campania.
www.uniplan.it/sita/orari.html.
www.sorrentoweb.com/
www.vesuviana.it/orario_ol/orari.asp.
www.starnet.it/italy/amalficoast/
www.marketplace.it/pompeionline/
www.capri.net.
Been into Campania about 3 or 4 times over the years and have enjoyed it very much... Richard of LaGrange Park,IL>.

Sorrento is not a village--though it's nicely located for day trips in the area, it's also package tour group central for the area.

I'd head a just a tiny bit further south than Sorrento--to one of the towns on the Amalfi coast.

Definitely Sorrento. It's bigger than the small towns on the Amalfi Coast, an easier place from which to access Capri, Pompeii and the rest of the Amalfi Coast, and is enough of a town to be interesting. Many of the hotels have balcones with fantastic views.

I'd point you south, too, since you want to see Pompeii (don't miss that, whatever you choose). Sorrento is a very pretty place that isn't crowded in March--my parents were there last March and they didn't have the same crowded experience in the town that we did, in Sept.

However, as it's been said in the posts above mine, Sorrento isn't exactly a small village. If you want small and romantic and heavenly, take a look at Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast. That seems to me a perfect place for a honeymoon. And if not Ravello, I know other posters will let you know about their favorite places. There's certainly no shortage of beauty south of Rome.

The Cinque Terre is "rustic" -- comprised of paese (smaller than a village), rather than towns proper. In that regard, I agree with the other posteer that Sorrento would be the better place. Sorrento is far more sophisticated and polished. Also, since you will be down in Pompeii and that area anyway, it would make sense to be in Sorrento. Perhaps you could go through the CT enroute from Venice? I have family friends in the CT and it is quite backward in a lot of things - although the tourists are certainly necessitating changes - you might be disappointed. I think since it is your honeymoon and a once-in-a-lifetime occasion, that your expectations should be spectacular and the Amalfi coast would warrant that! Perhaps you could save the CT for a return trip and then explore the Ligurian coast and northern area at that time?

Thanks for your help--now looking into Sorrento, Positano, and Ravello.

Brandi

Ravello without question.

Hi b&m,

Sorrento is a city, not a village.

We just came back from the Amalfi Coast, where we stayed a Le Sirene in Praiano - room 12. There is good local bus service to Positano as well as the SITA bus to Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi.

See my trip report http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

Another helpful thread is
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443340

Grasshopper,

Please tell me more about Sorrento...How do we access Pompeii from Sorrento? Can you recommend a hotel with a nice view?
We will be there for one night.

Then, we would like to spend two nights on Capri...We will arrive in mid-April of this year... Thanks!

Take the local train from the Sorrento station(ver easy to find) to Pompeii. It costs just a few euro and you will be there in 20 minutes. You can catch a ferry from the marina(also easy to find) in Sorrento to Capri and takes 20 - 40 minutes depending on which type of ferry you choose.

I've been to both and definitely the Amalfi Coast. While CT is lovely, the Amalfi Coast is absolutely beautiful.

Early March will not be ideal for the Cinque Terre. Somewhat better weather down south. Sorrento is OK, but it's really the package tour center of the Bay of Naples. Go down just a bit further to the Amalfi coast--others have made good suggestions for romantic and interesting towns.

Cal,

You can get to Pompeii by train from Sorrento. It takes 30 minutes.

I don't know your hotel budget, but I would recommend either the Bellevue Syrene, or Hotel Tramontano, both of which are very close to Piazza Tasso ( main square) and the old town. We stayed at the Tramontano in July, and had a lovely room with a huge terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples for about $250/night.

In Capri, we stayed three nights at the Hotel Luna, which is only a few minutes walk from the main piazzetta. It's a gorgeous hotel and property, but pricey. Our room, which was large with a nice-sized terrace overlooking the coast, ran about $340/night.

We were with our kids on this trip, but if we hadn't been, we would have skipped Sorrento, and stayed either in Positano or Ravello, both of which are much more beautiful and less Americanized than Sorrento.

If I can help further, just post again.

Have a wonderful trip!