Sorrento?
 

My wife and I are going to be in Italy in May, 2004. We are thinking about staying in Sorrento as part of our trip (for 4 nights). After reading many of the comments on this site, I'm not sure we should. Can someone comment on the pros and cons of staying in Sorrento v. staying in Amalfi or Positano or another coastal city? We don't want to change hotels but prefer to stay in one place for each of the four nights. Specific suggestions for hotels would be appreciated. Thanks.

We love Sorrento and find it ideal as a base for visiting Pompeii, Herculanium (via the Circumvesuviana trains), Naples (train or hydrofoil), Capri (hydrofoil), Positano, Amalfi, Ravello (SITA bus).

There are those who consider Sorrento "touristy" and I suppose on certain days (ships in port/day trippers) it is. We stay at the Bellevue Syrene (www.bellevue.it; e-mail [email protected]) and confine ourselves mostly to the old town areas. The hotel is walking distance of Marina Piccolo (hydrofoils to Capri), the Circumvesuviana Train Station and the SITA buses can be boarded across the street from the train station.

There are a number of good restaurants irn the area, and we enjoy browsing the shops, visiting churches, etc.

You, of course, have to decide based on my thoughts and the other posts you have read, but Sorrento is one of our favorite places in Italy.

Hi trees,

What are you interested in doing?

You have to think, which threads turned you off to Sorrento? It can be crowded and packed with tourists (mostly British) but they are there for a reason, there is more to do in Sorrento than in the other coastal cities. It is a real city as opposed to a town that consists of mostly hotels such as Positano.
What turned you off? Giovanna has told you the positives, wihat negatives do you perceive?

Thank you for your responses. We weren't turned off by any posts, we just weren't sure it was the right place to be. We know that we would like to see Capri, Pompeii, and probably Amalfi and Positano. Mostly, we look at this part of our trip as the most relaxing (get some sun, stroll, etc.). So, is Sorrento the place? If it is, does anyone have other hotel and some restaruant suggestions?

don't know if you have a car. if not, i found Sorrento very pleasant to be in, and a very easy base for sightseeing with public transportation.
train to Pompei, bus to Amalfi and Positano.
the only place i was told not to try by myself, because poor connections, was Ravello. so i took a lovely day tour that included as bonus a short boat cruise in Amalfi.
if you have time in Ravello try to see the Villa Cimbrone too and not only the Villa Rufolo which is included in the tour.

We stayed in a charming B&B in Positano for 3 nights.
Our aim was for sun and rest.
Villa La Tartana. www.villalatartana.it.
We hired a driver from Naples to Positano. Dropped off at the top and a walk down to the B&B, which is very close to the water front.
Had a fabulous room with 2 balcony's overlooking the beach, fridge, ensuite.

We spent 4 days there and loved it! We took daytrips to Capri, Positano and Pompeii, all of which were really easy to do from Sorrento. There aren't really any beaches there though. I liked Sorrento because it felt like a regular town. Positano was really picturesque but it was crawling with tourists.

We based ourselves there for 10 days back in 1997 and really enjoyed it. As has been said above, it gives the impression of being a more regular town than Positano and Amalfi, though don't think that's it's not tourist oriented - there are a heck of a lot of hotels and a lot of visitors.
In our view this meant a great choice of bars and restaurants and we really liked the bustle.
We also found it very convenient for independent travel - we took the train to Naples and to Pompeii, we took the local bus to Positano and Amalfi and we caught a ferry to

oops...

... to Ischia.

We have been intending to return for ages but there are so many wonderful places to visit we just haven't slotted it in yet.

We stayed in the Villa Maria - we liked our simple, comfortable, airy room a lot, we would not recommend eating dinner in the hotel and we felt mixed about the staff - who were courteous enough to us but we did see them having a go at various other guests and staff.

Sorrento or Amalfi have the best transport connections on the Costiera Amalfitana,together with the best choice of hotels.Do not discount Ravello,which has a regular short bus service to Amalfi.

Based on what you say you want to do, I think Sorrento is the perfect place to stay. It has good transportation avaiable to everyplace you want to go. The first time we were there it rained for three out of four days and we still loved it.

The last time there I stayed at La Tonnerella; it's a little south of town which would make for a healthy walk or expensive taxi ride (taxis in Sorrento are outrageously expensive) but has great views and a quite good restaurant.

Hi trees,

I'll put in a word for Praiano. After spending a few days there, we found Sorrento to be too much of a big city.

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34459301

for various points of view.

I would definately give Praiano a miss and choose either Positano or Amalfi.

Thank you, to each person who responded.

Sorrento is a lovely, beautiful city and easy to wander around, shop, enjoy the views . We stayed there two weeks last March (a wonderful Elderhostel) and had day trips to Pompeii, Almalfi, Naples,Poistano, Capri, Pasteum, MonteCassino, etc...about every other day. There is only one road in and out of Sorrento,,,a gorgeous , curvy, hilly road......We had a tour bus, but the train and bus situation in Sorrento is very good. If we were on our own with a car, we would probably stay a couple of days in Sorrento (visit Capri and "soak" up Sorrento)...and a couple of nights in Almalfi. You didn't mention if you would have your own car or be relying on public transportation.

Another plus for Sorrento.

I wouldn't call it a city. It's the larger toen of the area.

One morning I was waiting to catch an early bus and saw all the kids coming to school from the surrounding towns.

Great jump off point for all sights in the area.

Someone mentioned a few restaurants. Well there are many. And don't forget that Sorrento is famous world-wide for it's inlaid wood music boxes.

I don't think you can go wrong staying in Sorrento for four nights. As others have pointed out, it has excellent transportation connections, and in itself, is an easy place to stroll and relax. I don't know what your budget is, but we stayed at the Tramontano in July, which is just down the street from the Bellevue Syrene. We had nice rooms with huge terraces overlooking the Bay of Naples for $250/per room each night. The hotel was only a few minutes walk from the Old Town, and some excellent restaurants like L'Antica Trattoria and Taverna Due.

Sorrento is a medium-sized city, and thus it has less of an Italian flavor than some of the coastal towns like Positano and Amalfi. And yes, it was overrun with tourists, mostly British, American, and German in July. But it was a pleasant place to base for a few days.

So, my recommendation would be: Four days in Sorrento, four days in Positano, which has some of the most unforgettable scenery on Earth.

Good luck!