Help me plan a holiday to ITALY, SORRENTO.

[RoseWinter]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone is able to help provide guidance.

We haven't booked a holiday abroad since 2019. We managed to get away in November 2019 and then had to cancel our further holiday due to covid.

Since then we've had other priorities like house buying etc so we've not been abroad for some time.

We are now looking for our first holiday abroad and we've always wanted to visit Italy, Sorrento. We're wondering where the best place to look for flights and accommodation may be, how to find good deals etc as we're aware that Sorrento is quite expensive.

Any tips, tricks, must sees, best stays, things to do, places to eat etc.

Train to see Pompei, very hot in July / August but worth it.
Ferry over to the Isle of Capri and the cable car up the mountain there.
Sit and people watch in the old square in sorrento.
Wander the old town small streets.
Try the limoncello and norcello olives.
Wander and see the lemon groves.

Sorrento was lovely, much nicer than Naples imo and good as a base.

Tip, definitely get a transfer in advance from the airport to Sorrento.

Enjoy!

Oh, almost forgot! A small boat trip along the Amalfi coast and get the bus back.
There's nothing like seeing it come into view from the water.

What's your budget in terms of hotels and flights? Do you want to book as a package, or separately? How many nights?

@shash1982 this is all so helpful, thank you so much. I've heard its still quite hot in the off seasons, late September/Early October.

We are hoping to make Italy THE destination we return to year on year but tour different parts of it so doing Amalfi, Pompeii and Capri in the same week or so that we're there sounds right up our street.

The Hotel Bristol is a lovely hotel(if you haven't already booked).
We have stayed there 3 times. It is expensive but the food is excellent 👌

Post bus along the Amalfi coast. Boat trip out to Capri. Train to Pompeii (Herculaneum also mind blowing if you get the chance to do both). Mmmm, I can almost smell the lemon groves.

It's a beautiful part of Italy. Definitely visit Capri for a day. And Pompeii of course. I wouldn't go to Naples (apart from the airport). September will be ideal, still nice weather but less crowded.

@Charlingspont We've been looking at different months to go and comparing prices so its likely we'll go in the off season around September and October. We were originally thinking around April time but would like longer to plan. I'm Coeliac, so we tend to do AirBnbs usually so we can home make some foods but I hear that Italy is sooo forward with their gluten free options and have their own Coeliac association out there so it won't be any trouble to find GF meals. we still like the idea of Airbnbs over hotels though. Budget for flights and accom we are thinking £2K. It's unlikely we will go via travel agent. It's been a while since we went abroad but we tend to do it all ourselves and book excursions in advance before we get there.

We went in October half term. It was still very warm, mid twenties, and busy.

We flew easyJet to Naples, hopped on a bus to the train station and train to Sorrento. Booked an apartment 5 mins from train station with VRBO . Supermarket at the end of the road. Perfect.

Swimming. Almost all the beach bits are owned by hotels so you have to pay to swim. The only municipal one was closed in October. You can swim from the beach in the fishing bit for free though. There is a fabulous swimming spot a half hour or so walk out of Sorrento which is utterly beautiful.

Lots of kayak or paddle boarding along the coast available.

Trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum are easy and cheap. You can only get to Herculaneum direct on the expensive train. It isn't worth it. You just get the cheap train and change at one of the stations. It is dead easy. They are both fascinating.

Food is great. It is crazy busy. My awaiting diagnosis ASD child really, really struggled. Even supposed pedestrianised areas have scooters and the odd small car down them. It did not go well for their brain. Ditto Naples. We spent the last night in Naples due to very early flight. Safe you say that child will never go to Naples ever again.

Sadly due to a storm we didn't get to Vesuvius.

Get to Pompeii early and head away from the forum first, so you can see the smaller places before they get packed.
Go up Vesuvius.
You can also get to Herculaneum by train. In some ways I preferred it to Pompeii.

I recommend Facebook Sorrento groups for great tips. We found this rooftop terrace bar through such groups (I can't remember name now). Went last year and had an amazing time. If you go to Capri, the chair lift is peaceful, not too far away from ground and amazing. We took an open top taxi from the port to the chair lift place to beat crowds and the ride was a great experience in itself!

This is so great to know. Thank you for all the information you've given it really helpful. Your holiday sounds lush!!

Thank you! I'd never thought of joining FB groups based around holidays to Sorrento. Amazing, I'll have a look. We really want to do a day trip to Capri. It's on the hit list for sure x