Holidays to Sorrento

If Florence is Italy’s prettiest daughter, Naples is its dark and interesting older brother. This is a city that sings to the soul from the Piazza del Plebiscito and where around every corner you’ll find the original birthplace of the Margarita pizza. With an expansive history that stretches back to the early Greek sailors, and Caravaggio, to an exquisite arrangement of ecclesiastical architecture, including the San Francesco di Paola Basilica and the Cappella Sansevero, nothing compares to notorious Naples.

Organised bus tours or local trains can whisk you away from Sorrento to one of southern Italy’s historic highlights where time stands still on the streets of old Pompeii. This irrepressible archaeological site offers a fascinating glimpse into the lives of everyday Romans that were unfortunate enough to be around at the time Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. This is one of the world’s greatest open-air museums and not to be missed if you’re on holiday in Sorrento.

Of course, it wasn’t only the world-famous Pompeii that was covered in the ash cloud caused by Vesuvius. The city of Herculaneum also suffered the same fate but was only discovered, quite by chance, around a hundred years after its better-known neighbour. Smaller than Pompeii but far wealthier, Herculaneum’s magnificent mosaics and uncovered artwork are all the more attractive thanks to far fewer crowds entering into the archaeological site’s gates.

If you’re hiring a car on your holiday in Sorrento, be sure to explore the twists and turns of the Amalfi Coast. It’s a real highlight for lovers of coastal scenery with lots of tiny little towns precariously placed overlooking the water’s edge. Alternatively, there’s a regular bus route that will also lead you from Sorrento and onwards to Amalfi. This allows you to stop off at resort towns, such as Positano and Ravello, and enjoy a limoncello or two before boarding the bus and heading back to base.