My 30th birthday is one I will never forget. This is mostly down to my boyfriend Adam who surprised me with a long weekend in Sorrento Sorrento is somewhere that we have wanted to visit for a long time. We’ve talked about it every year since we’ve been together but never gotten around to getting over there. I’m so thankful Adam finally made it happen and booked the trip to celebrate my 30th birthday.
Getting There
When heading into Sorrento, you’ll be flying into Naples Airport. From there, it can take anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to reach Sorrento. While the distance ‘as the crow flies’ is not far, the winding roads along the Gulf of Naples makes the journey a long, but beautiful one.
There are a few options you can take to reach Sorrento from Naples Airport including:
- Private Transfer – this will be door to door. Your driver will meet you at the airport and drop you at your hotel (and vice versa on your return)
- Airport Bus and Trian – you can pick up a bus from the airport to the city of Naples Central Station and then pick up the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. This will be the cheapest option.
- Coach – There are scheduled coaches that pick you up outside the arrivals hall at the airport and drop you in at Sorrento bus station. You’ll need cash to pay the driver.
We opted for the private transfer as it is easily the most easy and comfortable way to get to Sorrento. It is obviously the most expensive option but it pretty stress-free and we just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
Where to Stay
Sorrento is the perfect base to explore both Naples Bay and the Amalfi coast. There are plenty of hotels in Sorrento.
Adam booked us a hotel that was just outside Sorrento and while beautiful, it did make getting in and out of Sorrento a bit more expensive.
I’ve reviewed the Relais Blue Hotel and restaurant on a separate post but if we were to go back we would stay somewhere more central.
The week after we visited Sorrento, Adam’s family visited for a week and stayed in the Bellevue Syrene which is in the heart of Sorrento with views overlooking the sea and the beautiful Naples Bay.
What to Do
Visit Pompeii
Being so close, it was impossible for us to not visit Pompeii whilst staying near Sorrento. We would have loved to have hiked Mount Versuvuas as well however we were short on time but it’s certainly something on our agenda for next time.
Getting to Pompeii from Sorrento is relatively straight forward. You can take the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento station which is about a 25-minute journey and costs approx €5 return for adults. The station you to get off at ( need is located right outside the entrance to the ruins.
Tickets to visit the Ruins were €15 each. Fun Fact: If you’re under 25, it’s absolutely free to visit the Ruins of Pompeii.
Once inside there are very few amenities with one shop and toilets. There is also very little shade to make sure you pack sunscreen, water, hats and umbrellas. We decided to visit later on in the afternoon as in the summer it is open until 7:30 pm. We got there around 4pm and it was significantly cooler and much more pleasant than being there at midday in the August heat.
We wandered freely and didn’t hire an audio guide or a tour guide. However, if we go again I’d absolutely get one or the other. Besides a map you can collect at the entrance, there is very little information inside the ruins. It would have been nice to have heard some more facts about the place to help up imagine what life would have been like there.
Day Trip via Boat to Capri from Sorrento
On my birthday, Adam arranged a boat trip excursion to Capri including a tour around the island by boat, a snack and swimming in the beautiful ocean. They then drop you off in Capri for four hours before picking you up and cruising back to Sorrento.
We picked up our boat from Marina Grande at 9:30am and there was us and about five other couples on board. Our skipper Franceso and his colleague were very welcoming and provided drinks including prosecco, water, beer and soft drinks throughout the journey.
We cruised along the coast (past our hotel) towards Capri chatting, relaxing and sunbathing with our fellow cruisers. When the boat neared Capri, we took a clockwise direction to sail around the island to see some of the beautiful sites including White Grotto, Faraglioni Rocks and the Natural Arch. Once through the arch, we stopped to have a dip in the ocean for about an hour. Our boat was equipped with lifejackets and noodles so we could pleasantly splash around in the ocean (or if you’re Adam, practice your diving off the side of the boat).
We then continued to sail on past the lighthouse of Punta until we reached the marina. Now, I’m going to be totally straight with you – in the busy months, it can take a while to be allowed into the marina to dock and you wait just outside to be let in. We were bobbing up and down for about 30 minutes just waiting and that was where the seasickness kicked in for me. I can cope with cruising and bouncy waves but I cannot deal with the bobbing. I felt horrendous by the time we got off the boat and headed straight to a restaurant for a gigantic pizza to calm my stomach. If you’re not sure how you’re going to take it, I’d advise taking some seasickness tablets and keep one for the return journey too.
Once on Capri, it was incredibly busy. We have to remember that most of Italy take August off so not only is there the international tourists on Capri, there’s also lots from Italy as well. As I said, we stopped for lunch so I could recover and ended up and a lovely seafront restaurant called L’Approdo Restaurant where we gorged ourselves silly on fresh pizzas!
We had just four hours on Capri so after lunch we headed to Anacapri to ride the chairlift to the top of Monte Solaro so we could experience the views (because we hadn’t seen enough of them haha!). The chair lift was €12 each and that covered the return journey back down. The chairlift is 13 minutes long and slightly terrifying I must admit. It was
You can check out our exact tour here (aff link)
Where to Eat
We ate in a couple of restaurants in Sorrento that I want to tell you about.
The first was Porta Marina Seafood, a family-run restaurant in Marina Grande. We sort this out after a recommendation from a friend and it did not disappoint. Fresh seafood, excellent pasta, and the fresh sea air really set the mood. Adam had the lobster linguini which was so tasty and I opted for the seafood version which was full of prawns, muscles and clams. It was reasonably priced and incredibly filling.
The next place is Ristorante Fuoro which is nestled away in one of Sorrento’s many side streets. The lemon pasta here is unbelievable – so much so that Adam was constantly tucking into mine even though he ordered the sea bass!
So that is my quick guide to Sorrento. There is of course so much more to do and we’d love to go back and spend a few more days there before heading over to the Amalfi Coast.
I filmed our long weekend for my YouTube channel so be sure to check out the video if you want to marvel at how beautiful it really is in that part of the world!
Have you been to Sorrento? If so, leave your recommendations below!
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