Sorrento surpassed my expectations. The beauty, the history, the food, the islands…. all incredible.

We stayed at the Grand Hotel Capodimonte. We stayed at this hotel in May 2012. The hotel is well maintained throughout. My only advice is to book a seaside view. We did not have a view, but had a terrace that looked at a wall as the hotel is built into the cliff. We could also hear the nightly entertainment as our room was just over the entertainment room but it ended at 10 so we didn’t have trouble sleeping. The pool area was beautiful and overlooked the sea. There were several restaurants within the hotel, though we only ate breakfast here which had a wide range selection. Although we didn’t have a room with a view, there were many places for us to enjoy a drink and gaze out over the bay. The walk into the center is about 10 minutes and an additional 5 down to the sea. Overall, a great experience and location.

Food

Ristorante Il Borgo – We loved that this restaurant was off the beaten path and that they personally picked us up from our hotel and drove us back as a complimentary service. The prices were very low for their food; however, you do get what you pay for. We ordered the house wine and couldn’t drink it. It tasted as if it had been exposed to air for far too long.  The seafood risotto was great but that was the only thing we were impressed with that we ordered. I would still recommend this restaurant for the view and because the price was right. We watched the sunset and it was a very romantic setting.

Ristorante Il Borgo

Inn Bufalito – We thoroughly enjoyed our meal here and rate it in our top 3 of meals we had on our Italy trip. The mozzarella was so fresh and I enjoyed my beef stew. The wine we chose was amazing (not the house) and the waiter was very helpful. We would definitely return.

We did the Rick Steves walking tour of Sorrento. It wasn’t too long but definitely felt like he gave us a great overview of the town and even showed us some hidden gems, like the ruins from 5th century B.C. discovered under the town.

Sorrento Ruins

We opted to go scuba diving while in Sorrento. However, I can’t recommend it. The water is frigidly cold (as expected for the Mediterranean) and the visibility was very poor. This was under good weather conditions.

We did a day trip to the Isle of Capri as that’s all you really need unless you plan to stay on the island.

We also did a day trip over to Pompeii and did a private tour through Italy In Style with Nello Balla (italyinstyle@alice.it).  Our tour guide does this on the side as he is a historian and recommended that we meet at the entrance as soon as it opened in order to beat the crowd (8:30am). This was a brilliant idea as we don’t have other people in any of our pictures.  It was a solid two hour tour and by the time we left, the area was swarming with tourists.  I believe Nello does both private and group tours.  Getting to Pompeii is really easy. The train will take you directly from Sorrento over to Pompeii without having to switch trains. Just allow enough time as the many stops makes it about an hour ride.

Pompeii

Cheers!