Things to do in Sorrento

Sorrento is a small town on a cliff, and its job is to be where you sleep while the peninsula does the work. It sits above the water with no real beach, facing Vesuvius across the bay. Lemons grow everywhere and end up as limoncello.

What the town gives you is a position. A marina, a bus road, and everything within the hour. Capri is forty minutes by ferry, Pompeii half an hour by train, the Amalfi Coast an hour by road.

Where the days actually go:

• Capri and the Blue Grotto. By boat, with swimming stops, and the grotto entered in a rowing skiff when the swell allows.
• The Amalfi Coast. Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, taken by road or by sea, which are different days.
• Pompeii and Vesuvius. The archaeology, reached from this side too.
• The Path of the Gods. The ridge walk above the coast between Bomerano and Nocelle, about three hours downhill.

The difference from a Naples-based trip is the water. Here the coast is bought as a boat day, not a bus day. Shared and private hire, the Bay of Ieranto, swimming off the side, a fishing trip that ends in lunch on board.

That changes what you see. Positano from the sea and Positano from the coast road are not the same place. On land the offer is cooking and the walk.

Practical

• Season. April to October for boats. Ferries thin out in winter and the grotto closes in swell at any time of year.
• The Blue Grotto. Never guaranteed. Entry depends on tide and sea state and is cancelled often, sometimes on arrival.
• Boat or bus. The coast road is slow, beautiful and nauseating. If one person in the party is prone to it, take the sea.
• Beaches. Sorrento has almost none. Swimming is off platforms, off boats, or at Marina Grande.
• Getting there. Circumvesuviana from Naples, about an hour, or a transfer. Ferries run from Naples in season.