Sorrento....

CountryWise

Anyone been?? what was their experience of it??
Price of food/drink?? nightlife etc etc etc
Any stories welcomed

DMG 1972

I was there three years ago so may have changed since then - its a good holiday for couples and there is plenty of sites and trips to go on within an hour or less (Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Naples, Capri , Amalfi coast).

Nice restauarants - a lot of pizza places and casual places for lunch too, prices were okay don't remember it as being cheap but not over the top either.
Pubs weren't great, a kip of an irish pub and a dingy english pub across the way from each other on the main street, was only in each early on in the evening and they were quite enough so may have picked up later on. Draught beer was flat and manky.
Italians didn't seem to be much into drinking and instead smoked and drank coffee and then walked up and down the road for the night.
There was a fancy three floor modern pub / disco complex at the bridge but again was in there one night until 12 and it was dead, barman told us it got going around 1 oclock. I was there in September so might be different at other times of the year. I thought Nightlife was quite enough but may not have just come across the right places.

If you are going as a couple would recommend it - very relaxed and scenic, plenty to see around the area - hope this helps.

Dave!

anyone else wanna add to this?

I'm pricing flights and accomodation for myself and my girlfriend at the end of August -- looks like about €540 for a week, in the Hotel Nice, a really central place near the train station.

I'd like to hear any more experiences in Sorrento, it sounds pretty good

Would there be many "young" people in the area? I get the impression that it'd be more for the older folk... I'm not going on this holiday to go crazy and party all night, if I wanted that I'd go to Ibiza!, but at the same time it'd be nice if there were other people <25 in the area.

CountryWise

The general feeling is that it is quite enough but very scenic....but then again if you are into going out everynight and getting wasted why not stay at home!
Hope it aint too boring though, anybody know what the beaches are like. im guessing they are more sand than stone?

Dave!

Hey, thanks for that,

You might wanna check out this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054887229

It seems that there's mainly stone beaches, I presume because it's a harbour!

When are you planning on heading over? You got your accomodation sorted yet?

growler

i stayed there for a week last year in late august, nice weather, good food: all price levels, good day trips: vesuvius, pompey and the boat trips. Beaches are non existant, it's either floating wooden platforms, rocks , or a single beach of boulders that you have to take a lift down to, and like most lidos you have to pay for the sunbeds.

When I was there the place was generally populated by 50/60 + types, the hotel had a piano bar / crooner type entertainment, plenty of bars in town but nothing remotely mental. !

Dave!

Yeeshk, that doesn't sound good

CountryWise

Glad i went for the hotel with the pool, i kinda guessed it had no proper beaches as there is no mention of "golden sandy beaches" or that type of thing, im heading in June for a week with a wedding party.
Booked into http://www.hoteledensorrento.com/en/rooms.htm offered a decent rate but you are always taking a chance booking online

growler

you're right in the centre of town there, which is handy as it saves you walking up the bloody hills.

liamo

I stayed in Sorrento for a week last summer. It was ok and I was glad I went, but a week was enough and I was glad to be moving on to another town at the end of my stay.

There are a few historical sites of immense interest that are definitely worth visiting. I wouldn't bother visiting Mount Vesuvius. It's a big anti-climax. Of course, I might have been spoiled by my visit to Mount Etna in Sicily shortly after an eruption. After that, Mt Vesuvius was just a hill with a hole in the top of it!

The weather during the summer should be great so bring shorts, glasses and a peaked cap. I found it handy to bring a small backpack for maps, water, camera, money, etc.

The food and wine is, like much of Italy, excellent. Prices are cheaper than Ireland and, of course, they don't have a complex about serving a customer - unlike a lot of Irish restaurant staff. Tipping is expected but the service makes you want to tip.

The center of Sorrento has a number of long narrow streets filled with market stalls/shops. There's some great value in leather and other clothing.

Internet availability is limited but there are a couple of central bars/cafes that are wireless hotspots if you have something with which to connect. Your hotel may have a single PC with internet for which you'll be charged.

As already mentioned, there are no beaches and you have to pay for a sunlounger on a deck with easy access to the water. However, no matter where you go in Italy, you are generally charged for access to a beach so the only difference is that there's no sand!

You can also get a boat over to the island of Capri which is well worth a day-trip.

From the square in the centre (Piazza Tasso) you can get tickets for a trip around the town in a little train-like series of carriages. It's immensely gaudy - painted white and gold - and everyone points and laughs at the tourists (so did we from our second day onwards ) but you get a feel for the layout of the town and if you do the trip on your first day it'll help you decide where you want to go and what to see.

The night-life appeared to be mainly the typical Italian cafe-bar and restaurant scene. There were a couple of night-clubs but I had no interest and have nothing to report one way or the other.

The age profile was a little on the *cough* older side but if you're not expecting a holiday resort you won't be too disappointed.

It's well worth your while getting a Sorrento travel guide. It'll give you maps, history, places of interest, etc.

Overall, you'll enjoy yourself but you'll probably have seen and done it all after 4 days or so.

Ciao,

Liam

CountryWise

Much appreciated, helps alot, i had a feeling the age group might be a little on the "cough" old side

r3nu4l

Stayed there four years ago and loved it. Sorrento is not an ibiza type place so forget about getting loaded and listening to "bangin' tunes"!

Places you must/should/maybe see if you are going there!

Pompeii - get an audio guide or guided tour (we went for the audio guide). You will need to deposit your passport or similar to get an audio guide but they are trustworthy enough! Pompeii takes hours to get around, plan to spend most of the day there if you want to do it properly!

Herculaneum - In the town of Ercolona - another site that was blasted by vesuvius

Capri - I thought it was pretty pointless and over-priced but then again, why not, you can't go to Sorrento and say you didn't go to Capri!

The blue grotto - a cave out at sea, you get a charter boat out, transfer to a small punt and they take you into the cave. The sunlight reflecting into the water inside the cave gives the water a dazzling blue tinge. Nice but the "almost religous feeling of tranquility" is spoiled by the fact that the cave is tiny and there are about seven boats with 15 people each packed in there at any time!!

Vesuvius - Worth it only to get the perspective of the distance of the volcano from Naples and Pompeii. Not much to see there really.

We stayed in Il Nido (the nest) hotel. A really nice-but-basic family-run hotel in the hills. They run a free bus service to and from the town at set times but we worked around that. Staying in the centre of town give more freedom.

Sorrento is one of those places where at night, you should get dressed in your best clobber and sit outside drinking a beer at night, then walk the streets with the Italians. They really do dress up at night just to walk in the town and look at everyone else!!

Great time, great holiday but not the place where you will get club18-30 which is fine with me

Mr. Presentable

Was in Sorrento two years ago. It's a place for older, relaxed tourists, but the trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum is great, as is the ride from Napoli on the narrow guage Circumvesuvio train. Very Anglocentric, most shop signs are in English, and generally I felt it had been tourist-trapped to death. For me there are many nicer places to visit.

Summary: Beautiful, but relaxed and the town just doesn't feel very Italian.

RainyDay

I really enjoyed our week in Sorrento last year with wife & baby - it is a very family oriented venue, and the Italians are great with kids. It is a little bit touristy, and I was just slightly dissapointed that just about everyone speaks English - it takes a bit of the challenge away. There is plenty to see in the area, and it is definitely worth getting out of Sorrento to see Amalfi & Positano - amazing towns built into the cliffsides around the coast. Pompeii is worth seeing too.