Sorrento

Sorrento stands on a shelf of tufa about fifty metres above the sea, with the cliff dropping straight to two small marinas reached by steps and lifts, and Vesuvius across the water. The Greek grid of the old town is still legible in the street plan, and Roman villas underlie parts of the coast. Lemons of the local Femminello Sorrento variety, large and thick-skinned, grow on the terraces under chestnut-pole shelters, and limoncello is made from the peel; the drink's commercial history here is recent, from the twentieth century, though infusions of the kind are older. Intarsio, inlaid woodwork, is the town's other long trade.

History

From the 8th century BC indigenous villages here stood on a crossing point for Etruscan traffic, and the oldest ruins of Surrentum are Oscan, from about 600 BC. In antiquity the town was famous for its wine, its fish and its red Campanian vases, and its chief temples were those of Athena, which gave its name to the promontory, and of the Sirens; oranges and lemons, now widely grown here, had not yet reached Italy (Wikipedia, Sorrento).

The main sights

• The tufa cliff - a town shelf fifty metres above two small marinas.
• The lemon terraces - Femminello groves under pole shelters.
• The inlaid woodwork - intarsio workshops and a dedicated museum.
• The Vesuvius view - the volcano across the bay from the cliff walks.

When to go

April to June and September to October; July and August are extremely crowded and hot. The Circumvesuviana train is slow and packed in season.

Practical notes

There is no real beach, only platforms and small marinas. The centre is heavily geared to tourism with high prices. Train access is crowded and unreliable.

Nearby

Pompeii lies north; the Amalfi Coast is over the peninsula.

Key facts