Amalfi Coast
Anne's blog, 16/05/2013
I have always wanted to visit the Amalfi Coast area of Italy and Sorrento is a really good place to base yourself for a week.
Sorrento is a beautiful town right on the coast; my hotel was just a five minute walk from Tasso Square which is right at the heart of the action. Tasso Square was great for sitting at a café or bar with a coffee or glass of wine and just relaxing while watching the world go by.
The old town is a maze of small streets and alleyways where there are shops selling everything including lemons, clothing, souvenirs and delicious ice creams. There are also numerous little cafes, bars and restaurants and it is great fun to just wander and see where you end up.
There is a lovely harbour called the Marina Grande where you will find lots of fantastic seafood restaurants.
From Sorrento there are many interesting places to visit. We took the hydrofoil to Capri for the day, when you arrive at the port in Capri you can take the funicular up to the town. Capri is a beautiful Island and we had a wonderful day wandering around looking in the upmarket boutiques and gazing at the jaw-dropping views.
A half day sightseeing trip to Vesuvius was well worth the steep climb to the top, with magnificent views of the Bay of Naples.
We caught the Circumvesuviana train from Sorrento to Herculaneum and spent a fascinating day exploring the ruins of the city, the train takes 30-40 minutes and we were serenaded by local musicians who joined the train for a while.
We could not miss also visiting Pompeii, you need to allow plenty of time to explore the ruins, and a guided audio tour is available at a reasonable cost. It was amazing to see the ruts in the roads where the carts had been driven around the city in ancient times.
Our holiday would not have been complete without doing the Amalfi drive. This is said to be Italy’s most spectacular stretch of coastline and we were not disappointed, we visited Positano, Amalfi and Ravello – the towns were absolutely beautiful with fantastic views at every turn.
I have some wonderful memories of my holiday, beautiful views and the scent of jasmine and lemons everywhere.