Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast, June 2004
I've been meaning to visit Sorrento for a long time, and it certainly lived up to expectations. There is a tremendous amount to do there, plenty enough for 2 weeks, alas we only had one. We stayed at the Hilton Sorrento Palace, for 150 euros a night, a nice 4 star hotel, 5 minutes out of town. It had 6 swimming pools outside, and a really good breakfast buffet.
Vesuvius from Sorrento Harbour. Naples is just to the left of the volcano.
Sorrento Harbour. Sorrento itself is 200ft on the cliff top, giving some great sunsets in June. The town makes a convenient base to visit all the sites, whilst the town itself is quite pleasant, plently of Italian restaurants (all with the same menu).
Capri is a few miles off the coast. We day tripped, walking up to Villa Jovis, then around to the Arco Naturale, then headed to Anacapri - on the other side of the small island, which was a lot more pleasant than the 'world class tourist trap' of Capri Town.
Pompei, in a site around a mile square is around 45 minutes from Sorrento. You walk down streets that haven't changed in 2000 years. Pompeii is a good distance from Mt Vesuvius - you would have thought it would have been safe.
Taking the bus down the Amalfi Coast was spectacular, though after 1 and a half hours you're glad to get off the bus. In Amalfi we walked up to Ravello, a cliff top town 1000 ft above Atrani. This was following walks described in the Sunflowers Book for the region which we used extensively.
There were many lemon groves, all fully laden with fruit, set into terraces on the hillside.
The great view descending into Amalfi, down hundreds and hundreds of steps. At least it was less strenuous than the climb up. It was a little hot for walking when we were there in June, 25'C / 80'F, which you really noticed when climbing.
Positano. Unlike Amalfi and Atrani, which occupy valley floors, Positano literally falls off the cliffs. We had a great walk following part of the 'Path of the Gods' - the Sentiero degli Dei. There was an enormous climb of around 700m, but once up there in the Cypress forests the flora was great.
Our last full day in Sorrento, we headed out to the end of the peninsula at Termini, and walked out to Ieranto, a nature reserve, giving great views of the coast and the blue Mediterranean.
