Sorrento and surrounding area

Sorrento and surrounding area

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Blown2CV

Original Poster:

28,695 posts

202 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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we're off to sorrento for a few days; have hired a fiat 500, and fully anticipate driving around and exploring a bit. Any tips we won't find in the guidebook? thanks

chilistrucker

4,541 posts

150 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Sadly no frown
But its a great place, we did all the touristy things there and really loved it.
If you have a meal on the main square 1 evening, would you keep an eye out for the stray dog for me please? Love to know if he is still there and getting well looked after for steak and ice cream by the locals smile

The Leaper

4,935 posts

205 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Good decision to have a car. Best tip: use it to get away from Sorrento in the day time to avoid the hundreds of people off the cruise ships that regretfully stop there all the time and swamp the place!

R.

johnfm

13,668 posts

249 months

Saturday 23rd May 2015
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Rent a small boat to take you to Capri - much better than going on one of the massive ones with 100's of people.

Some lovely places to eat - lunch at the Bellevue Syrene overlooking the sea is great.

Positano is a real gem - we went there on the same day we did Capri - arriving by boat. 2-3 hours there was pleasant.

Vesuvius is a good half day. Drive to the top car park - walk to the very top. Good views if weather is good.

Don't underestimate how slippery the roads can get with a little rain - steep downhill hairpins with zero grip are entertaining!!

Sorrento itself - nice day's wandering about. Bought some nice clothes. Good food.

Have fun.

DJRC

23,563 posts

235 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Sorrento is nice.

The entire rest of the Amalfi is a waste of space. Even in a 500! The roads are too narrow, there is too much traffic, too many coaches.
Positano basically looks like Foye in Cornwall.

Vesuvias is impressive, as is Pompeii.

Capri is ho hum. Long hike up the steps. 20 mins you have looked round the main town. A 20 min bus ride to Annacapri reveals a much nicer, more relaxed little town but nothing special.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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I didn't get Sorrento so many people raved about the place, I went for a wedding and the weather was awful which didn't help but I thought it was overpriced and dirty, someone said to me it had shabby chic, the place just looked unkempt to me.

The lemons were tasty though.

Patch1875

4,893 posts

131 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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Amalfi is my favourite town some stunning restaurants in the little narrow alleyways away from the square.

johnfm

13,668 posts

249 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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DJRC said:
Sorrento is nice.

The entire rest of the Amalfi is a waste of space. Even in a 500! The roads are too narrow, there is too much traffic, too many coaches.
Positano basically looks like Foye in Cornwall.

Vesuvias is impressive, as is Pompeii.

Capri is ho hum. Long hike up the steps. 20 mins you have looked round the main town. A 20 min bus ride to Annacapri reveals a much nicer, more relaxed little town but nothing special.
Heh - how long were you there?

Each to their own, but a lot depends on what you expect and want from a holiday destination. If you enjoy wandering through old towns, tasting great food and relaxing - its a great place. A day or two on a boat, dropping in on the coastal towns for a wander, some great seafood etc.

Some interesting art in Positano.

Sure, you can walk around Capri in 20 minutes. You could say the same about Set Maxime or St Tropez.

DJRC

23,563 posts

235 months

Sunday 24th May 2015
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John...Ive lived and worked in Italy for most of the last yr or so :P

St Tropez is a bloody dump aswell!

johnfm

13,668 posts

249 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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DJRC said:
John...Ive lived and worked in Italy for most of the last yr or so :P

St Tropez is a bloody dump aswell!
Well, we all like different things. Maybe you don't "get" Mediterranean towns as a holiday and prefer something else - like I don't really get Las Vegas or Ibiza, which other people really like.

One man's meat etc.

boxst

3,699 posts

144 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Just got back from Sorrento. It is a pleasant enough place. Go to Capri and see the Blue Grotto and go to the top of the island. Pompeii, Vesuvius, Herculeum are all good. Hike of the Gods is also fun if that's your thing. Some good restaurants and pizza smile

Driving looked absolutely horrible though (I went on an arranged thing). The coaches barely scrapping between the cars, scooter and walls and a few horrified looks on the car drivers faces.

If you wander up to Naples, that is a truly awful place in parts so be careful where you stay and I'd give your car back or use one of the very secure car parks.

DJRC

23,563 posts

235 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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Boxst...that is so true. The driving is just plain horrific. I drive all over Italy, including being able to drive in and around Firenze, Rome, Pisa, Milano and Torino without sat nav and mental Italian traffic. None of that compares with the sheer grief that trying to drive around the Amalfi brings. Its just an arseache of a place and anyone who goes near or into Naples knows how bad that place really is!

The Leaper

4,935 posts

205 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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I have driven in countries all over the World, but never in Italy. Wife and I go to Italy each September, been at other times too, to somewhere different on each occasion, and wherever we've been the driving looks "interesting".

Among the places we've been to, we went to Sorrento for a week, and we've been three time to Ravello on the Amalfi Coast (our favourite area) and in that area the driving is "really interesting". Equally so in Naples. On the coast road they have to have police controlling the traffic in the parts where it is very narrow or on blind bends, otherwise the trucks and coaches etc would never get through. All the local cars looked to be full of battle scars!

There's places. such as Lucca, where finding your way about the town by car with the combination of one way streets, pedestrianised areas, and areas only available to locals with cars, is bewildering.

This year we're going to Sicily for two weeks and I have heard that the driving there is also "interesting". Luckily, this holiday will be mostly a train adventure.

R.


BrabusMog

20,082 posts

185 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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I stayed in a town up in the mountain called Agerola which is up from Amalfi. I took a bus one day town to Amalfi and I kid you not the bus driver was speaking on two phones at once and steering with bus elbows around those tight roads! Every single car around that area has some dent or ding or scratch!

jinkster

2,235 posts

155 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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+ 1 Positano

audidoody

8,595 posts

255 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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One of the best fish restaurants I visited. Down by the fisherman's harbour

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g1877...

Kateg28

1,351 posts

162 months

Wednesday 27th May 2015
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I have been there over a dozen times as my father owns a house on the southern part of the Amalfi Coast (near a town called Agropoli).

The driving is something to behold and it can be overwhelming at first.
The rules (according to Italians):

Do not be alarmed when they fuel your car whilst holding a cigarette in their other hand. This is normal. (seriously)
The white lines down the middle of the road are decorative and don't mean anything.
There are no correct ways around a roundabout, treat as a speed hump.
The horn means almost anything and can just add some interesting noise to the scenery.
Play spot the unblemished car game. 10 points for every one you see.
One way roads are one way, which way is up to you.

On a more serious note:
Any aggression is over almost immediately. If you make a mistake, you will get shouted at and then they will wander off quite happily.
Do not make any hand gestures, some innocuous ones in the UK are extremely offensive in Italy so best steer clear
When they do road works the road remains open. I have gone past them painting the middle white lines on the autostrada and all the safety involved is his mate holding a flag and a fag, looking bored.
Stick to the speed limits, they do enforce them. There is enough fun anyway without adding speed to the mix.

Glorious glorious place, absolutely love it. Our place is about 2 hours South from Naples Airport and a world away. Origin of Mozzarella so enjoy.
(we are not Italian just love the area).