Introducing Sorrento
On paper Sorrento is a place to avoid – a package-holiday centre with few must-see sights, no beach to speak of and a glut of brassy English-style pubs. In reality, it’s a strangely appealing place, its laid-back southern Italian charm resisting all attempts to swamp it in souvenir tat and graceless development.
Dating to Greek times and known to Romans as Surrentum, Sorrento’s main selling point is its fabulous location. Straddling cliffs that look directly over the Bay of Naples to Mt Vesuvius, it’s ideally situated for exploring the surrounding area: to the west, the best of the peninsula’s unspoiled countryside and, beyond that, the Amalfi Coast; to the north, Pompeii and the archaeological sites; off-shore, the fabled island of Capri.
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Sorrento at dusk.
- Greg Elms
- Lonely Planet photographer
