Sorrento Italy, anyone been.

Gary Coyle

Gary Coyle

In Memoriam
Suspended / Banned
Messages
12,654
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Anyone been, heard reports it can be quite expensive to eat and drink out and that taxis and such like are extortionate, anyone confirm or deny

Looking for a european coastal holiday but not interested in the usual Magaluf, Ibiza type beach holidays with wall to wall hotels and sunbeds and drunken brits/germans so any suggestions welcome
 
Last edited:
Gary it is gorgeous ... and expensive, as are most places in Italy.

Forget the taxis they are ridiculously overpriced, trains and buses are cheap though, you can get to Herculaneum or Pompeii for around 4 - 5 euros return on the train, both sites are only a short walk from the respective stations.

Two of us could eat out, with a bottle of wine for around 50 - 60 euros, compared to the same sort of meal in The Canaries costing around 40 euros.

The Amalfi coast road is an experience, probably best on an excursion bus, Positano is stunning from the road and Amalfi Cathedral is worth a visit, the other option is they can both be reached by boat from Sorrento.

Early or late season you can get some rain, worth bearing in mind regarding when you plan on going.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Looking for a european coastal holiday but not interested in the usual Magaluf, Ibiza type beach holidays with wall to wall hotels and sunbeds and drunken brits/germans so any suggestions welcome
Click to expand...
Malaga. I'm going there next month.
Has a bad rep because the Brits fly there on holidays - but they are only using the airport to get to the costa del sol. The town itself is nice, with a lot of art galleries etc. Plus you can get the train to Cordoba etc.

Can also recommend Croatia - went to Dubrovnik in November once - was still warm and a beautiful city. Just make sure to do the walls in the morning before the cruise ships arrive, as it gets manic for a couple of hours, before they all shuffle back onto the boats after lunch.

Nice was also, er, Nice. Make sure to try the socca, and get the train to Monaco for a gander and to see the GP circuit and the gin palaces. (I can now say I have taken a Maclaren(*) through the tunnel at Monaco).



(*) Admittedly, it was this type of Maclaren...
upload_2015-10-7_14-13-32.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Was in Sorrento last year. As has been said, buses and trains are the way to go and cheap too. Don't bother visiting Capri (in my opinion) but do pre-arrange trips to Pompeii, Vesuvius and Herculaneum.
Didn't get up the Amalfi cost unfortunately but had a great time :)
 
Llamaman said:
Malaga. I'm going there next month.
Has a bad rep because the Brits fly there on holidays - but they are only using the airport to get to the costa del sol. The town itself is nice, with a lot of art galleries etc. Plus you can get the train to Cordoba etc.

Can also recommend Croatia - went to Dubrovnik in November once - was still warm and a beautiful city. Just make sure to do the walls in the morning before the cruise ships arrive, as it gets manic for a couple of hours, before they all shuffle back onto the boats after lunch.

Nice was also, er, Nice. Make sure to try the socca, and get the train to Monaco for a gander and to see the GP circuit and the gin palaces. (I can now say I have taken a Maclaren(*) through the tunnel at Monaco).



(*) Admittedly, it was this type of Maclaren...
View attachment 47862
Click to expand...
We did Porec in Istria 30 years age, beautiful, croatia sounds decent
 
Or Greece. They could probably do with the tourism.
 
I went to Positano and did visit Sorrento on a few occasions and found it a lot more commercial than the rest of the Amalfi Coast. I preferred the views and food of Positano. You can do a lot via bus or train so maybe try Positano?
 
If you're considering Italy could do worse then Sperlonga. Gorgeous, not too prices and an hour from Rome on the train
 
I'm biased being Italian, but i love Sorrento, the Amalfi coast is just gorgeous, Ravello, Positano, Maiori, etc are stunningly beautiful, and well worth a visit, as are the islands of Capri, Ischia and Proceda, as for it being mega expensive, well yes, as are most tourist spots in Europe, but if you go off the beaten track you can find some right bargain places to eat and drink, we found a bar/restaurant which sold bottles of Peroni for 1 Euro, and a great meal for 10 Euros.

It's also a perfect spot to visit all the historic sights of that region, Pompeii, La Regia in Caserta is also well worth seeing, and you can get a train to Rome to see all the sights there.
 
We were in amalfi this summer for a couple of weeks. Loved it, had a hire car the whole time and personally found it beautiful driving country. Although if you are a little nervous then maybe coach trips. The local bus service is excellent and cheap. Didn't find it particularly expensive and the food was great. Obviously there are some expensive places but if you look around there are very reasonable ones as well. I always find Italians very friendly.
We are in Malaga at the moment and it is a fantastic, vibrant city and very doable on foot. Exhibition or museum in the morning, lunch in the centre, beach in the afternoon, dinner in one of about a thousand restaurants in the evening. Granada and Rhonda are not to far away either. Last time we were here we went down to algeceres and over to tangiers for an overnight then train down to marrakech.
You know it makes sense.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Anyone been, heard reports it can be quite expensive to eat and drink out and that taxis and such like are extortionate, anyone confirm or deny

Looking for a european coastal holiday but not interested in the usual Magaluf, Ibiza type beach holidays with wall to wall hotels and sunbeds and drunken brits/germans so any suggestions welcome
Click to expand...

Gary you say what you are not looking for, but what are you actually looking for other than being on a coast?
 
I know.... And it would be Algeciras as well but whose checking........ Oh

:)
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Gary you say what you are not looking for, but what are you actually looking for other than being on a coast?
Click to expand...
Not really sure, want access to a decent beach NOT infested by boozed up idiots or dozens of chav families with unruly chav sprogs in tow

would like a bit of culture, we did Porec old town 30 years ago in Istria which was nice
 
Gary Coyle said:
, want access to a decent beach
Click to expand...

The public beach at Sorrento is tiny, it is mostly bathing platforms which you have to pay to use, I wouldn't go to Sorrento for a beach holiday to be honest

Frac's recommendation of Sicily is a good one, I have not done the northern coast for a holiday, but we did visit Cefalu one day, that had a decent looking beach.
 
We went there this June, went to Ischia which is where we stayed but went to sorrento for the day. Both fantastic places, very little commercialism which was refreshing!!
 
We stayed in Sorrento for a week in 2012, and although it was quite pleasant, it was expensive.
We did however take a few trips on the Circumvesuviana railway which links Sorrento with Naples, and came across a lovely place called Castellammare di Stabia which is cheaper than Sorrento, and has lovely beaches.

https://www.summerinitaly.com/guide/castellammare-di-stabia

It is also ideally placed for Naples, Sorrento and Herculanum and Pompei.
 
We went a few years back, stayed a few miles outside Sorrento on the Naples side in June (flew to Rome, drove down from there). Sorrento was so crowded that we couldn't actually drive in and park. Beaches were generally poor (if beaches matter to you) with Positano being the best we saw, eating was expensive and the whole area felt frantic. Pompeii and Herculaneum/Ercolano ruins were fascinating, Vesuvius was also impressive for sheer size and the steam that still issues in parts of the crater. The Amalfi coast road is lovely. *Personally* I would only go there for the archeology, and would holiday elsewhere.

We holidayed in Andalucia during September this year, and beaches aside (we swam in freshwater reservoirs there) the experience was far more pleasant and relaxing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top