Sorrento, Italy
Spending 24 hours in the romantic town of Sorrento
We city-breaked in Sorrento, Italy! Our Friday to Sunday mini break might have broke the bank!
Lets Embark
We set off at midnight as our flight was just after 7 am and we had 240miles to cover and parking to find!
Parking
The biggest favour you can do yourself is to prebook airport parking, turning up on the day you will pay full price! Due to the lack of planning on the other half side, we turned up on the day and after following some terrible diversions we arrived at Stanstead's long-stay car park and took the 15-minute bus journey to the terminal.
COVID & Weather
You are expected to wear masks within the airport and on the plane unless eating or drinking. You may have to remove your mask at customs and passport control, the automated gates require you to scan your passport and remove your mask to look at the camera.
Italy's heat was a firm 30°c and creeping and it hits you walking off the plane. During our visit, there were times that the heat was overwhelming without the help of a breeze.
Where we stayed
Hotel Astoria Sorrento has a traditional feel, and great service and is just around the corner from the main square. Breakfast is included and served inside, it consists of most elements of a continental breakfast but the only cooked part would be the boiled eggs so if you're looking for a fry-up every morning you're not going to find it here. The staff are friendly and are willing to help in any way they can. Meals can be ordered and eaten in the courtyard although we choose to eat out every night.
Sorrento
Sorrento is a town in the bay of Naples, the soft breeze from the Ocean makes the heat bearable and the views convince you you’re in paradise. Most tourists will stay above the harbour to the east and west of the Piazza Tasson. To the east, you will find the supermarkets, train station, clothes shops, deli's and takeaways as well as an interesting fountain and to the west, you will find the high street with the more luxury shops, behind that there are many streets filled with shops aimed at tourists selling souvenirs, prices are practically identical where ever you buy.
Italy is the home of the Sicilian lemon and Italian have mastered the art of turning them into almost everything - soap and limoncello being the most popular, you'll see them everywhere. We popped into 'Vino In' the lovely shop assistant offered us a sample of Limoncello, a lemon liquor - prepare yourself it's rather strong! Meloncello is much fruitier and not as hard-hitting, they apparently put it on salad, I'm not sure we'd get away with that! We later went back before we left to buy miniatures as souvenirs and some pasta seasoning - if you find yourself buying some, remember it's a spoon of it per person - not the whole bag!
We popped into a shop called Limoncello di Sorrento and bought some boiled lemon sweets as more of a souvenir for the kids. Whilst walking around the streets of Sorrento the smell of leather hit me before I could see the shop, Gloves Concetta Pane they sell beautiful leather bags, belts, and wallets you name it! I couldn't help but purchase a new bag and can't wait to use it!
Harbour & Ferries
The harbour is relatively small with mostly a ferry and a few tour boats docked, if you wish to take a trip to Capri or Ischia this is the place to go from. You must book at the kiosk before boarding. Other journeys include Amalfi, Alilauro, Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, Seiano and Positano. If you choose to get the big ferries that the locals use there are two companies - SNAV and Caremar, you don't save anything buying a return ticket so my advice would be buying a single then you are not tied into waiting for that company to return, bear in mind the ferry at 5.45 pm will be busy!
Check the prices before you go here and then buy when you’re there.
Food & restaurants
We arrived in Sorrento just after lunch and ventured out for lunch, we came across Pizza'Azz a Neapolitan pizza stop, this takeaway had a couple of seats outside for us to enjoy our pizzas. Pizza folded in four like a crêpe is locally known as 'pizza a portafoglio' - portafoglio meaning wallet in Italian and served in paper and the best way to devour a pizza in Italy.
After climbing down the rather steep stairs and footway along the Via Luigi de Maio road to the harbour we stopped at a local ice cream stall on the Via Marina Piccola because it would be rude not to, right? You have to try the pastries while in Italy, they look divine and taste even better, you can find them everywhere. If there was one thing to try while in Italy it was the lemon slushie, if you like Fanta Lemon this is right up your street, I wish we could bring it home with us!
The two nights we were in Sorrento we ate out, the first night we spent walking around the streets in circles not quite knowing which restaurant to pick, eventually the owner of the Taverna Dell'800 took us aside and showed us some choices, they're pasta is handmade and have a specials board for even more choice, I highly recommend Scialatielli dish, I only wish I could go back again!
That evening we also discovered an unmanned shop with several vending machines, one of which had bottles of alcohol, something we'd never see back home! We didn't try it but having googled it, they do ask for identification to prove age, Italy doesn't have a drinking age however you must be 16 or older to purchase alcohol.
The last night whilst shopping for souvenirs the heavens opened and it rained off and on, we dived into a nearby restaurant Sedil Dominova that had covered outside seating and live music. The restaurant is opposite the Sedile Dominova a building or 'Seat' dating back to the 1300s when it was used to discuss political matters and one of the last surviving noble Seats in the region. Today it’s used by the locals as a working men’s club, you'll see them sitting outside playing cards but a beautiful backdrop.
Costs
What started out as a budget trip for a birthday present escalated quite dramatically, the cost of the taxi set us back way more than we anticipated and have learnt our lesson - arrange airport transfers!
Flights: €150.00
The hotel: €238.00
Transfers: €304.00
Trips/attractions: €136.20
Food/meals: €87.18
Purchases/souvenirs: €69.60
Total: €984.98
Not the £150pp holiday we first had in mind!
Homeward bound
All in all, we enjoyed our trip and I would definitely return to Italy for the weather, food and sights. In future we will book airport transfers - lessons learnt there! On a side, note does anyone name cats they meet while abroad, the one above who lived on Capri Island I named Charlie.
Look out for posts about the airports we visited, the purchases and souvenirs we bought and trips we took.
