01 — things to see

Things to see

The places that explain Sorrento — and what surrounds it: Capri, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast. Real distances and how to get there.

Amalfi Coast

40 min by car

Sixty kilometres carved between sea and cliff: the Amalfi Coast is one of the most celebrated coastal drives in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. The SS163 Amalfitana hugs the Tyrrhenian from Vietri sul Mare to Punta Campanella, threading through villages that have shaped the legend of Italian travel.

Capri

20 min by ferry

Capri is one of the most famous islands in the Bay, known for the Blue Grotto, the Faraglioni rocks and the polished atmosphere that put it on the map.

Chiostro di San Francesco

8 min on foot

The Cloister of San Francesco is a small 14th-century courtyard next to the church of the same name, with rounded arches and tufa columns. It's one of the quietest places in the centre of Sorrento.

Ischia

90 min by ferry

Ischia is the largest island in the Bay, famous for its thermal springs, botanical gardens and sandy beaches. Different from Capri in feel: less polished, greener, more relaxed.

Mount Vesuvius National Park

75 min by car

Mount Vesuvius National Park surrounds the active volcano you can see from the Sorrento coast. From the top, the view stretches from Naples across the Bay to the Sorrento peninsula, and to Capri on clear days.

View over the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius from Museo Correale park

Museo Correale di Terranova

12 min on foot

The Correale Museum is housed in an 18th-century villa surrounded by a park overlooking the sea. The collection brings together maiolica, glass, furniture, paintings and decorative arts telling the story of Sorrento and the Kingdom of Naples.

Naples

60 min by train

Naples is the big city on the Bay: baroque squares, tuff alleys, cloisters, museums and a depth of history that has no equal.

Pompeii

30 min by train

Pompeii is the Roman city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, today an open-air archaeological park — one of the most visited sites in Italy.

Positano

40 min by car

Positano is the most photographed village on the coast, with its painted houses clinging to the cliff, the beach at its feet, and the maiolica dome of Santa Maria Assunta.

Procida

60 min by ferry

Procida is the smallest island in the Bay and was named Italian Capital of Culture in 2022. Marina Corricella, with its fishermen's houses painted in every shade of pastel, is the starting point.

Punta Campanella

25 min by car

The southern tip of the Sorrento peninsula, facing Capri. A protected marine reserve since 1997, one of the most important in the Mediterranean for biodiversity and underwater landscapes.

Sedil Dominova

10 min on foot

Sedil Dominova is a 16th-century Renaissance loggia decorated with frescoes and topped by a small maiolica dome. It was the meeting place of Sorrento's nobility until the abolition of the local councils in 1808.

Tyrrhenian Sea — Scuba Diving

The Tyrrhenian waters below Sorrento offer fine diving: wrecks, coral reefs, varied marine life (groupers, octopuses, occasional turtles). The busier sites are along Punta Campanella and around Capri.

Vallone dei Mulini

5 min on foot

The Vallone dei Mulini is a natural gorge in the middle of Sorrento, with the remains of medieval mills dating to the 13th century. They were abandoned in 1866 when the opening of Piazza Tasso cut the valley off from the sea and the humidity became unbearable.