Sorrento: the easy base for the Amalfi area
Updated October 2026
The easy base for the Amalfi area: flatter, with ferries in every direction.
Sorrento at a glance
- Best time
- May, September
- Price level
- pricey
- Getting around
- easy without a car
- Best for
- food, boating and hiking
- The catch
- Hardly any sandy beaches. You swim off wooden and concrete platforms, and the loungers cost extra.
When to go
Temperatures are average daily highs in °F and °C (WeatherSpark). Ratings are our own. $ = cheapest, $$$ = most expensive. 🔥 = heat, ★ = big event.
Who Sorrento is for
Sorrento suits couples, families and solo travelers. For families it’s the best base in the area: the center is flat, and connections to Capri, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast are good. Walking is mostly flat.
When to go
The best months are May and September. April, June and October are good too. The weakest are March and August. In January and February many hotels and services are closed.
Getting around
From Naples, the Circumvesuviana local train gets you to Sorrento in about 75 minutes, and boats leave from there for Capri and the Amalfi Coast. You walk in town, and you don’t need a car.
What Sorrento costs
On a budget, about $115 to $185 per person per day. In comfort or luxury, about $350 to $550. The lower number is the quiet season, the higher one peak season.
Includes your stay, food, activities and local transport, not flights. Converted at about $1.10 per euro. Estimates only.
Flights from the US and Canada
Fly into: Naples (NAP). Typical economy fares per person, round trip. Canadian fares are in Canadian dollars. Not live prices, so always check before you book.
What Sorrento does best
Its strengths: food and restaurants, boating and hiking.
Soccer in the 2026-27 season: Juve Stabia (Serie B, about 30 min) and Napoli (Serie A, about 1 h). The season runs from late August to May.
Day trips
Sorrento makes a good base: trains and boats take you to ruins, islands and the coast while you stay in one hotel.
The Roman city buried in ash. Give it half a day.
The Faraglioni rocks and Anacapri.
The best-known town on the Amalfi Coast.
Pizza and the lanes of the old town.
A walk up to the crater rim.
Where to eat
Breakfast and brunch
Lunch
Dinner
We picked these places from Google ratings and reviews in October 2026, and we haven’t eaten at all of them. Many Italian restaurants take reservations on WhatsApp, and a reservation only counts once they reply. The Map link opens the restaurant in Google Maps, where you’ll also find a booking button if they take online reservations. Opening hours change, so check before you go.
Food and wine
Campania on a plate: a typical four-course menu, and the wine to go with each.
Soccer
Even if soccer isn’t your sport, a home game is one of the best evenings you can have in Italy: the singing, the flags, the whole crowd living every pass. Tickets usually cost a fraction of a pro game in the US or Canada.
Kickoff times are set only a few weeks ahead, so check the club’s website for the schedule.
Golf
There’s practically no course around Naples that works for a golf trip. The closest, Circolo Golf Napoli, is for members and US military personnel only, and Volturno Golf gets weak reviews. If golf is the point of the trip, pick Sicily, Puglia or Lake Garda.
Shopping
- Limoncello: local lemons, and makers where you can taste.
- Inlaid woodwork: Sorrento’s traditional wooden boxes with marquetry.
- Corso Italia and the old-town lanes: the town’s shopping area. 📍 Map
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