Travel – Sorrento

Starting from Lettere and following the state road 145, in about 30 km we reach the beautiful town of Sorrento, an amazing place facing one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the world. Sorrento is the perfect destination for a weekend, a small town that you can easily visit on foot. It is also the ideal center for visiting the Sorrento coast, that part of the Campania coast that overlooks the Gulf of Naples. This millennial city has been influenced over the centuries by different cultures and peoples: Greeks, Romans, Normans, Aragonese. Since the 19th century, Sorrento has been a welcoming tourist town. As for things to do, there are really many. Below, we suggest a nice itinerary to follow.

The starting point will be Piazza Lauro, the most modern square. From here you can continue along Corso Italia until you reach Piazza Tasso, the main square of Sorrento, as well as the beating heart of the town, with bars, restaurants, shops and many people all year round.

Piazza Tasso is the ideal place to take a break from the walk through the characteristic streets of the town and sip a coffee or a limoncello, immersed in its colors and Baroque architecture.

By making a small detour along Enrico Caruso avenue, you can take a look at the “Deep Valley of the Mills”. It is a natural valley that once reached the sea where, in the 17th century, a mill was built for grinding wheat. The activity continued until the beginning of the 1900s and has since been abandoned. The result is that dense vegetation has taken over the area, almost completely covering the traces of the activities that took place there. The valley is inaccessible and therefore one must be content with photographing the ruin.

From Piazza Tasso continue your walk along Corso Italia, the most important shopping and walking street. Along the Corso stop to visit the millennial Cathedral of Sorrento, dedicated to Saints Philip and James. The facade is in neo-Gothic style, while the interior is in Baroque style, mostly built in the eighteenth century. The cathedral houses numerous works of art of great value. The wooden choir and the large organ that overlooks the main entrance portal are also impressive. Outside, in Corso Italia, there is also the bell tower with the 18th century ceramic clock.

A stone’s throw from Piazza Tasso we find the Villa Comunale of Sorrento: a small garden with a breathtaking view over the coast and Vesuvius and the possibility of reaching Marina Piccola on foot or with a comfortable lift. In summer, Capri, Ischia and Procida can be reached from the port of Marina Piccola.

Close to the Villa Comunale is the Cloister of San Francesco, an obligatory stop in Sorrento. It is part of the church of the same name and preserves traces of the original fourteenth-century architecture together with other decorative motifs added in the following centuries. A mixture of styles that does not leave indifferent and which, above all, gives to the cloister a solemn and mystical atmosphere.

Continue the walk to the “Sedil Dominova”, an ancient meeting point for the nobles of the town. It is located in Via Cesareo, in one of the parallels of Corso Italia. Sedil Dominova remained substantially unchanged in its fifteenth-century structure. A distinctive element is the emblem of the town of Sorrento. All the frescoes date back to the eighteenth century.

For art lovers it is worth visiting the Correale Museum, where you can admire works by great artists, such as the paintings by the Posillipo school of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries  or the Capodimonte ceramics, but also daily testimonies of the fashion of the past. After visiting the 24 rooms of the museum, do not miss the spectacular view of the Gulf of Naples that can be enjoyed from the terrace. The museum is located in Via Correale, 50.

Finally, you can continue the walk up to Piazza Vittoria, another panoramic point and follow the street that leads to the seaside village of Marina Grande.