Italy
La Dolce Vita
Sorrento Travel Journal
June 1
Day 15 - On To Sorrento
Another moving day. Today we head to the Southern coastal town of Sorrento. We will be in Sorrento for 5 nights and I expect this will be a more relaxed and leisurely part of our holiday. We plan to take the train to Naples and then take the Ferry to Sorrento. Our accommodation is located by the waterside, just near the Ferry port, so this will be perfect.
We are packed, tidied up the apartment and caught the taxi at 8:15am to take us to the Termini train station. We are booked on a 9:38am train to Naples. The train trip takes about 1.5 hours from Rome to Naples. We then find a local train connection to take us a couple of stops to arrive near the Ferry port. This must be relatively new as all of the research we had done did not mention this train and we were initially looking for a bus connection. However thanks to a very helpful and friendly taxi driver he pointed us in the right direction to the train. We find the Ferry port and buy 2 tickets to Sorrento. We stop for lunch at a café at the Ferry port.
The ferry leaves at about 1pm and takes about 45 minutes to get to Sorrento. The ferry is fairly empty so there are plenty of seats available. The ferry trip is direct and we do not stop at any other locations on the way.
Our accommodation is another Airbnb booking and is a short walk from the Ferry port. A local points us in the right direction and we get their quickly. We are staying at the Surriento Suites for 5 nights and our room is on the 1st floor.
We are in a great location and our room overlooks the water. The room is crisp and clean and decorated in a lovely waterside theme.
Our host Pamela is lovely and very helpful person. She has also left us some homemade pastries and coconut balls. They are really good. This is a great welcome and a really good start to our Sorrento stay.
Right next to our building, high above at the top of the cliffs is the famous excelsior hotel.
As we are by the waterside, the main town of Sorrento is at the top of the cliffs, so it is about a 10 minutes walk up the steps each time we want to visit the town. It’s not really that arduous and we have been in training during the other parts of our Italian holiday!
In the afternoon we walk up the hill to the township to explore some of the streets and buy a few groceries and souvenirs. The town is relatively small however there are a lot of narrow alleyways filled with shops. Its a very pretty town
In the evening, we walk along the coastal paths to the Grande Marina. It’s about a 20-25 minute leisurely stroll from our apartment. The Marina is a beautiful little inlet surrounded by hotels, restaurants and houses. The backdrop is the hills into which many other hotels and houses are located.
We have dinner at the Porta Marina restaurant and get an outside table overlooking the Marina. This is a really nice family restaurant with good food – mainly pasta, of course. Donna has seafood pasta – so she is really happy. It’s a really nice balmy evening and we eat outside as the sun goes down and the light around the Marina start to shine. It’s a beautiful time of night and a lovely dining experience. After dinner we stroll back to our accommodation.
This has been a really nice day, a great way to get to our location via the ferry ride and a real change of pace from the other cities. Sorrento is a very pretty town, I can see why it is so popular.
June 2
Day 16 - Mount Vesuvius and it's Ruins
We are planning to visit some more ruins today. We are traveling to the town of Herculaneum which, like the more famous Pompeii, was destroyed by the eruptions from Mt Vesuvius. We also plan to visit the crater of the mountain that caused all the trouble – Mt Vesuvius itself.
Our accommodation is a bed and breakfast rather than an apartment, so breakfast is included in our booking. Breakfast is at the Waterside Café, a 50 metre walk from our accommodation. We have breakfast and then make our way up the steep steps, into the town and head to the train station.
We catch the train to Ercalano. The train takes about 50 minutes to get to this station. At one of the stations we stop at, a small group of musicians get onto the train and start playing music for the passengers – a different form of busking than we would normally see. They ride for a few stations and then get off, no doubt to join some other trains.
Ercolano is the station located near the Herculaeum ruins, about a 15 minute walk away. From this station there is also a private bus service that provides shuttle rides to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. You also need to buy an entry ticket to walk to the top of Mt. Vesuvius. We decide to visit Mt. Vesuvius first, so we get our tickets and hop on the bus. The road up the mountain is fairly narrow and there is a reasonable amount of traffic on the roads, particularly other buses shuttling people up and down the mountain. So there is lot of horn tooting up and down the mountain warning other drivers of their buses coming around some of the tight blind turns. It all seems to work OK, we get up the mountain safely. The bus trip takes about 20 minutes to the carpark area near the top of Mt. Vesuvius.
We get off the bus and start the climb walk up the track towards the mouth of the crater. When we started the day it was a brilliant sunny morning without a cloud in the sky. When we get to the carpark near the top of Mt. Vesuvius, there has been a cloud clinging to the top of the mountain. At the carpark it is still reasonably clear but as we climb up the track towards the crater, the cloud cover becomes much denser and visibility is very poor. It’s just like being outside on a very foggy day. The further we climb the cooler it becomes as well. The drop in temperature is really noticeable, so much that almost wished we had brought some warm clothing with us rather that the t-shirt and shorts we were dressed in. It takes us about 20 minutes to get to the top where the volcano crater is.
The cloud/fog is just to dense to see into the crater, so it’s a really good thing we came up the mountain to get some good pictures of clouds!! We spend some time walking along the path at the top of the crater. The humidity is, of course, very high and it rains every now and then for short periods. At one point it starts to pour and we run for cover into a small shed. There is very little cover available apart from the souvenir shops that are spreads out along the track.
After the downpour we decide to head back. As we are walking along there is a very brief period where one small section of the crater momentarily clears a little and we get a brief glimpse into a small part of the crater. Otherwise, that’s it, we just saw a cloud covered path at the top of Mt. Vesuvius.
Back at the carpark, we wait for the bus and buys some small souvenirs in the shops located there. The trip back down offers some really great views of the very sunny ‘Bay of Naples’ below. The tooting of bus horns fill the air on the way down.
Once we return to Ercalano Station we walk straight down the hill towards the Herculaneum ruins. We are now back in warm sunny weather. We stop for lunch in a café along the way. We get to the bottom of the hill and enter into the Herculaneum site. This is another site which was destroyed by the eruptions from Mt. Vesuvius. The ruins have uncovered have been uncovered and are really well preserved. There are still some areas that have yet to be dug up. We go inside and also hire an audio guide. Near the entrance, the site starts with a very confronting exhibit. There are at least 6 rooms that have the skeletal remains of dozens of people inside them. These people were trapped and killed in these buildings by the volcanic eruptions. The skeletal remains have been left as undisturbed as possible.
The Herculaneum site shows some really good examples of the homes, shops and buildings of the era. There are also some remaining partial frescos, engravings and utensils on display as well. It is fairly compact site so exploring is not too difficult. We wander around the site listening to the audio guide explanations. After a while it begins to pour with rain and once again we take shelter. Once it clears a little, we decide to walk back to the train station and head back to Sorrento. We catch the train but need to change trains this time before we finally get back to Sorrento.
On the way back to our rooms, we wander through the narrow back alleys and visit some of the stalls and shops. Donna buys a black leather bag. You can never have enough bags – can you? We finally take a walk back along the clifftop path to get back to our accommodation.
That evening we go out to dinner to a restaurant just around the corner from our B&B location. It is called Vela Bianca. The food is nice but a little too salty for our liking. It is really noticeable. After dinner we return to our B&B for the evening.
Today has been another really good day. A pity we didn’t get to see more of the crater of Mt. Vesuvius, however we did get to see more of the seaside area between Naples and Sorrento. It a very beautiful area.
June 3
Day 17 - Trip Along the Coast
Today we plan to take the bus trip along the Amalfi coast to the town of Amalfi itself. We have heard the scenery is spectacular and the road trip is an entertaining experience.
We are up early and have an early breakfast. We walk up the hill to the bus stop, located outside the train station and catch the public (Sita) bus to Amalfi. Fortunately we get a seat but ultimately on the wrong side of the bus. There were very few seats when we got on the bus, however by the time it departs, the bus is packed with people standing. The view for us of the sea side of the road is very limited. This really spoils the trip. The distance between Sorrento and Amalfi is about 37 kms, however the trip takes just over 2 hours. The road is windy and narrow and there are some sections where it is not dual roadway and where only one vehicle can proceed at a time. So there are several times the bus needs to stop to let other traffic through. The roads are just total chaos and grid lock, so it is no wonder that it takes over 2 hours for the relatively short journey. The view would have been good had we been able to see it clearly.
The bus goes through the town of Positano on its way to Amalfi and we had planned to get off there, however given the bus is so full and the trip is so slow, we decide to stay on the bus to Amalfi. We were very doubtful we would get back on another bus heading to Amalfi, so didn’t want to risk it.
We continue on to Amalfi, which is the final stop. Amalfi is a Cliffside town that appears to have been cut into the hillside like all the towns along the coast. It is a small town, but charming and very pretty. We wander the streets exploring the to and stop for some snacks, Calamari, which is nice but bit chewy. The roads and lanes all merge to be footpaths as well. They are narrow, however, some cars and motorbikes travel along them , however very slowly with all the people wandering along them as well. The main attraction of Amalfi, apart from the seaside beauty of the town are the shops and cafes. There is, of course, also the obligatory church which is also a focal point of the town. We spend a couple of hours wandering the streets, browsing the shops and wandering along the shoreline.
We return to catch the bus back to Sorrento. There are crowds waiting to head back to Sorrento and the Sita bus company organisation of the entire bus line is done in true Italian style, ie total free for all chaos. The only positive thing I could say about the Sita bus company experience is the complete surly attitude of their bus drivers. I’m not sure it is possible for anyone to be less helpful. I would not recommend catching the public bus transport along the Amalfi coast to anyone – it is an extremely disappointing and frustrating experience. We don’t think we will get a seat on the bus and don’t really want to experience another really cramped 2 hour bus trip back to Sorrento.
So we decide to pay extra and catch the Hop On Hop Off bus back to Sorrento. Finding where it stops is the first challenge however. We ask the people at the boat hire service desks who say they do noy know – we suspect otherwise. As it turns out, the Hop On Hop Off bus stop is just across the road from them. Amalfi is a really pretty town however the people there are some of the most unfriendly and unhelpful people we have come across. They are very poor ambassadors for the area and ‘leave a nasty taste in your mouth’. Once on the bus, we get seats by the seaside window. The bus is not very full and it is very comfortable. The is just like heaven after the dreadful Sita bus experience. The view back to Sorrento is certainly worth seeing. The traffic chaos heading back is just the same as earlier in the day.
After getting back at about 4pm we go and get gelato at ‘Davids’ just near the station and a recommended gelato vendor. The ‘white chocolate’ gelato is simply magnificent – we will definitely come back here. We return to our B&B for a break, wine and a news catch-up.
That evening we head into town and wander the streets of Sorrento, and stop at a small café for dinner. Again the food is tasty but quite salty. After dinner we shop for souvenirs and also stop at a shop that makes Limoncello. We stop and try it. It is really nice so we buy some to take back to our B&B. We head back for the evening.
When we return our host has left some beautiful sponge like cakes with syrup in our room. They are lovely and washed down with some more limoncello is really good. Our host has been such a lovely person.
It was another good day in spite of the horrible Sita bus service. Amalfi is a nice town but really just a much smaller version of Sorrento. It was nice to visit and although the coast bus trip has some great scenery is just a long time to spend on the bus (over 4 hours there and back). That does detract from the day a little. We also looked across the bay towards Mt. Vesuvius as well – those clouds were still clinging to the top of the mountain.
June 4
Day 18 - Pompeii
Another day to visit historical ruins. Today we plan to visit the famous ruins at Pompeii. Another site that has had so much said and written about it and had movies made as well – I’m really looking forward to seeing it.
After breakfast we once again walk up the steps to the township and train station. We catch the 9am train to Pompeii. It takes about 30 minutes to get to the town of Pompei. The town is a short walk from the station, only a few hundred metres. There is a queue of people waiting to get in. We join the queue and it takes about 15 minutes to get in. We hire audio guides and begin our exploration.
This site is enormous and the ruins are much better preserved than at Herculaneum or Ostia Antica in Rome. There are some areas with extremely well preserved features and artwork. Some buildings are also in surprising really good condition as well. There are a lot of people visiting the site however as it is so large, everything is easily visible and we don’t feel crowded. It is a beautiful sunny day approx. 23 Celsius so just perfect for wandering the ruins.
There are so many areas to visit that we can’t possibly see it all, that would likely take a couple of days. However we are happy with what we saw and get an overall impression. The cloud covered Mt. Vesuvius looms ominously in the background. It's easy to see how the city was destroyed by the eruptions. We end up spending about 4 hours at Pompeii.
We catch the train back to Sorrento and arrive back at about 4pm. We walk back to our B&B. When we get there, we find some more pastries in our room – from the marvellous Pamela. That evening we dine at a restaurant recommended by Pamela called Zi Antonio. Donna has fish and I have pasta. The food is superb and probably the best meal we have had all holiday. The food is not salty either which has been the trend in Sorrento, though we did ask at the time of ordering for no salt to be added. After dinner we walk back to David’s to get some more gelato – no white chocolate this time, but the other flavours are great as well.
We wander the streets a little more, it’s Saturday night and the streets are very busy, but it’s nice to be out nonetheless. We finally head back to our room for the evening.
A great day – Pompeii is a fantastic site to visit and you get a real impression of what life would have been like 2000 years ago.
June 5
Day 19 - Day Trip to Capri
Today we have booked a boat tour along the Amalfi coast as well as to the island of Capri. We are really looking forward to a boat cruise as well as going to the famous holiday island of rich and famous.
After breakfast we meet the boat captain and other guests by the pier just near our accommodation – really convenient. We are in a small group of 9 people. We board the boat and start out with a cruise along the Amalfi coast.
It’s a very scenic cruise, with towns carved into the cliffs along the coast. We head along the coast towards Amalfi. We don’t stop at any of the towns and then head towards Capri.
Before we get to Capri we stop at the Blue, Green and White grottos along the way. These are areas where the water changes colour due to the limestone underneath. We also stopped in a small cove for a swim. As it was about 23 C, we didn’t feel hot enough for a swim though other guests did.
After the short break, we continue on the cruise and head towards a private beach where we stop. Here we have lunch before we are then transported to the main Capri port by a smaller boat. As we head towards the main town of Capri you see the beautiful landscape that is the town itself.
Capri is also carved out of the rocks and the boat ride into Capri is stunning. At the base of Capri is a small town area of shops and restaurants. Further up the steep hill is the main town. We catch a cable car up the hill to get to the main town itself.
The main town itself is a mass of shops with many of them being designer brands and very expensive stores. We only window shopped there! The streets are relatively narrow and I have never seen so many tourists and tour groups in one small area. The whole experience is really not great – it seems an ordeal just walking around.
I’m really not all that keen to spend much time in Capri, so after a while we head back to the cable car and back down to the port where we catch the small boat back to the private beach. Here we meet the other guests and take the cruise back to Sorrento.
Once back in Sorrento we take the short walk back to our B&B and rest up before dinner. That evening we go into the town and dine at the Fauno Bar in the main Piazza. It was Pizza night for me and the food was good. After dinner we wander the streets a little before we head back to our B&B
It was great to get out on a cruise today, the weather was perfect. For me however, I felt Capri was a town built especially for tourism and given how crowded it was, I just felt no charm for the island. The scenery was spectacular and the location magnificent, but I am in no hurry at all to have another Capri experience!
June 6
Day 20 - Time to Go Home - Surely Not!!
Today is our last day in Sorrento as well as the end of our holiday. I can’t believe it is here already, however all good things must end. We have an early evening flight departing Naples at 6:30pm.
After breakfast we go into the main town ad spend the morning exploring the shops and getting our final souvenirs. At 1:30pm we catch the local bus outside our B&B for the 10 minute journey up the hill to the train station where we catch the 2pm shuttle bus to Naples airport. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to the airport and there is only one stop on the way. The bus is not full so there are plenty of seats. The coastline part of the journey offers great views as we see what we are leaving behind.
We check in at the airport and finally board our first flight home on the 30+ hour journey. We head to Munich which takes about 1.5 hours. We have a 1.5 hour stopover in Munich before we board our second flight to Hong Kong. This trip takes about 11.5 hours. For the first 2 trips we fly Lufthansa. We are travelling economy (unfortunately) however the seats are reasonably roomy and I would travel Lufthansa again.
We get to Hong Kong and have a 4.5 hour stopover before we board our Qantas flight home to Melbourne. It takes about 8.5 hours for our final flight. We finally touch down at 8am (June 8) to a chilly 7 Celsius winter’s morning. Wow, what a shock after the summer day’s we have left behind.
Ashley is the to meet us and take us home. It’s great to see her and we can’t wait to see Samantha as well.
Italy is truly magical country to visit. There are so many historical sites we have seen and so many unforgettable moments. It was a busy holiday, but worth every moment. I really hope to visit Italy again.