Sorrento Coast is a peninsula located in southern Italy, that separates the Gulf of Naples to the north from the Gulf of Salerno to the south.The peninsula is named after its main town, Sorrento, which is located on the north (Gulf of Naples) coast. The Amalfi Coast is located on the southern side. Sorrento (Neapolitan: Surriente) is a small town in Campania, southern Italy, with 16,500 inhabitants. It is a popular tourist destination which can be reached easily from Naples.
Sorrento dates back to Greek times and was known to the Romans as Surrentum, its main attraction is its fabulous location. Lemon groves and orange trees, rose bushes and camellias in bloom, milky cappuccinos and warm “cornetti”, the fragrance of freshly made bread and mozzarella cheese, chilled spumante and strawberries – all of this, and much more, is Sorrento.
With beautiful cliffs that look directly over the Bay of Naples to Mt Vesuvius, Sorrento is ideally situated for exploring the surrounding area : to the south there is the best of the Peninsula’s unspoiled countryside, such as Massa Lubrense with its 17 “frazioni” ( fractions or hamlets) and beyond that, the Amalfi Coast with Positano, Amalfi and Ravello; to the north there are Pompeii and Herculaneum; in the Bay of Naples just a short journey from Sorrento, is Capri, the jewel in the Bay and the other two beautiful islands of Ischia and Procida.
Sorrento Coast is divided into 5 different little towns : Meta a holiday swimming area with the lovely beaches of Marina di Meta and Alimuri, Piano di Sorrento a natural terrace of tuff rock with its colourful port and active commercial centre, S’Agnello which gradually slopes down towards the sea and enjoys mild temperatures even in the summer, Sorrento itself, where the must-see sites for any visitor include the Basilica of St. Antonino, the Cathedral, Sedile Dominova, Saint Francis Convent, Marina Grande, the Correale Museum, the museum-workshop of Wood Intarsia, and Capo di Sorrento where the ruins of the Villa Pollio Felice, known as the Baths of the Regina Giovanna, lie sleepily overlooking the bay.
Some of the main products here are olive oil, lace, mozzarella and lemon liqueur. Sorrento and it’s surrounding area have lots of market gardens and vineyard where many of the grapes used to make local wines are grown together with oranges, lemons, artichokes and aubergines. The main square in Sorrento is called Piazza Tasso and the main street is the Corso Italia. Sorrento’s historical centre has changed very little since the beginning of the 20th century, with little cobbled streets and alley ways, delightful town apartments with colourful balconies bursting with flowers and hanging plants, hidden restaurants and local shops that sell traditional and handmade products such as ceramics, inlaid wood and cameos. In the 19th century Sorrento confirmed and increased its status of one of the most renowned tourist destinations of Italy, a trend which continued into the 20th Century. Famous people who visited it include Lord Byron, Keats, Goethe, Henrik Ibsen and Walter Scott. Sorrento was the birthplace of the poet Torquato Tasso, author of the Gerusalemme Liberata. The town was quite famously featured in the early-20th-century song "Torna a Surriento" (Come Back to Sorrento) with lyrics by Giambattista De Curtis, brother of the song's composer, Ernesto De Curtis. It is the town with the most ancient tradition of friendliness and hospitality.
