Italy 2019 - Sorrento

I remember around 5 years ago, when the Amalfi Coast first made an impression on me. It had probably been a famous holiday destination since ages before, but that was the moment I thought to myself how nice it would be to just lay in the sun without a care in the world, sipping on Aperol Spritz (well, back then this wasn't a priority), and munching on everything italian food.  

I also remember thinking how expensive it would be, so it was never really a priority. And then I kind of forgot about it. Until this year!

This was my first year working as well, which obviously gave me a little more freedom and flexibility when choosing what to do and where to go on vacation. Even so, apart from maybe the flights (which could have been a little bit cheaper) I can't say it was an expensive destination.

I can't recall exactly when did I book my flights - somewhere around March, I think - which isn't super late, but isn't early as well. A round ticket Lisbon - Naples/Naples - Lisbon, in early July has cost me around 120 EUR. Don't know if I've mentioned this here before, but I think the EU is the best thing ever - no Visas, no passports, no unnecessary bureaucracy. You book a ticket and you're ready to go. Politics aside, all this makes traveling within the Schengen area a breeze and obviously, less expensive. The point I was trying to make is that I could have easily found cheaper tickets if I would have booked them earlier. But 120EUR is still acceptable, considering it's high season.

Naples is the closest airport to the Amalfi Coast (which was our main destination), only 30 minutes away from Sorrento by train. During the months that led to the trip, me and Matei - who was flying from Romania - would often video chat and decide which places to visit, where we should stay, how long we should spend in every place and what things each one of us would like to see or do. 

We were staying for 8 days and soon decided that Sorrento would be our base, considering it was so close from the place we where both landing and how easy access it would give us to all the small towns along the coast.

We actually stayed in Piano di Sorrento, which we later found to be only a 30 minute walk away from Sorrento, straight ahead. 

The plan was to spend the first afternoon and night in Naples and then head to Piano on the following day around lunch time. Matei would be arriving before me, but unfortunately my flight was so delayed it was already past 9pm when I stepped in Italian soil, and almost 10pm when I got to our airbnb. That day was gone but we sticked to the remaining plan.

We wandered a bit around Naples in the morning (more on that soon) and by noon we caught the train to Piano. The ticket was 3,60 EUR and it takes around 1hour. That day was so hot and humid that by the time we got there we rushed to our airbnb, dropped our bags and went straight to the  local beach for a swim. This is the beach pictured above and were we would go almost everyday by the end of the day as the sun would set.

The following day was pretty much the first official day of the whole trip. Until then I felt like we were just transitioning and even though that dip in the ocean on the previous evening felt like heaven, we still hadn't ticked any of our main locations.

So, early morning and we took the bus to Sorrento where we spent the whole day. It is quite touristic and not so calm or relaxed as I would have imagined. The town is relatively big (considering the ones we've visited on the following days) and it's easy to spend an entire day there. We walked down the main street, then went down the stairs that lead to the port and spent about an hour there just staring into the ocean. 

Walked some more along the water and I went for yet another dip. All those sun guards you see on Instagram and whatnot - those are private beaches. But fear not - there is always a public beach around in every little town you visit. Luckily, we could always find a spot to sit and lay our towels, but I must say the one in Sorrento was probably the most crowded of all.

After that we went up the hill, only to find this beautiful belvedere where you could sit and enjoy the view, including Vesuvius. By then we were starving and had lunch at Osteria Buonconvento. To me, this was the best pizza I had in Italy, but honestly, it's hard to choose just one. Thick edges and full of flavor - absolutely mouth-watering. I advise you to sit outside and enjoy the bustle of a small, coastal town in a week day. 

After the copious amount of food we had consumed all I could think of was a nap but I resisted the temptation and spent the afternoon wandering along all the alleys and narrow streets, bought some souvenirs, tried limoncello and a couple of local treats. 

Our goal wasn't to spend the whole day at the beach, so we managed to see every town and still stop for a swim a couple of times during the day, which felt like the perfect balance.

Sorrento has a lot of nightlife too, which we enjoyed but not on this day. Anyways, it sure is a touristic place but I was expecting something much worse on that regard. It was easy to walk about and still with a good ratio of Italians.