Sorrento Italy

To us, Sorrento was always a great place to stay and enjoy some 'vacation away from the vacation' time. It has a great little shopping district, and a pizzeria there called The Gigino Pizza Restaurant on V. Archi that is one of our favorites in all of Italy. The waiter there remembered me from a visit five years earlier! As for what to do, we use Sorrento as a base to visit Pompeii and Capri, and also to catch the bus down to Positano on the Amalfi Coast. Reasons why many travellers like Sorrento.

Rebecca, One of the "don't miss" sights for most visitors to Sorrento, is the ruins at Pompeii or Heruclaneum. I don't know of any "music (opera)" options there, but Pompeii certainly covers "history". A day trip to Vesuvius is also possible, although I can't recall the details. That would cover the "hiking" part, as there's a bit of a hike to get up to the rim of the volcano. In terms of "great ideas for places to eat", that will depend on your budget. One suggestion you might look at is This Restaurant. It's not cheap but the food is fantastic(at least IMHO)! Happy travels!

Thank you both for the info. It was very helpful and I'll be writing down the names of the restaurants you both named. Pizza for a light easy day and the other for when we want a treat. I know the hotel we're staying at has really nice restaurant as well. Also a bit on the pricey side but we fully expected that. And the sites are some of the ones we thought about. I just didn't want them to be a waste of time like some other sites I've read about on here. Glad to hear they are not. We're both very excited about our short trip. We've been to Italy before but just not this far south. Again, thank you both!!!

Pizzeria Da Franco on Corso Italia across from the lemon grove is a good place for lunch. Fun place with local workers and families (and us tourists) sharing tables.