I've stayed two years ago in Sorrento and would like to go back. In reading, I found a wonderfully enticing Airbnb in Piano di Sorrento. What are the differences in the two areas. I remember our first stay was a 20 min. walk to the port in Sorrento. It was a bit long for us, but we did that trek to town and back in the morning, lunch (home to nap) and back, then back home in the evening. It would have been nice to stay a tad bit closer to town, but we would have missed the beauty of the walk and unforgettable near death experiences of cars zooming in alleys allowing two way traffic but barely designed for one way :) I hope to again visit Capri and Pompeii and Positano but would love some suggestions about staying in Sorrento again verses trying something new in Piano di Sorrento.
Another question: The one main challenge I remember was due to the language barrier. We didn't have a good understanding of knowing which bus we needed to take to get where in town. We ended up with several unplanned rides around town. It was always a pleasant out come, but if someone can explain the bus system a bit, that would be wonderful.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8037 posts
I've only stayed in Sorrento, but others have reported nice, lower-cost accomodations out of town. Some have even reported nicer beaches than the miserable "port" beach in Sorrento. But I don't see why you would stay out of town when your remote hotel IN Sorrento wasn't close enough to the action for you. You don't say if the Piano de Sorrento BnB is near the Circumvesuviana station, which would be convenient. Honestly, once in Sorrento was enough for me (5 nights.) Would you consider Cinque Terre? I don't really need to stay on the actual Amalfi Coast, but that's really important to a lot of posters here, who would never stay in Sorrento. We chose Sorrento for the daytrip convenience. Even just talking about busses, the bus to Amalfi and the bus to Sant' Agata sui dui Golfi originate at the Sorrento Circumvesuviana station, even if they are VERY FULL in the summer.
I'd comment that once the seasonal bus schedules are posted on the SITA website, you should be able to download enough information to know something about the busses. Since I nearly failed French in high school, I feel free (!) to observe that my teachers' comments that knowing one Romance Language helps to (at least ... ) follow, another, turned out to be absolutely true. I've never taken an Italian lesson in my life, but I can sort of make out what it says on Italian-language tourist sites, which are often more full of information (to save money on translation) than the English pages on the same site. You can also use Google Translate to get choppy literal translations of foreign language websites.
I don't approve of AirBnB, so I don't use it. But I'd observe that having a friendly DESK CLERK in a real hotel might be more comfortable for someone uncomfortable in navigating a foreign language. Just one opinion.
Posted by
OP
Wimberley, Texas
29 posts
Thank you for the suggestions.
I will look for the bus schedule for sure. Our stay in Sorrento was up hill, and a long walk to make in the heat of the day or at the end of the day. If we had a bus that made it near our room, that would have eliminated any issue. The host explained the bus runs right under the house and the train station to Naples and Pompeii is a five min. walk away. I will look into more about the places you mentioned. Thank you for responding.
Posted by
Chicago
2124 posts
I think the differences are night & day.
I seem to remember going through Piano di Sorrento on the Circumvesuviana on the way to Naples, maybe the first stop. It's farther inland than Sorrento, and like the next town Meta, doesn't seem very picturesque at all, graffiti & whatnot.
RE: Sorrento itself, you can't have it both ways. You either stay near town (Piazza Tasso) and the train/bus station, thus you are a ways from the port, or stay down by the marina and be farther from the town. So, pick your poison, you know?
We stayed near town, nice but not that picturesque, but had great choices for dinner, which sold me!
Posted by
Florida, USA
251 posts
Two years ago we stayed in Piano di Sorrento for 30 days. We had a beautiful apartment (VRBO) about 5 minutes from the train station and 5 minutes from the nearest bus stop into Sorrento. I think the answer to your question depends entirely upon what type of experience you are looking for. We prefer to stay outside of tourist areas so that we get to know our local pasta maker, bread maker, wine purveyor, etc.
We visited all of the sites you have mentioned and each evening returned to the town square and had a bottle of wine at Bar Tony!!
If you are only going for a couple of days, stay in town. If you have a longer time, stay in Piano where you can actually experience the Italian way of life.