Sorrento - Worth it?

With only three days, stay on Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is a nice place but getting in and out of the AC is a hassle.

Sorrento is a great base logistically but I didn't find it particularly interesting or captivating. There's an excellent grocery store on the main drag near the train station if you need provisions, but otherwise it's just a bunch of restaurants, hotels and stores. We spent about five minutes looking at the gorge. There's an old-fashioned town square,nothing remarkable in my opinion. I think the other towns such as Amalfi and Ravello are worth visiting.

Thanks so much! What about Capri? I kind of want to go, but my husband not as much. It is kind of expensive and takes a whole day... but the pictures look amazing.

Kim, I hope you have added up the massive time to get into (and OUT of) magical Positano. I don’t think Sorrento is remotely as magical, but it is far better for daytrips and getting to FCO.

Either Amalfi/Ravello or Capri is a nice trip (check SEPTEMBER ferry schedules) but if you want to do both, I’d suggest you ask why you are staying in Positano?

Thanks @Tim - we were originally going to stay in Sorrento, but the only day trips we are going to take will be up the Amalfi Coast and possibly Capri, as long as Sorrento isn't worth seeing on its own. I thought we could take the bus to Ravello and Amalfi from Positano. Is the bus horrendous? We can take the ferry to Capri out of Positano. We will be seeing Pompeii on the way from Naples. Herculanuem and Vesuvius aren't really on our list. When we figured that out, Positano seemed like a better fit, because the Amalfi Coast is where we want to spend our time. The hotel is beautiful and the same price as the one we were going to stay in in Sorrento, but with an ocean view. As for going to FCO, we are heading to Rome to spend our final 4 nights in Italy (a total of 19 days), so we aren't going to the airport from Positano but to our B & B in Rome.

Glad to hear about the Rome dates. You dodged a bullet. All I can say about the bus is that in the last week of May, (we slept 5 nights in Sorrento for daytrips) the line for the 49-passenger, half-hourly SITA bus was ALWAYS more than 49 people. We never took it. We hired a driver for our one AC day.

If you do go to Capri, the best advice I can give you is to avoid the tours sold on the ferry. Instead, take one of the cute taxis as soon as you arrive in Marina Grande to Anacapri. While they're a little expensive, you won't be jammed into the small busses.

https://www.capri.net/downloads/taxi_capri_tariffe.pdf

Capris pictures are beautiful, but while, you're there, so will thousands of other tourists, who are also trying to get that perfect photo.

Capri is best seen as a 1-2 nite trip where you can take those evening or early morning
pictures without the crowds.

Edit here's the travelmar ferry timetable.
Use it to travel to Minori & Maori.

https://www.travelmar.it/downloads/orari_travelmar.pdf

Thanks everyone!

The buses are fine but ferries are more pleasant. We took ferry between positano and amalfi. We then took a bus to Ravello as it is not on the water.

We love Sorrento. We’ve stayed there 3 times, for a week each time. For us, it’s very fun, very charming.
Love all the other places to visit (Amalfi, Positano, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Mt Vesuvius) but do not care for Capri at all (been there at least 4 times). Just has no charm for us and is very expensive to get to.

On our second trip to the Amalfi Coast we based our 4 day stay in Positano. First time we stayed in Ravella. Sorrento sounds nice but we wanted the charm of the Amalfi coast and you only have 3 days. The beauty, quiet ruggedness of the coast is simply gorgeous.

As long as you've already booked Positano as your base, that's set and you really don't need to see Sorrento, except for the fact that it probably has the best breadth and variety of food on the peninsula. In fact, in my opinion, I put it up with Rome and Taormina, Sicily as some of the best food in Italy.

Hi

Any recommendations for restaurants in sorrento? I will be going in May. Thank you

Il Leone Rosso (right by the train station, huge menu)
TavernAllegra (side street off Piazza Tasso, singing waiters, very good)
Ristorante Zi'intonio (lobster & linguine one of the best dishes I've had in Italy)

Il Leone Rosso Ristorante Pizzeria: Via Marziale 25, 80067, Sorrento, Italy.
http://www.illeonerosso.it/ristorante/

Oops! Jay beat me to it! Guess I'm seconding his vote here. :O)

Thank you

Ok thanks everyone! We will stay in Sorrento long enough for a late lunch at Il Leone Rosso and then head to Positano.

Been here a few times .... will be going back in June then taking the Morazzi bus direct to Rome etc.

We stayed 4 nights in Positano and it was a great base. We spent most of one day in Ravello, including at a concert, part of one day in Amalfi via ferry, one day on Capri, and then had most late afternoons/evenings back in Positano. It

I would skip Sorrento and head to Positano as soon as possible.
Ravello is worth seeing; and the bus ride is short. I spent 3 nights there in October. I loved the gardens and the villas. In the summer Ravello has concerts.

On another trip we stayed in Capri for 5 nights in May, and it was an amazing experience that I hope to repeat one day. We rented a villa on Airbnb between the Piazzetta and Marina Piccola.