Gently resting on a tufaceous ridge, Sorrento reflects its coast in the gulf of Naples, enchanting tourists and visitors who are attracted by the breathless views.

The city gives its name to the Sorrento Peninsula, a vast area which stretches from Vico Equense to Massa Lubrense and which, thanks to its geographical conformation, is suspended between the greenery of the hills and the blue of the sea,  and has always been one of the great attractions of Southern Italy.

With almost twelve thousand beds distributed among 150 accommodation establishments, as well as dozens of other accommodation structures – from camping sites to bed & breakfasts, from residences to hostels, to tourist centres and around thirty farm holiday centres – the Sorrento Coast is one of the most popular destinations in the entire Campania region.

It also constitutes an ideal setting for Italian and foreign visitors who wish to plan excursions to Capri, Ischia, Pompeii, Positano, Amalfi, Ercolano, Paestum and Vesuvio, a locality situated at a distance of less than 50 kilometres.

After being a Phoenician colony,  Sorrento became a port frequented by the Greeks for its trade with Naples and other southern cities. It is believed to be the Greeks who imposed the name “Syrenusion” or “Syreon”, in other words the land of mermaids, the mythical creature who are half woman and half fish, also narrated by Omero in the Odyssey, who would spellbind sailors with their chanting.

After the reign of the Osci and the Samnites, it was conquered by the Romans. They also appreciated its beauty, so much so that they turned it into a Patrizi holiday resort during the imperial era, as evidenced by the numerous vestigial of villas.

Sorrento, which is the homeland of Torquato Tasso, has always had a particular charm that has attracted poets and writers, from Goethe to Lamartine, from Stendhal to De Bouchard, from Byron to D’Annunzio, from Ibsen to Douglas; musicians like Rossini, Liszt, Meldesshon, Wagner; the painters Pinelli, Fernet, Lindstrom; the photographers De Luca and the Alinari brothers; and film directors like De Sica, Gallone and Mastronardo. Among the illustrious visitors Who have passed through Sorrento we would also like to remind you of Enrico Caruso, Giacomo Casanova, Scipione Breislak, Marion Crawford, Charles Dickens, Helman Melvill, Friedtich Nietzche and Axel Munthe.

The coastal town is included in the 1700s section of the stages of the Grand Tour, that journey across the most significant Italian cities that foreign intellectuals would visit to deepen their knowledge of the history, art and culture of the Bel Paese (Beautiful Country).