From Bologna to Salerno - Sorrento and the Sirens (8/9)

One of the most beautiful areas in the Bay of Naples is Sorrento, the mythical place where Sirens come from, according to legend. It seems that the Sirens, the creatures that caused shipwrecks with their songs, have a temple dedicated to them in this area. In fact, it's said that Naples itself was discovered by Parthenope, one of the Sirens.

In any case, the name "Sorrento" derives from the ancient denomination “Syrrentón”, which means "Siren". The first colonies to arrive were Greek, who founded Sorrento, Capri and Massalubrense, another Neapolitan county.

View from the coast of Sorrento

To travel directly to Sorrento you simply need to take a Circumvesuviana train ; the cost of a return ticket is around €8 per person and the journey lasts around 1 hour 20 minutes. Try to get a good seat and avoid standing, because the heat in the train is truly unbearable if you're going in the summer!

Sorrento is a beautiful coastal city, with pretty beaches, harbours and cliffs that provide incredible views. The main square is T. Tasso Square. As for stalls and shops, Via S. Cesareo stands out, where you can find typical products of the area, such as limoncello, soaps and lemon sweets etc. I found only one shop dedicated to the beautiful Sirens, it sells objects such as lamps and paintings with the image of these hybrid creatures. But another shop that I loved and I recommend that you visit is Terrerosse (on Via Fuoro), where loads of handmade ceramic and clay objects are sold, related to the mythology and origins of Sorrento.

T. Tasso Square

A shop on Via Cesareo with typical products of the area

We were in a fast food restaurant, Da Lucariello, totally recommendable for both the price and the quality. The burgers were very good and the staff really friendly, sofriendly hat they delighted us with a song: "Torna a Surriento", something we'd never heard before. There was another song that especially stuck in my head, which also mentions Sorrento: Caruso, in the voice of Pavarotti, although I'm not at all a fan of the opera.

Afterwards we went to another place located next to the station: Kontatto. There, the stars of the show are the cocktails; they are very popular, according to what we saw, in the whole area. I'm sure there's a reason for this.

A refreshing Piña Colada, made with fresh pineapples!

Truthfully, we were surprised by the number of curious tours that they've invented there, along the Amalfi Coast: the lemon tour, that costs €35, and it gives a value to the prominence that this citrus fruit and the lemon trees had and have in the area; the Ulysses route (yes, of Ithaca), stopping in the Bay of Ieranto, passing through the private archipelago of Li Galli and arriving at Positano (and it's only €85), or the Outlet La Reggia tour, where they simply take you there to go shopping, for a mere €30. They also offer cooking courses for tourists in restaurants in which they've cobbled together a "Pizza school" or classes to learn to make gelato (three hours of "training" that ends up costing €60, €70 or €85, just as well that includes the ingredients).

Just in front of Sorrento, Capri Island is located, a very touristy place. We wanted to go there, as it's meant to be a really lovely place. However, it's also quite expensive and, thinking also in returning some day to the Bay of Naples, we preferred to save this visit for another trip (so now we have an excuse to go back! ). For those of you who are interested, there are boats to get to the island from Naples and Sorrento, costing around €20 the trip there and other €20 to return.

End of our journey: Salerno

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