The Bow of a Motorboat, with high gloss wood toe railing and stainless push-pit. The background is of the beautiful Amalfi coast, all cliffs and colored buildings and the sea.

The Sorrento and Amalfi Coasts top the travel wish lists of many because of the gravity-defying cliffside towns, sapphire blue waters, historical sites, and natural wonders. For those reasons, there are many options for things to do to keep you as busy as you’d like when visiting. Depending on your style of travel, there’s something for everyone.

For my style of travel, I usually prioritize seeing cultural sites (like museums or historical areas), doing something adventurous (hiking, boating), experiencing the local area (eating, shopping), and relaxing (by the water, the pool). That’s my balance, so use this guide with that in mind. Turn up the dial in any of those areas if some are more important than others for you.

All activities and things to do in Sorrento listed below were accomplished in a 5-day stay in Sorrento. Staying in other cities may make some of these activities easier to get to than others. We liked Sorrento as a central base to reach these different areas.

1 - Boat Tour Along The Amalfi And Sorrento Coasts

Water plays an important part in most of my vacations. Whether it’s a river, lake, or ocean, I like to spend time by it. In the best-case scenario, I spend a day exploring by boat. So with that, a boat tour along the coast topped my list for this vacation. I researched mostly on Google and TripAdvisor, booked in-advance, and set off from Praiano (even though we stayed in Sorrento) to get a slightly better deal. We saved up to do a boat tour on our own versus with a group and enjoyed having a boat for the day. The tour took us up the Amalfi Coast, across to Capri, and stopped at swimming spots and caves along the way.

How to Book a Boat Trip: To book a boat trip in Sorrento, research TripAdvisor, and do a basic Google search. I would also recommend emailing or speaking with your hotel or host. As you gather options, you’ll start to see the main choice of a shared experience (more affordable) or doing something on your own (more expensive). To help make your decision on which is right for you, have in mind what you want to see and how long you want to be on the boat. You’ll read many different offerings for caves, cliffs, destinations, etc. so it’s helpful for narrowing down the options with a few key items in mind.

We ended up booking with La Sibilla and had a wonderful day. We booked a private charter for the day, and they upgraded the boat we were on, so we had plenty of space for the two of us. We saw some amazing islands, natural sights, and caves. We swam, drove around Capri, and enjoyed snacks and Prosecco on the boat. Overall, it was a fab day.

When to Book an Amalfi Coast Boat Trip: You can book in advance or in person. We booked in advance to give us peace of mind being there in the busy season. We booked a few weeks in advance and never had difficulty with finding what we needed. We communicated over email and paid the morning before we set off.

Where to Depart for an Amalfi Coast Boat Tour: As you research, you’ll see options for setting sail from different cities. Obviously, setting off from the city where you’re staying is the most convenient and requires the least amount of moving around, but other cities along the coast may offer tours with better deals. We found the best price departing from Praiano, but it came with the added effort of traveling to it. That said, we used it as an opportunity to get a driving tour of the coast on the way there and back.

What To See on a Boat Tour: We opted for a tour that went along the Amalfi Coast, stopped in a few swimming spots, checked out a few caves, and then took us around the island of Capri. It also included a one-hour stop at a restaurant on Capri. I recommend choosing a restaurant in advance. Instead, we went by the recommendation of the driver, and we ended up at a restaurant that was more tailored to tourists — not our preferred choice. Some tours focus solely on the caves. Others go further south and explore other areas of the coast. Pick whatever suits your boating style most.

Rachel drinking champagne on the front of the boat with the Amalfi coastline in the background and a large white super yacht anchored.

2 - Visit Pompeii

Pompeii is definitely at the top of most lists of things to do when in Sorrento. It’s a UNESCO world heritage site, and there isn’t much else like it anywhere in the world. It’s a well-preserved ancient Roman civilization dating back thousands of years. Mount Vesuvius erupted and the lava and ash basically froze the city in time, but it also buried it. It lay covered up and unnoticed for hundreds of years. As it continues to be explored, archaeologists have discovered a modernized city with drainage systems, amphitheaters, forums, fast food vendors, a winery, and so much more. All pretty fascinating, right?

A view of the Pompeii Ruins, brown dry grass and rocky walls all over the landscape, almost like a maze of broken rock walls.

What you need to know to make your Pompeii visit a success:

How to get to Pompeii: In between Naples and Sorrento, it’s a perfect day trip from either city. We visited Pompeii while we were staying in Sorrento and took the train to Pompeii Scavi. We found the train times through our hotel and online, bought our tickets at the train station in Sorrento, and then took the 30-40 minute train ride. Other ways include a taxi or a private tour, but we liked the train option because it was on our time and affordable.

When to visit Pompeii: Because we were visiting Sorrento in the middle of summer for the sunshine and warm temperatures, that also meant we visited Pompeii in the same climate. It’s hot in the summertime. Super hot. If you visit in the summer months, go as early as possible to beat the heat and the crowds. Even better, visit in cooler months and explore as much as you want.

How to tour Pompeii: We bought our tickets the day of. There was a queue to purchase tickets, but it moved quickly. As you enter, you’ll notice tour guides offering their services. One way to make a guide more affordable is to go in on a tour guide with a few other people or groups and split the cost. We opted to go without a guide, and instead used the Rick Steves guidebook and free audio tour to give us the history and a path. A trick me and Alex also recommend is to bring either AirPods or another type of wireless headphone so you can each wear a headphone over BlueTooth and listen to the recorded tour guide (Rick Steves does a good recorded guide).

What to see when visiting Pompeii: Whether you use a guide or not, know what you want to see in advance. The whole site is very large, and you can easily spend hours there. We went along the route of the Rick Steves guide except for the Amphitheater and had a full day.

Rachel walking down a ruined street, either side of the street are old ruined city buildings and shops of stacked stones. The street is narrow black rock with a curb, of the same black rock.

3 - Relax At The Beaches Along The Sorrento Coast

As I mentioned above, a day or two of relaxing is something I include when traveling. Flying, exploring, jet lag, walking, all of it requires lots of energy. That’s where relaxing and lounging can help slow down the vacation and provide time to rejuvenate and refuel for the next adventure. In Sorrento, the best place to relax is either by a pool or by the sea. Sorrento doesn’t have many beaches, but it does have piers. It was a different experience from other seaside relaxing, so here are some of the tips for it.

How to get to the ‘beaches' in Sorrento: To get there, you can walk down from the Sorrento city center. There’s also an elevator that is a little pricey. Or in our case, we happened to stay at a hotel that had its own elevator down to the water which was really helpful.

Picking the Right Beach Club: Once you’ve made it down the hill, you’ll see a multitude of choices. There’s a small public beach area, but it doesn’t have many amenities. The main attractions are the multiple places with piers out into the water that rent chairs and umbrellas and have food and drinks. The different ‘beach clubs' all have a similar look and are around the same price point. The best way to pick between them is to pick one that has chairs open in a location where you want to sit, a look you like, and friendly staff. They'll usually have a restaurant where you can either sit and eat or wait staff that will come to your chair. You rent your chair and it’s yours for the day.

What to Do at the Beaches: Bring a good book or magazine and prepare to chill for the day. Each of the beach clubs will have its own in-water attraction as well. Some have anchored floating chairs, and others have floaties. The best rhythm for me was to read a few pages, have a snack or a drink, read some more, and then take a dip in the water whenever I felt too warm.

Pro Tips: Rent an umbrella to enjoy the day for as long as you want, even as the day heats up. Also, some parts of Europe don’t rely on tipping as much as the US, but tipping makes a big difference for days spent at the piers. The waiters will be much more attentive and helpful if you tip and almost ignore you if you don’t.

4 - Shop For Sorrento Souvenirs

I don’t often tout shopping when on an adventure, especially because I’ve reached a point where we don’t have room for souvenirs. That said, there are places that are better than others for souvenir shopping as well as places that specialize in useful items instead of souvenirs for souvenir's sake. Sorrento is a tourist-driven city, so souvenir shops abound. Some of the most trendy souvenirs from Sorrento include leather goods, ceramics, and lemons.

An older Italian man is seated making sandals in a shop stall, his walls are covered in handmade sandals and his shelves are stocked with clear plastic boxes of shoe parts

Wooden shelves filled with liquor and limoncello, there is a limoncello called 'Villa Massa" large bottles are priced 23 Euro and small bottles at 5 Euro. Some bottles have cork stoppers in long bottles.

We ended up bringing home souvenirs in all of those categories. I bought a pair of sandals where I picked out the colors and style and watched the pieces be hammered together to order. We bought limoncello from the perfect little market (Corner Market) — just next door to the shoemaker — that stocked so many different varieties but ranked Villa Massa one of the best (don’t forget to sample to help in the decision making!). We bought a blue and white detailed ceramic spoon rest from the shop where we only initially went in for postcards and stamps. I bought a pair of beautiful slides from Balleri and had the help of picking out the right style for me from the kind owner and designer while she was visiting the Sorrento boutique (she also has one on Capri).

Neon Yellow light of "Balleri" over the storefront with curved glass windows, showcasing slip on stylish shoes in fun colors and little yellow lemon patterns on the shoes.

Overall, we regularly use all of the souvenirs we brought back, which lends nice trip memories to everyday tasks. I even call my Balleri slides my good luck shoes because they bring so much joy with their yellow lemons on black silk. My best tip, look around at the options and pick souvenirs that fit best for your life. Consider items that you will truly want to use and not just sit in a drawer. Sometimes for me, it’s just a postcard I send to myself or a loved one, or other times its artwork I know exactly where it will go. Also, on the first day go into a few shops and get a feel for what the city offers and a sense of the shop owners that feel the most authentic to you. There are some that are still family run with handmade items while others are quickly mass-produced items. Not knocking either option, just know your preference.

Sorrento Pins to Save for Later

Explore Italy

Blog

Sorrento Travel Guide

The best starting place for planning your vacation to Sorrento. Why visit Sorrento? Why not visit Sorrento? How to get to Sorrento, when to visit, what to do, and where to eat. All of those questions are answered in this food, stay, and activity travel guide to Sorrento.

4 Dreamy Things To Do In Sorrento