Similar to our post about Santorini in November, this post will hopefully help you decide if Sorrento and the Amalfi coast is a good place to visit in December. We’ve been hitting a lot of places during their tourist offseason and have not been disappointed at all. Sorrento was no different. In fact, the holiday festivities in Sorrento were surprisingly lively and the weather was perfect compared to a December in Colorado.
Staying in Sorrento
Sorrento is located along the Sorrentine Peninsula in southwestern Italy. It is known for its mild climate and amazing views. Sorrento sits atop high cliffs along the bay of Naples with stunning views of Mount Vesuvius. In addition to scenic views, we discovered Sorrento was inviting and charming with historic buildings and cobblestone streets. There were a couple of rainy, windy days during our stay, but for the most part we got by with light coats and sweatshirts. Sorrento and the surrounding region is known for their limoncello, which you will find everywhere. Despite it being the off season we found that most restaurants, cafes, and shops in Sorrento were open. With both train and bus lines servicing the area it was an excellent base from which to explore Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast.
Day Trip to Naples
We took the train to Naples and wandered the streets for a day with no agenda other than a visit to Naples’ famous subterranean underground. Our tour of the underground was amazing and totally worth the $15 each fee. We enjoyed a local pastry called sfogliatelle, sampled authentic Neapolitan pizza, and explored both the old and modern parts of the city. We love street art and found Naples to have a vibrant street art scene. Similar to our experience in Palermo, we were disappointed in how dirty Naples was, with a shocking amount of trash and even feces on the sidewalks. Despite that we enjoyed the narrow streets of the old city, the monumentally huge Castle Nuovo, and the beautiful Galleria Umberto I to name a few of the sights to see. While Naples doesn’t seem to have the same drive to keep the city clean that we found in Rome it was still a very enjoyable stop.
Glorious Ride to Amalfi
Sorrento is an easy gateway into the legendary Amalfi coast. We decided to take the bus from Sorrento to Amalfi for another day trip. We sat in the front seat passenger side for the best views. The epic bus ride blew our minds as it was akin to a slow roller coaster ride along a narrow, twisting road with extreme drops down to the water. We spent several hours wandering around Amalfi from the beach up up a tunnel to an amazing overlook of a different section of bay to winding cobblestone sidewalks up the mountainside. We randomly stumbled upon a delightful restaurant serving amazing Amalfi food like lemon spaghetti and lemon spritzers. Dude! It was unbelievably awesome and made our day trip to Amalfi perfect. The bottom line is that Amalfi is adorable no matter what time of year it is.
Blown Away by Pompeii
While the outing to Amalfi was fantastic our favorite stop on this stretch of the adventure has to be the UNESCO site of Pompeii. We were stoked to discover the train literally drops you off a few feet from the entrance to the site. Of course we’ve heard of Pompeii our entire lives, but the actual scope of the site is mind blowing. Having recently visited so many ancient sites we were completely taken by surprise at how large the excavation site is. Knowing ahead of time that it was an entire city buried in time didn’t prepare us at all. It was a huge city. We spent a good 4 hours wandering the ruins of Pompeii and didn’t have nearly enough time. It is unbelievably amazing to walk through Pompeii taking in the roads, plumbing, architecture, art work, amphitheater, and so much more. Having been to Pompeii now we would definitely recommend it and would even be interested in going back to see it all again. Also, in keeping with the theme of this post, winter is the time to go. While there were plenty of people there still, there were opportunities for pictures without anyone in them and the temperature was brilliant.
Is December a good time to visit Sorrento?
We got mixed suggestions from people prior to going, even from Italians, but decided to check it out for ourselves. After visiting Sorrento in December we’d say it was a resounding success. We loved our experiences throughout the region. The crowds were light, the weather was pleasant, the food was great, and experience was wonderful. If you’re still not sure, check out what Italy has to say regarding the Amalfi coast in the winter. Hopefully your adventure is as enjoyable as ours was. Ciao!
