Italy is one of our favorite destinations, and the Amalfi Coast had been on our must visit list for quite some time when we started planning this trip. Travel with toddlers is always tricky, and we knew that some of the more popular destinations like Capri or Positano were going to be really challenging with a pram. Having a week to explore the region, we wanted to make the most of our time, which led us to having two home bases, Sorrento for the first part of our trip, and then Maiori (which you can read about in Italy’s Amalfi Coast Pt. 2) for the second half. Sorrento is one of the easiest towns along the coast to reach. With a train station, bus routes and a ferry port, Sorrento makes a great base to explore the Amalfi Coast.
Arrival to Sorrento is quite easy – the Naples airport is about an hour and 20 minutes away, with rental cars (Sixt) available a short walk away. There is also a pizza place that does takeway slices in the airport past baggage claim, if, like us, you needed to feed your child a quick dinner.
A few notes about rental cars in the Amalfi Coast – unless you are a very confident driver, I would probably skip it. Italian drivers on narrow winding roads are one thing, but it’s the scooters that weave in and out of the traffic that make for a stressful drive. It is imparitive to take out insurance as well, because the likelihood of a scratch or a ding is really high. If you aren’t renting a car, there are buses and ferries to take you to different regions – but you are beholden to their schedules, and they are often overcrowded, especially in the summer, which makes it hard to actually catch one to take you to your desired destination.
In Sorrento there are a number of hotels in the main city center, or further up on Via Capo if you want to get away from it all – which we did. There is a bus service you can take down to the main Sorrento city center for €1.30, or a taxi is about €20.00
We adored our hotel Capo Santo Fourtunata which was once the home of Duchesses of Serracapriola who hosted wealthy guests such as Anna d’Aosta and the Russian writer Maxim Gorky who lived nearby. The villa was amazingly child friendly, and because of it’s intimate nature we often felt like we were the only people there. One of our must haves when we travel now is a pool, so we can have some downtime in the afternoon. There is also a (long) walk you can take to explore some Roman Ruins next door.
Sorrento makes a great base for day trips like Pompeii (yes! you can enjoy Pompeii with a toddler! Check out our Post on Amafli Coast Pt. 2 Pompei) but there is a lot to enjoy within the city itself. The main streets are pedestrian friendly, but do be careful with your pram on the side streets – scooters are everywhere and don’t always stop for pedestrians!
One thing we love to do when we are in Italy is explore local wineries. We weren’t very familiar with wines from the Amalfi region, and there are not a lot of vineyards you can visit easily. But in the center of Sorrento is The Winery de Angelis, which has been in operation since 1936 and offers tastings of their wine. By calling ahead, we were able to ok bringing our daughter with us, and enjoyed a selection of both white and red wines from the Mt. Vesuvius region. The tasting was one of our highlights of the trip, and we also got to try local meats and cheeses too. The full tasting takes about 2 hours (tour of facility and the tasting) so make sure you are prepared with more toys, snacks, and activities than we were… we did succumb to some Peppa Pig time during this visit.
