Touring the Sorrento Peninsula

The Majestic Palace is a wonderful hotel with spacious rooms. It is conveniently located close to the main square, yet tucked away on a quiet street off the main drag so that you don't hear the traffic at night. It has a feel of an upscale hotel, with modern decor, although the age does show. The staff was friendly, courteous, and helpful.

The rooms were very large compared to European and Italian standards. We stayed in a room with a king sized bed. The room had white curtains and wooden double doors that led out onto the balcony. We kept the doors open to let in the outside air, and closed the white curtains for privacy. The balcony overlooked the orange grove down below, and to the right looked towards the ocean and Mount Vesuvio in the distance. The room that we were in did not face the water and I'm not sure if there are rooms that do. However, this hotel is situated several blocks away from the cliff, so even if you were facing the water, you would still be overlooking several buildings. This is a great place to stay if you want to save some money instead of spending it on an expensive hotel built into the cliff with a view.

The sunset in Sorrento is breathtaking. Follow the road that the hotel is on towards the water, which is away from the main street. It will lead to a dead end with a restaurant and a large open area. There are several quaint restaurants and the perfect place to view the sunset.

Breakfast is included and is served in the morning. Assorted Italian meats, eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, a variety a juices, coffee, breakfast pastries, and desserts were served. The wait staff wasn't fluent in English so instead I spoke Spanish, which has enough similarity to Italian that we could communicate. Surprisingly, some of the staff was also fluent in Spanish.

Some of the amenities included, air-conditioning, cable television, direct-dial phone, desk, minibar, and a complimentary Internet port. Of note, the complimentary Internet port is called a telephone line. We were given a phone number to call. So basically, it's dial up and served useless or a blessing, depending on how dependent you are on checking your email. For Internet service, I would recommend an Internet cafe (on the main street, Corso Italia, pass the town square and there is a gelato place on the right and Internet access)m or a youth hostel (located towards the town square but one street up on the left parallel to the main street) for Internet access.

As far as getting around, the hotel is located 1km from the town square. You can walk into town which takes about 15-20 minutes. There are several bus lines that run into town, and they come every 10-15 minutes. The bus stop is located on the main street Corso Italia and is a 5 minute walk from the front of the hotel.

This is a hidden gem that we loved so much that we came here twice in one week. It was very good value for the high quality of food. We were strolling the back streets off of the main square admiring the shops late one night and stumbled upon this tiny restaurant. There are many to choose from and all are open late at night. This restaurant caught my attention because of the extensive menu which went on for 20 pages. If you are a seafood lover than this is the place to be. There are also many selections to suit everyone's palate. The dimly lit restaurant provided a romantic atmosphere. It has two floors with windows that open to the narrow pedestrian only walkways. We chose to sit outside and enjoy the summer night. They had 4-5 tables set up in the alley perpendicular to the entrance to the restaurant lined by green grass- like carpet. The alley was surprisingly clean and was a surreal experience to look up into the night sky in between two tall buildings.

The service was top notch and the waiter had excellent recommendations. My husband and I shared a generous helping of the best steamed mussels I have ever had as an appetizer. After telling our waiter that we both loved seafood, he insisted on us both ordering the Linguine Imperial. Typically I like to order something different and share with my husband, but the waiter insisted that I order my own. He said "Trust me. ;)" He was definitely right. There was no way that I was going to share my entree.

It came on a gigantic plate with generous portions of everything under the sun and in the sea. There was more seafood than pasta. It had mussels, clams, crab, salmon, white fish, calamari, oyster, and shrimp. I might have forgotten a few items. We also enjoyed a red house wine made by the Sorrento Inn. It was very inexpensive and was very good. We stayed until the restaurant closed and the waiter told us to take our time and he didn't rush us at all. I think we spent about $80 for a bottle of wine, appetizer, two entrees and two non-alcoholic beverages. You can't beat that.

We loved it so much that we returned with our friends later in the week for lunch since we had to have more mussels. I had the Fettucini Carbonara and my husband had a pizza. Needless to say we came away very stuffed and very happy. You can find more info at the website.

http://www.sorrentoinn.com/en_restaurant.asp

This is a great way to tour the Sorrento Peninsula by water. We enjoyed a lazy day on the water while taking in the beautiful coast of the peninsula. The boat departs from the main port in Sorrento, and includes a stop at the coast of Capri for a dip in the water, an optional excursion to Positano (extra charge), and a stop in Amalfi, before returning to Sorrento. All of this for €22. To reserve, talk to your hotel or find a flyer at the port.

I highly recommend bringing a backpack, and packing light. We wore our swimsuits underneath our clothes and brought towels, sunscreen, and a change of clothes just in case we got wet. We packed a little too much stuff, because it made it a bit cumbersome when we were exploring and site seeing.

A bus came and picked us up and whisked us away to the port of Sorrento. We waited there for 20-30 minutes. Remember this is Sorrento time, it's a bit more relaxed out here. We were quickly herded onto a boat. When you get on the boat head straight up to the top of the boat and find a sun lounge chair because they go quickly. Sun Bathe, relax, and enjoy.

The boat skirted the coast of Sorrento, and stopped off the shore of a less populated side of Capri. We didn't go into the port. Instead the boat stopped in the middle of the water so that we could take a dip into the water. Now ocean swimming is very different from your average dip in the pool. We were in Italy in June and the water was tolerable. Being used to staying in the shallow end of a pool, this was quite an experience since there is not bottom. After a 30 minute stay in the water, we climbed back on the boat and showered to rinse off the salt water. The shower stalls were really nice, and the water pressure was great.

Lunch was served as we made our way to Positano. The lunch menu gives you a choice of a garden salad with ham and cheese, or spaghetti bolognaise for a very overpriced €11. My husband and I passed. The boat stopped off the shore of Positano to allow those who want to take the excursion for an additional cost of €6 per person (don't quote me on this because I didn't hear quite clearly over the bull horn). These people will be picked back up on the return trip. The downside is they won't get to see Amalfi.

We stayed on the boat and headed to Amalfi. For more about Amalfi, check out my other review.

We were given about 2 hours to explore Amalfi. However, we chose not to return to Sorrento by boat. We took the infamous Blue SITA bus ride back to Sorrento (80 minutes) along the cliffs. Sit on the sea side (right side) of the bus for the best view.

During a quiet afternoon during the siesta hours we followed self-guided walking tour from a combination of the walking guide provided by Rick Steve's and Frommers. One of our stops was the Marina Grande.

It's a poorer part of town and during our afternoon walk we encountered a lot of construction. Perhaps they are trying to revive the area, I'm not sure. There are some restaurants recommended by other IgoUgo members down by the water that I would be interested in trying. But there's not much here and the view is not great. The surroundings were a bit dusty. We came, we saw, we left.