Tour of the Sorrentine Peninsula

We woke up this morning and went down to breakfast where our wonderful host Valerio made us coffees and cappuccino to go with the nice spread of croissants, quiche, fruit and cereal. It was a great way to start the day.

After breakfast we walked down to the train station. Along the way we passed the Valley of the Mills, a massive review with ancient ruins.






When we found the train station, we walked around for a few minutes looking for a place to buy bus tickets to Sant'Agata, a village on the Sorrentine Peninsula. After using bits of embarrassingly bad Italian, we finally bought our tickets and waited for the bus.









The bus ride was hot, winding, and full of incredible views. Michael really felt queasy after getting off, and I felt pretty bad for him. The trip was supposed to take about 20 minutes, but it took about 35. We arrived at Sant'Agata at 10:05 disappointed that we missed the 10AM tour that we were hoping to take. Luckily, the Due Golfi Train Tour was running late as well, and it pulled up about 3 minutes later.






The first stop on the tour was il Deserto, A monastery up on a hill with amazing panoramic views of both the Bay of Naples and the Bay of Salerno.









It was much nicer to ride on the windy roads in an open tram, rather than the SITA bus. Michael started to perk up a bit, and our second stop was at a Limoncello factory. We sampled a few different types of limoncello and a walnut liquor that are made there. The one that was a combination of limoncello and coffee was both Lori and my favorite.











There was a great vista that overlooked Capri next to the factory in the village of Termini. We took a few pictures there before boarding the tram.









The next stop was near the tip of the peninsula where you could see all along the Bay of Naples. There were stone inlayed maps at the bottom of each vista spot that showed the names of the towns at which you were looking.








Next we went to a Buffalo Mozzarella farm and winery. They let us sample their cheese with bruscetta, wine, and homemade jams. For the kids, they had lemon ice. It was wonderful.









The tour ended with a drive back to Sant'Agata. By then, Michael was exhausted, and passed out.






When we got back to the village, we had about a half hour before our return bus to Sorrento, so we found a shady spot in a park to relax.






When we got back to our villa, we spent a few hours relaxing by the pool. Afterwards, Lori and I explored the two harbors below the cliffs in Sorrento: Marina Grande and Marina Piccola. Ironically, Marina Piccola seemed much bigger.



The walk down to Marina Grande was really interesting. We passed under and arch where the old city walls protected for invaders from the sea.






Once we got down to the village, there were some nice views. We found a little cafe and each had a really lousy glass of red wine. It just goes to prove that there is bad wine in Italy.









We ended the evening by all gathering for dinner at a pizzeria. It was another great day. Tomorrow we are getting an early start and visiting Pompeii before ascending to the top of Mount Vesuvius. Michael is beyond excited. He's been asking about it for weeks.

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Location:Via Sant'Antonio,,Italy