What to see in Sorrento and Capri, Italy

From Pompeii, we traveled by bus to Sorrento.   Due to exhaustion, I was asleep most of the time in the bus but when I woke up as we reached Sorrento, the sight which greeted me were orange and lemon trees in gardens and the sidewalk.  

I noticed some fruits were just withering. My thought bubble – if the trees were in the Philippines, every single fruit will be consumed. Haha…

Our tour guide said that Sorrento has zero crime rate – you can leave your house door open and the keys to your Vespa and they will be untouched, he said.  The only setback is traffic is so bad in the island.  They have narrow roads and 90% of the people in the island are tourists so you can just imagine how the bad the traffic is.  That’s why if you live in Sorrento, he said, you have to have a Vespa or you will spend half of your life on the road. Haha...

Sharing with you the view we enjoyed over dinner in our hotel in Sorrento.

Beautiful Sorrento landscape -

While in Sorrento, we were also able to visit an inlay woodwork factory.  The host explained to us how they design the inlay woodwork from raw material to finished product.

Here are some of the furniture for sale.  They could also make arrangements to ship the items straight to your home country.

The bestsellers are musical boxes.  

Just pick any musical box you want and you can also choose what music you want it to play.  If you want it as your souvenir from Sorrento, you can opt for “Come back to Sorrento”. :)

From Sorrento, we took a ferry going to Capri.  It’s about a 45-min ride.

Capri is a popular vacation spot among Hollywood celebrities, tycoons, politicians and other prominent people.  

Our tour guide said that it’s not surprising to see Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and other famous people on an ordinary day.  Just the day before our tour, he said he spotted one of the Swarovski heirs who has a house in the island.  Ferragamo has a house there too, he said, and Danny Devito, a limoncillo factory. He mentioned a lot of other names but I could no longer remember. Haha…

As we approached the island, there was no doubt why tourists flock there.  Beautiful harbour…

When we got down from the ferry, we went straight to Anacapri – “ana” means up.  It’s the highest point of Capri.

We took the chairlift ride which brought us about 300 meters high.  

Chairlift ride going up to Anacapri

Check out these breathtaking views - 

View from Anacapri, highest point of Capri

The famous rock formation in Capri is called Faraglione.

Faraglione, Capri's famous rock formation, up close

View from Anacapri

Found these pretty and colorful seashells in one of the island souvenir stores.

While exploring, I noticed a cemetery and I peeked in between the grills. What a beautiful sight –fresh flowers on every tomb!
 

We also visited the main plaza.  High-end stores like Prada, Robert Cavalli, Gucci, Ferragamo, etc.dot the streets. 

About  a 10-minute walk from the clocktower,  you can reach one end of the island where you will find August’s Garden. 

From August’s Garden, the tour guide pointed to a cliff where the houses of Ferragamo, Swarovski, etc. are.

From the garden, you will also enjoy breathtaking views like these.

And check out this zigzag road -

Upon closer look, it’s actually a walkpath.

It got cold in the late afternoon while waiting for our boat ride so even if I don't drink coffee, I got a cup in one of the cafes near the harbour. 

Overall, Capri reminds me of Monaco but a compact, more homey and enchanting version.

P.S. If the weather is good, one of the top things to see in Capri is the Blue Grotto.  But on the day we were there, it was high tide, thus, tours weren’t permitted.

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This is part of a 2-day tour which we booked via www.ItaliaTours.com.   The package tour costs about USD430/pax which includes transportation and overnight hotel accommodation.  The tour departs from Rome and the itinerary covers Naples, Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri.