Sorrento, located on the north side of the peninsula, has attracted artists for centuries. Wagner, Nietzsche and Gorky have spent some time here and Ibsen wrote The Ghosts while in Sorrento.   Sorrento's centre is Piazza Tasso, five minutes from the train station along the busy Corso Italia, the streets around which are pedestrianized for the lively evening passeggiata.

Strange as it may seem, Sorrento isn't particularly well provided with beaches: most people make do with the rocks and a tiny, crowded strip of sand at Marina Grande – fifteen minutes' walk or a short bus ride from Piazza Tasso – or simply use the wooden jetties. If you don't fancy this, try the beaches further along, like the tiny Regina Giovanna at Punta del Capo.  Sorrento is also the closest link to the island of Capri, just off the coast (transportation is also available from Positano, Amalfi and Naples).  Ferries and hydrofoils leave from the harbor throughout the day, arriving at the Marina Grande. Boats are then available from here to Capri’s main tourist attraction, the Blue Grotto. 

Naples, the third-largest Italian city, occupies one of the most beautiful natural settings of any city in Europe. Above it is the bare cone of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano, and beside it the broad sweep of the Bay of Naples and the Tyrrhennian Sea. The city itself is a mad jumble of tenements and traffic, street vendors and crumbling palaces.