Sorrento

Sorrento and its peninsula are a celebration of colour, taste, of magical inlets and breath-taking scenery. This is the area beloved by the Roman emperors, chosen as the site to build sumptuous villas in which to abandon themselves to the pleasure of doing nothing. Pleasures subsequently relived by Wagner, Nietzsche, Dickens and Goethe in their unforgettable 19th century Grand Tours of Italy, recorded for history in diaries that have become masterpieces of literature. Salerno is similar to a proud princess in this marvelous Court that extends down to Cilento, passing through a series of spectacularly majestic sights alternating between coastline and inland oases such as the ‘Vallo di Diano’ national park, woods of laurel and beech trees and the Hills of Getsemani. You cannot leave without visiting the ‘Castello degli Arechi’, the imposing Cathedral dedicated to Saint Matthew, Salerno’s patron saint, with its numerous relics and saintly offerings inside, and of course there’s the incredible ‘Teatro Verdi’. There is another surprise in store in Sorrento and throughout its peninsula: the local cuisine, in the incomparable tradition of Mediterranean cooking, starting with the superb local pasta garnished with San Marzano tomatoes and meat sauce, or grilled hare, stewed boar meat cooked with Paestum artichokes, and exquisite white figs to finish with. Sorrento is in the realm of good taste.