RAVELLO TO SORRENTO WALK

Our popular independent walking holiday explores the peninsula between Ravello and Sorrento jutting out below the gracious crescent of the Bay of Naples and dominated by the brooding silhouette of Vesuvius. This vertical landscape of dramatic cliffs, lemon terraces and pastel-coloured towns was virtually an island until the 19C, passable only on foot or by boat. Today these ancient pathways are perfect for walkers. Travelling at your own pace, you combine the elegance of eternal favourites like Positano and Sorrento with discoveries most travellers never make: such as farmers harvesting olives, fishermen crouched over brightly painted boats mending their nets and the bird’s eye view of the entire peninsula from the Pathway of the Gods above Positano.

From Ravello, whose exotic formal gardens, Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone, seem to float ethereally between sea and sky, your route takes you first to Positano’s chic pastel houses and enticing volcanic sand beach. It’s then on to Marina del Cantone, and hidden shingle coves few foreign visitors ever find. Private boats frequently sail to Capri from here. Finally you reach cliff top Sorrento. With balcony views over Vesuvius, it’s a great base to visit Pompeii or Herculaneum by train.

You stay at carefully picked hotels throughout. They range from Sigra Francesca’s cosy little hotel where all rooms face the sea, in a shingle bay near Marina del Cantone, to an elegant **** hotel in Sorrento with swimming pool. Dinners are either taken at the hotel, or left open, where there is a good choice of restaurants. Lunch options are varied: either a panoramic picnic, or a trattoria lunch, perhaps delicious mozzarella, grilled vegetables and fresh fish from the sea.

For more infomation about this holiday, including hotel descriptions, travel options and full holiday itinerary, please see our new 'further details' section.