Things to do in Sorrento with Kids

There is no better way to spend your vacation with the kids than in beautiful Sorrento. Beaches, ice cream, pizza: every child's dream. And no matter if it's winter or summer, there's always something to see and do in Sorrento. It is the perfect town for children to explore new cultures, learn about history, fall in love with art, nourish themselves with other cultures and absorb the taste and smell of the Mediterranean.

Sorrento is a quiet place for you and an oasis of fun for the kids. Take advantage and do not miss the excursions from Sorrento. Keep in mind that children are specialists in molding and adjusting to any place where they are thrown, but you still have to keep in mind several things when traveling with them.

It may be obvious, but many times I have made the mistake of taking a flight at an airport that is quite far from where I live, just to save a couple of euros. Adding four hours of travel time to the time it will take to get to Sorrento in Italy will be hell for the little ones: kids double the time sensation and will think they are in a frustrating situation as they see you stressed about things they don't understand.

I suggest you prioritize a flight departing from your city or from the airport closest to your home. I suggest the following: take a direct flight to Naples-Capodichino Airport, rest that night in Naples and if possible, take a day to visit Naples with the kids; this way they rest and get used to the rhythm of the trip. The next day travel to Sorrento.

If there are no direct flights to Naples, then take a flight to Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome and do the same: rest and take the opportunity to visit Rome in two days, so that you will be fresh the next day on your way to Naples and then Sorrento.

And this is not only with the flight: when you are in Rome or Naples and you want to go to Sorrento try to find the best tourist buses in Naples that will make the trip more enjoyable and quiet with the children.

Sorrento is a very touristic place. No matter if it is summer or winter, Sorrento always has crowds of tourists. That just means that, again, planning ahead will be your mantra, so that only family serenity accompanies the trip. Nothing more stressful than a child waiting in line at a site that may bore you and frustrate you because you are missing a day at the beach to go see some ancient ruins with the sun on top of you.

I suggest you do your research, compare offers and check the schedules of the place you are going to. Book online those tours that facilitate your needs as a head of household. For example, if you want to plan an excursion to Pompeii with children I suggest you do it early in the morning to avoid traffic and be among the first to enjoy the ruins.

The most common thing is that unexpected things always happen. No matter how many reservations and precautions you take with your family, a tour may be cancelled or weather conditions may not allow you to enjoy the tour. You can also have a second option to avoid wasting the day, such as going and visiting the historic center or spending an afternoon in the gardens of Sorrento.

Besides, it is not only about preventing a long queue, but adapting the ride to the pace of the little ones. There are walks that can become tiresome if they last too long. For example, if you are planning a tour of the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento, be sure to ask them what timetables they have and if the tour times can be adjusted so that the children do not get bored or get desperate along the way.

Children's energy is intense, but short-lived, so I suggest you take one day at a time to see every site Sorrento has to offer. You can even plan to visit three sites, but they have to be very close to each other and short and pleasant to visit so the kids don't get desperate. You have the option to visit Piazza Tasso, the Cathedral of Sorrento and take a last walk in the Vallone dei Mulini.

I know that time is always short, but remember that children do not go at the same pace as you. They go through peaks of hyperactive euphoria to moments of sleepiness and sheer exhaustion, so make a schedule that suits them. Enjoy and don't rush the trip.

The best thing to do is to intersperse the days: take a day to visit Pompeii on one of the tours from Sorrento with the kids; rest while strolling along the beaches of Sorrento or stay at the hotel pool playing with the little ones. The next day you can go to Naples to visit the Catacombs of San Gennaro to teach them history or you can also take a boat ride along the Sorrento coast, something the kids will love especially if you splash the water along the way.

There are many places in Sorrento that have special rates for children under 7 years old. Museums even have policies for children under three to enter for free. This will help you adjust your budget for the trip. This way you will be able to save money to include in your trip an excursion to the beautiful island of Capri and let the kids know this paradise. Moreover, I can suggest that when you go to Hellotickets to book those places you want to go with your family, you will have the opportunity to choose the age range of your children in the options. They will automatically deduct from the total price what you have for your children. But be careful: include babies at once in the page, no matter if it is free, because sometimes babies are not counted in the tours and it generates confusion on the day of the tour. Let's be honest. Italy is a place for family enjoyment, but I'm sure you don't want to go into debt for the rest of the year at the expense of having spent limited time in one place. Reduce the risks with these tips and make the most of your trip with the kids by paying the minimum while traveling with them.

Traveller Tip

Reserve your days to visit museums on the first Sunday of each month, as it is possible to visit them for free. This is done in many museums throughout Italy.

It is best to pack something light in your backpack for the kids to eat or nibble on. Some good apples; a couple of peaches; accompanied by some dried fruits, these will always be a good source of energy and nutrition. The best thing is that fruits in Italy are extremely sweet and delicious. Let's see: it is obvious that Italy is one of the gastronomic capitals of the world and here you will never miss a treat when you are walking along the Italian public roads or on excursions, but for children not everything can be ice cream and pizza as much as they want. To this I have to add that they are also in a growing stage and a healthy and balanced diet is important for their development. Children are extremely unpredictable. Sometimes they will get hungry at odd hours, because of the change in routine, or they are simply saturated with new and exotic flavors on their palate and just want something familiar. Sometimes hunger is a way of saying they are bored and want to divert their attention to something else, so you can bring something you made for them to savor the familiarity of homemade flavor.

Most of the walking you will be doing in the streets of Sorrento is going to be on stairs and almost all of the walkways are not regular smooth ground, but rather you will be on cobblestone walkways. If we add the amount of hours walking through the old town and along the coast, then a baby stroller is not the most advisable. The best option I can offer you if you walk with babies still small, is that you opt for backpacks or slings. You will appreciate the plasticity of this backpack in adapting to all travel environments and you will stop worrying about the stress of walking with the car. If you are traveling with older children, they will have fun walking around because they are feeding their brains with new experiences. What I suggest with them is that you alternate breaks in some places so that they are entertained during the breaks and rest. Ah! Another thing I forgot: despite the legislation requiring Child Restraint Systems (CRS), do not expect to rent a car with a car seat, or ask for a cab with it: CRS are not common in this area, so it is better to take precautions and take one to have on hand if you are renting a car.

The months of July and August are the best months to travel the Mediterranean coasts of Italy, but you must also recognize that the temperatures in the region in this season are very high and even unbearable for the little ones. Keep in mind that many of the visits to Sorrento are outdoors and being under the sun can be annoying and irritating for children who are not used to endure so much time with such exposure. Hydration before and during any excursion or walk in Sorrento and its surroundings are extremely important. Invest before the trip in getting quality sunscreen, even if the cost is higher than usual: the sun is unforgiving in Sorrento at this time of the year. Remember also to wear comfortable shoes, if possible, sports shoes; as much as you may want to wear your sandals or Crocs, it is best to go well protected on your feet. This applies not only for children, but for you too. The heat is overwhelming and even more so if you are not used to such high temperatures. You can, in turn, take advantage of the occasion and try to lessen the heat by buying those beautiful hats from the Amalfi coast in one of the chic stores on Corso Italia or in the trendy Piazza Lauro. If you are up for it, you can hire a tour to this coast, very close to Sorrento, where it is also very hot. Of course, an ice cream at the end of the tour or a refreshing limoncello is the best palliative for the heat.

If, on the other hand, you are traveling in winter, to enjoy Christmas with your family in beautiful Christmas Sorrento, then you will need to shelter the children from the cold and icy winds. Sorrento is one of the few places in Europe to offer so many options for sightseeing and travel in all months of the year. There is nothing like spending Christmas in Naples and the beautiful Piazza Tasso in Sorrento. Buying waterproof jackets, designed for the winter cold, although a demanding expense, is necessary for children to be able to enjoy the rides, while still withstanding the cold. The boots can work for the topography of the city and the times you are going to walk. Finish the children's outfit with some good hats that protect the ears and you can never miss some good portions of ice cream so that the body integrates to the external temperature and the fat of the milk warms the inside of the body. The Christmas lights, together with the huge trees in the squares will make the little ones forget about the cold and warm up for the fun of the trip playing with the other children in the area.

Ideally, you should get an accommodation with a swimming pool and a playroom where you can share your leisure time with the children. This way, you can have a day of rest in the hotel to recharge your batteries for the next trips and if the hotel has a private beach, don't think about it too much, so much the better! Also, from Sorrento there are many boat trips that will take you to other coasts and earthly paradises. Sorrento, of all the metropolitan area of Naples, is the best population in terms of value for money in terms of hotel accommodation for families. It is one of the most central towns and close to all the tourist attractions of the Amalfi and Neapolitan coast. That is, it is not far from anything and this means that tourist trips will not tire the little ones. In addition, if you are only staying 3 days in Sorrento you can also indulge yourself by adding a plus in accommodation, as they are among the cheapest in the region. Book a hotel with breakfast and parking included, if you need it. Also, if possible, book one with an in-house restaurant in case you have a long day of sightseeing and miss the opportunity to dine out because of the hustle and bustle of people on the street. Disrupting meal times makes children irritable and throws them off balance. If you plan ahead, you can head to the hotel and dine quietly, keeping the routine and meal times. The children's development will thank you.

Traveller Tip

It is normal that in summer the small beaches in Sorrento are quite crowded with tourists. I suggest that you add an extra expense for the benefit of your serenity and hire some chairs with umbrellas in some of the private beaches that the city offers.

One thing you always have to keep in mind is to set up a restaurant layout and meal times for the kids. It is easy to fall into eating disorder when we are traveling and we are distracted by the charms of Sorrento, but it is a priority that you focus on the time and places to eat or else the most affected will be the children and their growth.

If you plan your schedule well you will not leave anything to chance and you will not be in the situation of running around the city or tourist places looking for a free table for your children, making them dizzy and bothering them even more.

You can eat healthy and tasty if you do any of the gastronomic tours of Naples and Sorrento, so I suggest you sign up for one of them with your whole family. Come on! The Mediterranean is synonymous with freshness and good food. Check the schedules of the restaurants near the tours and always have a plan B if the first option has no tables available.

Despite the incredible excursions and attractions that Sorrento offers, I suggest that you reserve a space in the itinerary for children to enjoy activities designed for them. There is always something on the city' s cultural agenda that can benefit the little ones. Of all the options, I recommend Italian circuses like Circolandia that are known for their fantastic repertoire and multitude of activities for children to let their imaginations run wild. Theater or reading fairs are always accompanied by a puppet stand, where children can laugh and enjoy Italian traditions. The city has special tours that include courses to make pizza with the kids. Your child will love nothing more than learning how to prepare his or her favorite dish: pizza. You can also organize a trip to an ice cream factory for them to learn about the culinary art of ice cream. It' s all a matter of finding out what they might like.

There is the false belief that, if you do and plan your travel independently, without using guided tours, then you are not traveling. You may be quite organized and be able to design a near-perfect trip for your family, but a person who uses tours for their travel also means that they are organized. Guided tours can make your excursions with the kids easier and take a lot of the burden off your shoulders. In Sorrento, you have the opportunity to save time and money. The guides already know the tricks of the trade in the city, know how to manage the tour times and know how long the tour will take. A tour that takes four hours can be reduced to one hour and you will have the chance to do other activities with your children. In addition, the tour package usually includes the entrance fee to the sites, which saves you an important amount of resources. The most important thing is that the guides will make the trip and the story more dynamic and fun. This will be a plus when traveling with children. Not only do they condense the information, but they also propose different ways of narrating the events of the site. This way, the whole family will learn while you relax and connect with Italy.

Sorrento is located on the southern coast of the Sorrento peninsula. It is a municipality in the Naples metropolitan area, in the Campania region. When you go, you will realize that it is one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The site is extremely photogenic and kids will love to know what movies were shot in that region and then watch them with you. You can't miss the opportunity for your kids to get to know the island of Capri or be amazed to learn about the beautiful lands of Positano. They can also learn about Roman history on excursions to Pompeii and Herculaneum, or get to know the turquoise beaches of the Amalfi coast, as well as the respect for nature on the slopes of the imposing Vesuvius. And yet all this realm of beauty is just minutes away from the great and historic Naples. Capital of pizza, a classic for children who never miss anything as they know the origin of their favorite foods. Neapolitan affection will give them a big warm hug in winter and a refreshing ice cream in summer.