Sorrento's own must-see list is short, and we mean that. The only entry with a Sorrento street address is Sorrento Cathedral at 44 Via Santa Maria della Pietà, and the rest are the trips that, in our view, make Sorrento worth using as a base. The biggest names are the Roman towns buried by the volcano: Pompeii, the ancient Roman city near modern Naples, and Herculaneum, a Roman town destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Capri adds Villa Jovis, dating from AD 27, and inside Pompeii the list narrows to single buildings, among them the Temple of Isis, found in 1764 as one of the first discoveries of the excavation. One entry, Poggiomarino, is an Italian comune in the Province of Naples rather than a single sight, and we say so plainly below. This list is for travellers who will give up a beach afternoon for a hot walk over Roman stone, and who want the opening hours confirmed before they set out.
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1 Pompeii
An entire ancient Roman city to walk through
Our first day out of Sorrento would go to Pompeii, the ancient Roman city near modern Naples. Skip the rushed half-day package that hurries you past the famous ruins and has you out by lunch; give it the whole day and your feet will forgive you by evening. Go early, carry more water than you think you need, and plan your route around the single buildings this list covers separately, because a city this size rewards a plan more than a wander. The scale is the whole point: this is a town, not a monument, and treating it as a quick stop at the ticket office wastes it. Come back tired, and come back with a sense of how a Roman street worked, which no museum case can give you.
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2 Herculaneum
Corso Resina, 1, 80056 ErcolanoA Roman town destroyed by Vesuvius, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Herculaneum, Corso Resina, 1, 80056 Ercolano, opens at 08:30 and closes at 15:30, and that early cutoff is the one detail you most need to plan around: arrive after lunch and you will see a fraction of what is here. This is the Roman town destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and it is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We would resist the idea of calling it a consolation prize for people who missed the bigger name, because a site you can cover properly in one unhurried morning is exactly the right scale for a hot day. Check the official site at ercolano.beniculturali.it before you go, and keep in mind it is closed on 25 December and 1 January.
Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
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3 Poggiomarino
An ordinary comune of the Province of Naples, not a staged sight
Poggiomarino is the one entry of our 12 that is a whole town, an Italian comune in the Province of Naples, not a single sight. Not every name on a must-see list hides a monument, and this is one of those cases: our verified data records no particular attraction here, the town itself and its municipal website at comune.poggiomarino.na.it being the sum of what you will find. Go if you want 1 ordinary afternoon in a working town of the province, away from the ruins circuit and its tour coaches, but check the municipal site first to see what is on before you commit the time. If you have only 2 or 3 days on this coast, the Roman sites elsewhere on this list are the better use of them.
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4 Sorrento Cathedral
44 Via Santa Maria della Pietà, Sorrento, 80067The one must-see on this list inside Sorrento itself
At 44 Via Santa Maria della Pietà, in the 80067 postal area, Sorrento Cathedral is the one entry on this list you can reach without leaving town. It is a church building in Sorrento, and after days of ruins that distinction matters: a standing church in the town where you are sleeping, not another excavated foundation. On your evening stroll, skip past the souvenir-lined lemon-liqueur shops and step inside instead, and a few quiet minutes here will undo a day spent on hot Roman stone. Dress as you would for any working church, keep your voice down, and let it be the calm end to a busy day rather than a box to tick.
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5 Villa Jovis
via Tiberio - CapriA historical building dating from AD 27, with Italian national heritage status
Dating from AD 27, Villa Jovis stands on via Tiberio in Capri, a historical building with Italian national heritage status. Check the season before you plan around it: from June to September it keeps 10:00 to 18:15; April, May and October run 10:00 to 17:15; March, November and December close at 15:15; and in January and February it is shut. Skip the island's shopping-street circuit and spend those hours here instead. A Roman building this old, still standing on Capri, is a better story to bring back than another bag of linen. Bring water and sturdy shoes, and give it the afternoon rather than the last hour before your boat.
Dates from AD 27 · Italian national heritage
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6 Oplontis
An ancient Roman archaeological site off the main circuit
Oplontis is an ancient Roman archaeological site, and in our view it deserves a slot in any week built around ruins. Don't try to squeeze it into the same day as two other major sites: one ancient site per morning is the pace at which anything on this coast sinks in, and cramming turns every courtyard into the same courtyard. Our verified data gives no address or hours for Oplontis, so confirm them locally before setting out. Go with a little background reading done, arrive with energy to spare, and treat it as its own visit rather than an afterthought on the way back to Sorrento.
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7 Temple of Apollo
Scavi archeologici di Pompei - Regio VII - Insula 7 - 32A temple in Pompei with Italian national heritage status
The Temple of Apollo sits at Regio VII, Insula 7, number 32 inside the Pompeii excavations, a temple in Pompei with Italian national heritage status. The snap-and-go approach most groups take here misses the point. Stand still for a few minutes and let the layout of a Roman sanctuary sink in before you move on. Your site map works by Regio and Insula numbers, and Regio VII, Insula 7 is how you pick this one out from streets that start to blur together by midday. Come early if you can, when the stone is cooler and the light is kinder.
Italian national heritage
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8 Villa of the Mysteries
A building in Pompei that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Of the 12 entries on this list, the Villa of the Mysteries is the single building we would plan a whole visit around, so read its official page on pompeiisites.org first. It is a building in Pompei, Italy, and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Leaving it for the last hour, when your legs are gone and the light is fading, is a habit worth breaking. It is 1 of 4 single buildings in Pompei that this list covers, and the one that most deserves your freshest attention, so give it a proper slot, go slowly, look closely, and resist the urge to rush on to the next name. A little reading beforehand will change what you see.
Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
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9 House of the Vettii
Scavi archeologici di Pompei - Regio VI - Insula 15 - 1A building in Pompei with Italian national heritage status
The House of the Vettii is at Regio VI, Insula 15, number 1 inside the Pompeii excavations, a building in Pompei with Italian national heritage status. Locals know that one well-chosen house beats a blur of many, and this is a strong choice for yours. Note Regio VI, Insula 15 on your site map before you go in, because that is how you find it without wandering in circles in the heat. Check the official page at pompeiisites.org before your visit so you know what to expect at the door, then slow down once inside, because a Roman house rewards a careful look far more than a quick walk-through.
Italian national heritage
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10 Temple of Isis
Scavi archeologici di Pompei - Regio VIII - Insula 7 - 28A small, almost intact Roman temple to the Egyptian goddess Isis, found in 1764
Discovered in 1764, the Temple of Isis was one of the first finds of the Pompeii excavation, a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis. Small and almost intact, it stands at Regio VIII, Insula 7, number 28, carrying Italian national heritage status. Don't save your energy for the bigger set pieces. A temple that came through nearly whole tells you more than a field of broken columns ever will, and an Egyptian cult inside a Roman town is a story worth pausing for. Find it by Regio VIII, Insula 7 on your site map, and come with a few minutes to spare.
Italian national heritage
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11 Villa Poppaea
Via SepolcriA building in Torre Annunziata that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Villa Poppaea on Via Sepolcri opens at 09:00 Wednesday through Monday, closing at 17:00 from 1 November to 31 March and at 19:00 from 1 April to 31 October. Tuesday is the one day it stays shut. It is a building in Torre Annunziata, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its official page sits under the Oplontis section of pompeiisites.org. Those longer summer hours make this the easiest site to fit into a late afternoon, and we'd use that window to give it the unhurried visit that a crowded morning elsewhere would not allow.
Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site
This is an early version of the Sorrento list. We add picks as we test more places.
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