What should I pack for Sorrento?

Sorrento sits on a cliff about 50 meters above the Tyrrhenian Sea. The walk from Piazza Tasso down to Marina Piccola drops over stone staircases, some without handrails, and the centro storico streets are polished basalt that turns slick after rain. A wrong shoe choice announces itself within 200 meters. Pack rubber-soled shoes with real tread, and a second pair of sport sandals for boat days to Capri or the Blue Grotto, where you step off the dock onto a wooden launch with about 30 cm of freeboard. Sneakers survive the 4-km walk through Pompeii but soak through fast if September's afternoon rain catches you on the open Circumvesuviana platform.

September daytime temperatures run 24-30°C with humidity above 80%, so cotton and linen stick to your skin less than synthetics. Pack three or four quick-dry shirts, two pairs of lightweight trousers, and one warmer layer for evening ferry rides when the wind off the bay drops the perceived temperature by 5-6 degrees. The Duomo di Sorrento and the Chiostro di San Francesco both enforce a knee-and-shoulder dress code, though the Duomo checks more strictly than the smaller chapels along Via San Cesareo. A light cotton scarf weighing under 100 grams covers your shoulders and keeps you from being turned away. Italian churches tend to run 10°C cooler inside than the surrounding streets. That temperature swing feels like relief at first but turns chilly after 20 minutes in the nave.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are the two biggest day trips from Sorrento, and they need different gear. Pompeii, a settlement dating to 600 BC, covers 44 hectares of exposed ground with almost no shade. A wide-brimmed hat and at least 1.5 liters of water per person are non-negotiable from May through October. The cafe near the Forum charges about €4 for a small bottle. Herculaneum is more compact at roughly 4.5 hectares, but the excavated streets sit below modern Ercolano, and the concrete ramps down and back up radiate stored heat. Apply sunscreen before you leave Sorrento, not at the entrance gate. For a Capri boat trip, bring a dry bag or large ziplock bags for your phone. The transfer from the main vessel to the Blue Grotto rowboat involves spray, and salt water has ended more phones than pickpockets.

Italy uses Type L outlets with three round pins in a line, and many sockets also accept the two-pin Type C. Older hotels in the centro storico sometimes have three-pin-only fixtures. A universal adapter runs €3-5 at any ferramenta on Corso Italia. The voltage is 230V, so North American hair dryers without dual-voltage markings will burn out on first use. Bring a portable charger rated at least 10,000 mAh. Between Google Maps navigation on the Circumvesuviana from Naples, translation apps at restaurants where menus remain Italian-only, and camera use at the archaeological sites, your phone battery will not survive a full day. An eSIM activated before landing at Naples Capodichino saves the scramble to find a TIM or Vodafone shop on your first afternoon.

Skip packing sunscreen for Sorrento. Farmacia shops on Corso Italia stock Rilastil and Avène for roughly €8-12, comparable to US drugstore prices. Autan mosquito repellent at any supermercato runs about €5, and September evenings near Marina Grande do attract mosquitoes that drift up from the harbor. Beach towels at the linen shops on Via San Cesareo cost €10-15 and make a better souvenir than a fridge magnet. Don't bother packing a rain jacket for June through August, when the coast averages 2-3 rainy days per month. September and October bring more frequent showers. A packable shell earns its luggage space from mid-September onward.