Villas in Naples & Sorrentino Peninsula

Sorrento suits ferries to Capri and no car, Massa Lubrense suits quiet bays, and Naples suits food and museums. Most of our villas are on the Sorrento peninsula, the stretch across the bay from Naples with Vesuvius in view. Houses in the hills are often reached by steep lanes or steps, so read the access notes before you book.

Where

Villas: 61
From, per week: £391
Cheapest month: September
Nearest airports: Naples is the airport for this whole region, with direct flights from London taking around two and a half hours. It is about 20 minutes to central Naples and an hour and a quarter or more to Sorrento by road. Buses run from the airport to Sorrento in season.

Where to stay in Naples & Sorrentino Peninsula

Sorrento and Colli Fontanelle

Sorrento has the largest group of our villas in this region, many in the hills of Colli Fontanelle a few minutes above the town. The centre is on a tufa cliff, with lemon groves, a busy main square and a lift down to the harbour. Hydrofoils run to Capri in around 25 minutes and to Naples in about 40. Naples airport is around an hour and a quarter by road.

Best for: First-timers who want ferries, trains and restaurants without a car

Not for you if: You want a sandy beach: Sorrento sits on a cliff, and swimming is from small platforms and lidos below it.

Massa Lubrense and the peninsula tip (Nerano, Marina del Cantone, Sant'Agata)

Beyond Sorrento the peninsula narrows into terraced olive groves and small villages. Marina del Cantone and Nerano have pebble beaches and seafood restaurants where day boats from Capri pull in for lunch. A footpath drops to the Bay of Ieranto, a protected cove, and Punta Campanella looks straight across to Capri. Sant'Agata sits on the ridge with views over both bays. Allow around an hour and a half from Naples airport.

Best for: Couples and walkers who want coves, sea views and fewer people

Not for you if: You don't want to drive narrow, steep roads, as buses out here are infrequent.

Piano di Sorrento, Meta and Vico Equense

These towns run along the road between Castellammare and Sorrento and are cheaper and more local than Sorrento. Meta has two beaches, Alimuri and Meta, with grey sand and lidos in summer. Vico Equense is known for pizza sold by the metre. All three have stations on the Circumvesuviana line to Naples, which stops at Pompeii and Herculaneum on the way. Naples airport is about an hour away.

Best for: Families who want a working town and easy train links

Not for you if: You want to be in the middle of the evening scene, which is in Sorrento itself.

Naples (city)

Naples has the National Archaeological Museum, home to most of the mosaics and frescoes taken from Pompeii, and an old centre of narrow streets and churches. Pizza here is a serious business, and queues are long at the famous places. Trains and boats leave for Pompeii, Sorrento and the islands. The airport is only around 20 minutes from the centre.

Best for: Food lovers and sightseers who want museums, churches and pizza

Not for you if: You want peace and a pool: these are city flats and houses, with traffic and noise.

Pozzuoli and Bagnoli (Campi Flegrei, west of Naples)

The Campi Flegrei is a volcanic area west of the city. Pozzuoli has a large Roman amphitheatre, the columns of its old market by the harbour and ferries to Procida and Ischia. Bagnoli, nearer town, is a seafront district on the metro line. At Baia, a few minutes south, Roman villas lie underwater and can be seen by glass-bottomed boat. We have only a couple of houses here.

Best for: History buffs who want Roman ruins and short ferries to Ischia

Not for you if: You are uneasy about earth tremors: the ground here is slowly rising and small earthquakes are common.

When to go to Naples & Sorrentino Peninsula

May, June and September are the best months: warm enough to swim, with fewer day-trippers than midsummer. July and August are hot and crowded, the Capri boats fill up and roads round the peninsula slow to a crawl around Ferragosto on 15 August. April and October suit Pompeii, Herculaneum and the walking paths. Naples is good all year, but on the peninsula many hotels and restaurants close from November to March and the ferry timetable thins out.