Before and after
Sorrento evening around the concert
How to plan the hours around the Three Tenors concert in Sorrento: a walk before, a meal after, and which sights in the old town are close to the museum.
Reserve your seats ↗Plan the evening in three parts
The ticket is for the concert, which lasts roughly an hour and a half including a break, so everything else is yours to arrange. A simple shape works well: a walk in the old town before, the concert itself, and a late dinner afterwards. Since each date has its own start, open the booking calendar first and fit the rest around it. Reserve a table ahead if you want a particular place after the concert, and keep the walk unhurried, because the concert is the fixed point of the evening and the rest of the night bends around it.
A town with a long list of visitors
Sorrento has drawn writers for centuries. Lord Byron, John Keats, Goethe, Charles Dickens, Richard Wagner, Henrik Ibsen and Friedrich Nietzsche all visited, and the poet Torquato Tasso was born here. The Soviet writer Maxim Gorky lived in the town in the 1920s. The Roman town of Surrentum lay on the same site, and ancient writers placed a temple of the Sirens on the peninsula, which is one explanation offered for the town's name.
The old town on foot
Sorrento sits on a peninsula with views of Naples, Vesuvius and Capri. Piazza Tasso is the central square, and the town is known for its small shops selling ceramics, lacework and marquetry, the local inlaid woodwork. The cathedral of Santi Filippo e Giacomo dates from the 14th century, with a front rebuilt in 1924, and there is a 14th-century monastery of San Francesco with a cloister garden. The cathedral grew over time in different styles, and its doors date from the 11th century and came from Constantinople.
Eating before or after
The ticket is for the concert, so decide early whether you will eat before the music or after it. The length of 80 to 90 minutes and the time your date starts at settle which suits you. An early meal leaves you relaxed in your seat; a late one lets you talk over the programme while it is fresh. Either way, book a table if you have a particular place in mind, and do not rely on the museum for food.
The garden walk
On the GetYourGuide ticket a walk in the museum garden and halls before the concert is part of the evening. The museum describes an avenue of plane trees and orange groves leading to a belvedere terrace over the Gulf of Naples. If you arrive with time to spare, this is the quiet way to start. Check the booking page for the meeting arrangements on your date rather than assuming how early the garden opens.
Lemons and limoncello
Sorrento is known for limoncello, a digestif made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water and sugar. Citrus, wine, nuts and olives are produced around the town. A small glass after a concert is a local habit, but the ticket does not include food or drink to count on, so order what you like at a restaurant or bar of your own choice.
If your date is full
Many dates are likely to sell out, so if your first-choice evening is gone, look at neighbouring dates in the booking calendar, which shows what is still on sale. The format is the same on every date: two halves with a break, arias first and the songs of Naples second. The programme and the line-up can change, so a different evening is a different version of the same kind of concert and not a lesser one. Cancelling on the GetYourGuide ticket is free up to 2 days before.
Getting home
Sorrento is the end of the line for the Circumvesuviana railway, so trains to Naples start here. If you are staying elsewhere on the peninsula or in Naples, check the last services with the operator before you book a late dinner. Ferries and hydrofoils link the town with Naples, Capri, Ischia, Positano and Amalfi, but their timetables depend on the season and weather, so confirm them on the day.
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