"Holidays to the Neapolitan Riviera combine the best bits of a city break with the main draws of a beach vacation."
The Neapolitan Riviera is one of Italy’s most popular holiday destinations. And it’s easy to see why everyone wants a piece of the area’s pie. Its coastline curves around the sun-soaked bays of Sorrento and Naples on Italy’s southwest coast. Inland, meanwhile, you’ll find ancient ruins like Pompeii and natural wonders like Mount Vesuvius.
Cosmopolitan cities and rustic towns dot the coastline. The leader of the pack is Sorrento, with its designer boutiques and pavement cafés. Swing round the peninsula and you come to the hamlet of Massa Lubrense. Carry on some more and the Amalfi Coast comes into view. Here, towns like Ravello and Positano spill down the cliffsides in showers of pastel houses.
This region also calls the island of Ischia its own. This place is the pamper capital of Italy. Its R&R credentials begin with its beaches. Maronti Beach on the south coast, for example, unravels for 3 kilometres. Then you’ve got the island’s spa scene to consider – you’ll find more than 70 thermal springs and mud baths over here.
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Europe
Neapolitan Riviera
Resorts in Neapolitan Riviera include Ischia, Massa Lubrense, Sant Agnello and Sorrento.
Looking for holidays in Italy? Our Italy holiday destinations include Amalfi Coast, Neapolitan Riviera, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscan Riviera, Tuscany and Venetian Riviera.
If you come to this lemon-scented paradise expecting long ribbons of golden sand you’re setting yourself up for something of a fall. Yes, the Neapolitan Riviera has beaches. But they’re more little pockets of sand tucked between the cliffs than big sprawling beaches more akin to the Spanish Costas. However, if you do fancy catching some rays Sorrento is home to two tiny sandy strips and a clutch of hotel bathing platforms. For the ultimate in beach-lounging, you’ll have to leave the mainland behind you. Just a short ride across the Bay of Naples by hydrofoil, the island of Ischia is ringed with Bounty-like shores. From the beautiful Sant'Angelo Cove to the secluded San Montano Bay, this is one part of the Neapolitan Riviera where spectacular slivers of gold dust sands are in no short supply. Oh, and it just happens to be where they shot a large portion of the Talented Mister Ripley. Just gorgeous.
Along with food, Italy’s synonymous with clothes. And not any just any old clothes, we’re talking designer togs that’ll leave you weak at the knees. Pack the plastic and prepare to let your jaw hit the floor when Capri unleashes its shops on you. Designer labels and chic boutiques rule the streets, with narrow alleyways crammed with labels like Gucci, Versace and Dolce & Gabbana. Back on the mainland, Sorrento’s got plenty to tempt you, too. Its main thoroughfare, the Corso Italia, brims with boutiques. There are high heels that stretch from here until next Christmas. Baby-soft pashminas that make cashmere feel like cardboard. And oversized sunglasses, the likes of which would make Jackie O jealous. Elsewhere, Naples is a fashionista’s dream-come-true. Make a beeline for the city’s main shopping haunt, the Via Toledo. The price tags rise as you head down this pedestrianised street towards the chi-chi stores of Via Chiaia and Piazza dei Martiri. But beneath the glam veneer you’ll find the Neapolitan Riviera’s rustic side. Naples reveals its grittier face at the Forcella open-air market and the Porta Nolana fish market. Back in Sorrento, the old quarter overflows with little artisan shops selling inlaid wood and bottles of limoncello. Plus there’s a big market at the top of town on Tuesdays. Handmade jewellery is easy to come by, too, as is leather – expect to see rack after rack of handmade leather shoes and tables stacked with purses, wallets, belts and bags. Being Italy, fine wine and fresh pasta line up to frighten your waistline wherever you go, and lemons are literally everywhere. In soaps, in candles, on tea-towels, magnets – you name it, there’ll be a lemon in there somewhere.