The gnocchi alla sorrentina rustled up at this little spot is so good, you very well may not want it to come to an end. Creamy and cooked in a rich tomato sauce, this Campania special is something else. Top it all off with some live music in the background: if this isn't the perfect Italian-esque evening we're not sure what is. 

Since the 1950s, the Fauno has been one of Sorrento’s main points of aggregation – an obligatory crossroads in any social itinerary. Planted squarely on Piazza Tasso it does everything from breakfast pastries to aperitivo and late-night cocktails, with tables sprawling across the square, perfectly positioned for people-watching. The food – linguine alle vongole, big pizzas – is better than the location might suggest.

This pretty spot was founded in 1868 by Antonino Ercolano who learnt to cook in the archbishop’s palace kitchen and so earnt the nickname o’parrucchiano, or parish priest in Neapolitan dialect. Sorrento’s oldest restaurant was the first in Campania to open inside a lemon grove, and the setting remains magical: tables tucked into green alcoves beneath a canopy of fruit-laden branches, thousands of tiny lights overhead.

Down in Sorrento’s ancient fishing quarter, Marina Grande, this laid-back beach club and restaurant sits on a platform jutting straight over the water. Sunloungers run at around €20 each, with Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples as the backdrop. Order the Caprese for lunch and then stay until sunset, when the restaurant clicks into gear with bowls of sautéed clams.