What to expect on your G Adventures Local Living Sorrento tour: Lemons, locals, and Limoncello
G Adventures Local Living tours offer up a dream travel experience: the chance to move in and live like a local for a week in rustic, rural Italy. Here’s exactly what to expect on your Local Living Sorrento Tour.
We modern humans tend to live pretty chaotic and stressful lives, and for many travellers, that frantic pace only gets worse when they switch on the out of office and head to the airport for a ‘holiday’.
From squeezing in as many destinations as possible in a few short weeks to rushing from one overcrowded tourist attraction to the next (looking at you, Rome and Paris!), the intense travel burnout can be real.
But what if you discovered that travel could be different?
What if your holiday looked less like manic sightseeing, and more like enjoying la dolce vita in a farmhouse on the Amalfi coast, for real?!
We recently traded the manic travel life for a slower pace; a week spent living on the organic lemon farm of the Nunziata family in Sorrento with our friends at G Adventures on their Local Living Sorrento tour (which you can book yourself, here! We woke to a warm sea breeze through our window from the Bay of Naples outside, enjoyed long lazy feasts cooked straight from the veggie patch, sipped Limoncello on the sun-drenched Terrazza, and still managed to take a few leisurely day trips to Capri, Pompeii, and some pretty epic beaches (use this itinerary to explore more of beautiful southern Italy).
It was magic.
What’s more, travelling slowly like this brought us back to the roots of why we love this travel thing, to begin with. It allowed us to get off the well-beaten tourist trail, explore a new side of Italian culture in a gentle, respectful way, and minimise our own impact on the place we were visiting. Win-win!
Convinced yet? Here's everything you need to know for your own Local Living adventure in Italy.
WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR G ADVENTURES LOCAL LIVING SORRENTO TOUR
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WHY YOU SHOULD DO A G ADVENTURES LOCAL LIVING SORRENTO TOUR
G Adventures run Local Living trips across the world; from Italian farm stays and Croatian cottages to Mongolian gers and rustic Amazonian bungalows.
They're designed to be unpack-your-suitcase-once adventures, and operate with the same small-group, sustainable and socially responsible mindset as their standard tours.
Local living trips are slow travel personified; a chance to shift down a gear and actually take the time to see and enjoy your surroundings in a foreign destination.
Whether it’s sharing a meal with your host family, spending the day at a secret beach only locals know about, or jumping on a local bus to get around, this is travel pared back to the roots of why we all do it in the first place; leaving the tourist bubble and going all-in on a more authentic, immersive way of experiencing a destination.
The bonus is that while this can be a humbling and enriching experience for travellers, it also has benefits for the local communities and places you visit too:
Reducing your footprint | Staying put means less transport emissions from transport, and less strain on local resources. (Check out our guide to reducing your carbon footprint and offsetting your travel here
Minimising overtourism | Getting away from the ‘must sees’ and the crowds that they draw, and getting into other parts of the country eases the strain massively
Supporting local communities | When you stay, shop, and travel local, you support and spread wealth amongst communities rather than big multinational companies.
Encouraging traditions to stay alive | Whether it's lemon farming in the Amalfi Coast, living the nomadic life in Mongolia, or traditional medicine in the jungles of Ecuador, discovering the culture of a local community helps to keep its traditions alive.
READ | For more responsible travel tips, we also have this guide to reducing your plastic consumption on your travels, as well as this guide to the eco-friendly packing essentials we have with us on every single trip.
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WHAT’S AN AGRITURISMO, ANYWAY?!
The Italian agriturismo is, as the name might suggest, what happens when agriculture (agricoltura) and tourism (turismo) join forces.
From the 1950s - 1970s, Italy experienced a decline in the traditional small-scale farming its rural areas are known for, as the industry became less profitable and many families moved to larger cities or abroad to make their fortunes.
Recognising the need to protect their agricultural traditions and culture (including all that incredible cheese and wine!), the farmers who remained chose to diversify their income, opening their homes and farms to visitors who could stay and learn about the culture of the region.
Today, agriturismi are a thriving part of the tourism industry in Italy, and have also played a huge role in the restoration of plenty of abandoned rural estates too.
They’re still very much working farms (in fact they have to be in order to legally qualify as an 'agriturismo’) that welcome guests for a meal, an evening, or a longer stay (like our Sorrento visit) - and in our view, they’re the best way to get straight to the heart of rural Italy!
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WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR G ADVENTURES LOCAL LIVING EXPERIENCE IN SORRENTO
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YOU GET TO STAY ON A REAL ITALIAN LEMON FARM
We know we’re not the only ones who have dreamt of running away to a small rustic village in the Italian countryside and embracing the slower life — and the Local Living tour is a chance to do just that.
For the whole week, you’ll stay on an authentic, working, organic lemon farm that has been in host Luigi’s family for over four generations. This isn’t just any farm either; a stone farmhouse (parts dating back to the 12th century) overlooking the Bay of Naples and imposing Mt Vesuvius with perfumed lemon groves laden with fruit, Il Giardino di Vigliano really is the rustic rural Italy of your daydreams.
You'll rise with the scent of lemons in the warm morning sun, learn to make Limoncello by day, and head to bed with tummies full of delicious homegrown food washed down with Limoncello. The best part? You only have to unpack once on the trip, as you’ll stay in the same room for the whole week, becoming part of both farm and family life here on the property.
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THE ACCOMMODATION IS COMFORTABLE AND VARIED
While the farmhouse and surrounding groves might have that rustic Italian feel to them, there’s absolutely nothing rustic about the level of comfort on this tour.
All the guest accommodation here is converted from old farmhouse rooms and buildings, each uniquely decorated and a lovely little hideaway to come back to after a day's exploring.
Our room, aptly named the Vesuvius room, had beautiful panoramic views over the Bay of Naples and, surprise, Mt Vesuvius.
There’s also the gorgeous terracotta terrace where you can relax and watch the sunset (with wine glass in hand!), and plenty of spaces to chill out around the property with some friends or a good book.
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YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT LIFE ON AN ORGANIC ITALIAN LEMON FARM
The peaceful lemon groves of Il Giardino di Vigliano aren’t just for show; Luigi and his family are farmers first, hospitality operators second. They still use traditional methods from the 17th century, and around 70% of the lemons grown on their property are sold to the famous Sorrento Limoncello industry. Cultivating their crop, as Luigi says, is “passion, business, and culture, all in one".
Their job is all-consuming, and each tree requires a level of intuition and care we had no idea about. In fact, on our tour of the groves on morning, we get the sense that it's a little like having hundreds of children, all with distinct personalities and needs.
“Here, the lemon lives wholly thanks to the very hard job of the farmers. Put a lemon in the land and it simply won’t survive without its farmer,” says Luigi.
What’s more though, on your week of lemon farm life, you’ll learn one very important life lesson: if life gives you lemons, you make Limoncello. And lemon marmalade. And lemon cheese. And lemon olive oil. You put it on pizzas, you add it to desserts, you cook the flesh into scrumptious main meals…
Basically, you'll just never look at the humble lemon the same way again!
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YOU’LL BECOME PART OF A LOCAL FAMILY
Living in someone's home for a week, especially one that's centuries old, gifts you the opportunity to dive deep into another culture and learn so much more than a hotel or hostel could ever teach you.
Not only did the Nunziata family welcome us into their homes, but they were always there to greet us with a huge smile, some deliciously authentic home-cooked fare, to share a laugh or some truly local tips for sightseeing in the area.
What’s more, Anna, our G Adventures CEO (Chief Experience Officer/leader) had lived her entire life in the area around Naples and was a wealth on what to do and what not to do in Italy.
Her tip? Pizza topped with pineapple is not pizza - no matter how passionately you may argue the point!
Our homestay gave us a glimpse into the everyday lives, passions, family dynamics and relationships, and culture values of the people the who call the Amalfi region home.
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YOU’LL SHARE YOUR TIME WITH LIKE-MINDED LEGENDS
Our group was nothing if not diverse, ranging in ages from early twenties to grey nomads; travellers from all over the globe, and with different tastes, perspectives, and interests.
Yet despite those differences, this was one of our favourite group travel experiences ever.
Why? Because we were all united by a desire to immerse ourselves more deeply in a place and have a truly authentic travel experience.
Of course this may be a generalisation, but we tend to think that the people who choose Local Living tours are those who are searching for authentic, raw travel experiences, who aren’t afraid of a little adventure, and who are just generally up for everything. Our tour seemed to be the living proof of this belief!
Our days were spent happily exploring the surrounds together, while many an evening was spent swapping stories around the dinner table, enjoying each other’s company, or, on a couple of occasions, laughing as we tripped over our feet during an impromptu line dancing class — one of our group was a line dancing teacher back home, and his passion convinced us all to give it a go!
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THE PACE IS SUPER DIFFERENT TO A NORMAL TOUR
We prefer to take our trips a little slower these days. Less sights, less travel, more cultural experience is what we crave, and our Local Living tour was the perfect remedy.
Because you’re in a homestay setting with long travel days taken out of the equation, you have the ability to take things at a much slower pace.
One day we hiked the Path of the Gods into Positano before relaxing on the beach for the afternoon. Another, we explored Sorrento at our own pace before heading back to the farm's terracotta terrace to make wood-fired pizzas with the family.
Evenings were leisurely as we didn't need to worry about packing our bags or another early travel day start, and the whole week just felt like the perfect mix of exploring and relaxing.
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YOU’LL ALSO GET TIME TO EXPLORE THE AMALFI, SORRENTO, AND SURROUNDS
The pace may be more relaxed, but that definitely doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to do!
In fact, during our week long stay in Sorrento, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the ancient city of Pompeii, a hike along the insanely beautiful Path of the Gods, and parts of the Amalfi coast (check out this Amalfi Coast itinerary if you’re keen to explore more of the area!), an Aperol Spritz in Positano and another in Sorrento, a day trip (by fancy wood-panelled boat!) to Capri, and plenty more.
You’ll also have free days to go exploring, and your guide and host family will have plenty of tips for where to go.
If you’re in the mood for a beach day, we’d totally recommend heading over to Queen Giovanna’s Baths (where 13th century Queen Giovanna was said to entertain her young lovers in the private pools) or further along the same stretch of beach to Lido La Solara (Massa Lubrense) and hiring a beach umbrella for the day - the Aperol Spritz there is worth your time too!!
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THE FOOD ON THE LOCAL LIVING SORRENTO TOUR IS EXCEPTIONAL
In Italy, the mozzarella is fresh, the wine is scrumptious, and everything is served with lashings of love — which is exactly why meal times at Il Giardino di Vigliano were our favourite time of day!
Most meals are at the farmhouse and are a true farm to table experience; fresh produce from the garden and grove, prepared with love and care by the Nunziata family (shoutout to mama Ida for her kitchen wizardry!), and served as simple rustic meals that were a real taste of rural Italy.
Breakfasts were a great occasion to gather with our group and chat about the day’s plans, while dinner was always brilliant food and good laughs shared (with a lovely bottle of wine!) at the long table on the terrace.
There’s plenty of good food on offer for vegetarians (like us) too; just let them know ahead of time and get ready for some of the best feasts of your life.
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IS A LOCAL LIVING TOUR RIGHT FOR YOU?
YES! If you’ve ever dreamed of renting a rustic Italian villa but thought you couldn't afford to, had an urge to get off the well-beaten tourist trail and interact more meaningfully with your destination, or you’re simply an inquisitive traveller or culture vulture who enjoys slower travel and immersive travel; this is the tour for you.
To be honest, given the great mix of activities on offer (hikes, day trips, cultural activities, etc!), we don’t think there’s anyone who wouldn’t love a Local Living tour. Except, perhaps, those in search of epic nightlife and a wild party scene. That, my friends, is definitely not found here!
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G ADVENTURES LOCAL LIVING SORRENTO | THE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
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WHAT DOES A LOCAL LIVING TOUR IN SORRENTO COST?
Depending on the time of year and room type (view or no view!) you choose, a Local Living Sorrento tour will set you back between €1100 - €1399 / $1215 - $1545 USD.
This includes:
1 night accommodation in Naples
5 nights accommodation at Il Giardino di Vigliano, Massa Lubrense, Sorrento.
Breakfast and dinner each day (and one lunch) at Il Giardino di Vigliano
SO. MANY. ACTIVITIES: a Migrant-led tour in Naples, guided tour of Pompeii, ‘Walk of the Gods’ hike, Positano visit, Island of Capri visit (by beautiful wood-panelled boat), ferry from Positano, and walks in both Naples + Sorrento
All transport (except on your free day)
A Limoncello-making lesson
A woodfired pizza-making lesson
What’s not included:
Your flights to and from Naples (although these can be added as a package when speaking to the G sales team)
Transfers to and from the airport (again, just ask the sales team if you’d like these added)
Extra drinks, like wine or soft drinks with dinner
Optional activities, scooter rental, etc.
BOOK | Book your G Adventures Local Living Sorrento trip here
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PLANNING A TRIP TO ITALY SOON?
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We were hosted by G Adventures on their Local Living Sorrento Tour. A big thank you to the team for making our stay memorable.
As always, all views are our own.
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