Trekking among the flowering lemons of Marina della Lobra

This is the time of lemons. On the Sorrento Peninsula, particularly in Massa Lubrense and Marina della Lobra, the fruit on the trees emanates an irresistible perfume, which can be picked up during a highly suggestive botanical and olfactory trek. Starting out from Sorrento, following itinerary number 23, which begins from Via Priora, a few hairpin bends after the descent to Marina Grande, one forks the winding ups and downs along Via Montecorbo, greeted by olive groves and above all by the first of many lemon and orange groves resembling metaphysical architectures thanks to the trellises made of chestnut poles to which the fruits are clinging. It is all an impressionist advance that Claude Monet would have loved for the beauty of such hanging gardens, a rhapsody of colours and scents that continues along Via Bagnulo. This leads to the Convent of San Francesco da Paola, set in a panoramic position overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the courtyard of which is the famous La Piana lemon grove where people come from all over the world to get married or simply to taste the limoncello, reputed to be the tastiest in Campania. You can choose to stay in the charming seaside Villa San Francesco amidst maritime memorabilia and persimmon trees, while for lunch you return to Sorrento to o' Parrucchiano, an authentic greenhouse that Enzo Manniello has transformed into a jewel of genuine, authentic dining. On the other hand, at the Grand Hotel La Favorita in Sorrento, those who love hand-painted majolica can ask for the rooms richest in floral and faunal scenes so lifelike they seem to float in an authentic forest, while the Zest restaurant puts chef Domenico Iavarone's delicious inventions on the plate.