Italy: Naples & Surrounding

travel time: May 2025

Pompeii

Early in the morning, we began our trip to the historical site of Pompeii. With our rental car, we drove to the site and quickly found a secured parking lot near the entrance, which cost 15€ for the whole day. Getting into the park was smooth since we already bought our tickets online, so we could just scan the e-tickets and enter.

Inside the historical site of Pompeii, there is so much to see. You can spend several hours exploring the fascinating buildings, mosaic floors, and frescos that have been uncovered. We covered nearly every part of the historical site and spent seven hours wandering around the ruins, with a short lunch break in between.

The most memorable things were the brothel, with its well-preserved wall paintings, the main square – the forum, which offers a fantastic view of Mount Vesuvio - and the Grand Theatre. The Amphitheatre is impressive to look at from the outside, but a bit disappointing on the inside. Unfortunately, you can only stay on the ground floor in the middle and look up at the stands. Nevertheless, it is worth a visit, as it is the oldest of its kind known from Roman times. Besides the houses of the upper class, you also find bakeries, laundries and baths within the historical site.

City of Naples

The city of Naples was our destination for the next day. Right after breakfast, we took the train into the city. The train tickets were inexpensive, and in the city, we didn’t have the hassle of finding a parking spot or spending a lot of money on a parking garage.

We started our city tour at the Piazza del Plebiscito, the largest square in Naples, surrounded by four beautiful buildings. Just a few minutes away, you will find the Galleria Umberto I – a place you don’t necessarily visit for shopping, but rather to admire the stunning architecture and its amazing glass roof. After that, we stopped by the Castel Nuovo, which we only viewed from the outside.

In the Quartieri Spagnoli, we simply wandered through the streets, soaking in the vibrant atmosphere of the city - the narrow streets with mopeds zipping by and the locals going after their everyday life. It’s a great place to stop for lunch, as there are many good restaurants throughout the neighbourhood.

With the funicular, we overcame the hill up to Castel Sant'Elmo to get an amazing view over the city of Naples. We had fantastic weather that day, so we could see quite far in every direction from the top. From there, you can also able spot the famous Spaccanapoli, which divides the old town into two parts with a straight streets cutting through the city. Walking back down into town took us about 20 minutes but you can also conveniently take the funicular back into town.

Next on our plan were some churches: the Basilica di San Domenico Maggiore, the Church Purgatorio ad Arco and the San Lorenzo Maggiore. Finally, we visited the Duomo di Napoli, which is also known as the Cattedrale di San Gennaro or the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta. The Duomo combines many architectural styles, from 14th-century Gothic to 19th-century Neo-Gothic.

We ended our day in Naples with a pizza cooking class at Gusto Marigliano. After arriving there at 6 pm we started with a drink and then learned the correct steps to prepare the perfect dough for a Neapolitan pizza. Since the dough needs to rest for 6-8 hours, we got another batch from the kitchen and had the chance to prepare our own traditional Neapolitan Pizza Margherita. We had a lot of fun that evening, learned many little tricks for making the perfect pizza and would definitely recommend this experience to anyone who loves pizza. Additionally, we were treated with traditional Neapolitan starters and desert from the kitchen chef.

Mount Vesuvius & Ercolano

On the day of our hike up Mount Vesuvius, we unfortunately weren’t very lucky with the weather - it was quite foggy. Nevertheless, we had our tickets and so we began our journey. First, we drove up a long, winding road to reach the official parking lot.

From there, we took the shuttle bus to the starting point, where we met someone from the organization we had bought our tickets from. Exactly at 10:15 am, when our tickets became valid, we entered the hiking path and began our ascent to the crater.

After roughly 20 minutes, we reached the top and slowly started walking around half of the crater. We took it easy, stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery. The clouds were constantly shifting, and we were always hoping they would clear up for some better views. Unfortunately, the clouds never really disappeared that day. But despite the weather, we had a great time on Mount Vesuvius and enjoyed our visit to the Gran Cono.

In the afternoon, we visited the new city of Ercolano, as we had heard it has the biggest vintage market in town. Unfortunately, we didn’t check the opening hours, and when we arrived shortly after lunchtime, everything was, of course, closed for the midday break. So we stopped in a café for a quick snack and to relax before our next stop.

Near Mount Vesuvius, there’s another lesser-known ancient city that has been excavated - also called Ercolano (Herculaneum). It’s located right next to the new town and was discovered 15 meters underground. Although it is about six times smaller than Pompeii, it is no less fascinating. Here, you will find beautiful mosaic floors and remarkably well-preserved wall paintings. In Ercolano, you can even see charred wood from ancient times, preserved beneath layers of lava and ash.

Amalfi Coast

For our last day, we planned a trip to the Amalfi Coast. It’s about an hour’s drive from Naples, and with our rental car, it was easy to reach. Unfortunately, we already encountered a lot of traffic on the way to the coast in the morning. We didn’t have an exact plan for the day, but we knew we wanted to start in Positano and drive along the coast, stopping whenever we admired the views or stumbled upon charming small towns.

The first town we visited was Amalfi, because we thought it was a must-see. There are many large parking lots at the harbor - not cheap, but you pay by the hour. After walking into town, we were quickly overwhelmed by the crowds. There’s one main street in the old town, packed with restaurants, shops, and people. However, if you wander off into the side streets, the crowds suddenly vanish and the town reveals its charm.

We didn’t stay long in Amalfi and drove on to Maiori, where we found no crowds and enjoyed a drink at the beach. The winding road continued, and we made another stop in Cetara. This gorgeous old fishing village was the perfect end to our day on the Amalfi Coast. We enjoyed wandering through the old town, browsing the small shops, and relaxing with a coffee in peace.

The road itself is generally good for driving, and only around Amalfi was it truly crowded. Be aware that Italians love to park on the roadside, which can make the road even narrower. Don’t let yourself get stressed while driving there, but also make sure you’re not blocking traffic.