Naples, Pompei and Amalfi Coast

Italy’s third-largest city Naples’ centro storico (historic centre) is a Unesco World Heritage Site, its archaeological treasures are among the world’s most impressive, and its swag of vainglorious palaces, castles and churches too.

 The food is excellent and PIZZA was born here. Blessed with rich volcanic soils and near the sea, along the centuries of culinary know-how, the Naples region is one of Italy’s epicurean heavyweights, serving up the country’s best pizza, pasta and coffee, and many of its most celebrated seafood dishes, street snacks and sweet treats.

Modern-day Pompeii (Pompei in Italian) may feel like a nondescript satellite of Naples, but it’s here that you’ll find Europe’s most compelling archaeological site: the ruins of Pompeii. Sprawling and haunting, the site is a stark reminder of the malign forces that lie deep inside Vesuvius. Deemed by Unesco to be an outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape, the Amalfi Coast is a beguiling combination of great beauty and gripping drama: coastal mountains plunge into the sea in a stunning vertical scene of precipitous crags, picturesque towns and lush forests. Among the glittering string of coastal gems, legendary Positano and Amalfi sparkle the brightest, while mountaintop Ravello has the glossy fame of its grandiose villas and Wagnerian connection. Amalfi Coast gateway Sorrento is a handsome and venerable cliff-top resort that has miraculously survived the onslaught of package tourism.

From Rome – by car or mini-van – to Naples or toward the Vesuvio Vulcan areas, with a visit to the ancient Roman towns Pompei and Ercolano with a stop for the famous original style pizza in Naples.

Tour of the Amalfi coast with Positano and Sorrento villages and an overview in Ravello, with lunch in a local restaurant.