8 nights in Campania itinerary
Jan 25th, 2013, 04:43 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
8 nights in Campania itinerary
Good Morning,
My husband and I are ending our 3 weeks in Italy in Campania. We will travel from Umbria to Sorrento on May 2. I was planning on taking the train. So far the plan is:
4 nights in Sorrento. No hotel selected yet. Budget around $150 per night. From here we plan to see the AC coast, Pompei and Herculeneum, Sorrento Vesuvius or maybe Paestrum.
2 nights on Capri. Considering Hotel La Tosca. We hope to do some hiking on the island.
2 nights in Naples. We fly home to the US very early on May 10 from Naples. Hotel budget again around $150. We plan on visiting the Archaeological Museum, eating pizza and checking out the Nativity scenes and anything else that catches our eye.
Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated. We do not plan on having a car for this week of the trip.
My husband and I are ending our 3 weeks in Italy in Campania. We will travel from Umbria to Sorrento on May 2. I was planning on taking the train. So far the plan is:
4 nights in Sorrento. No hotel selected yet. Budget around $150 per night. From here we plan to see the AC coast, Pompei and Herculeneum, Sorrento Vesuvius or maybe Paestrum.
2 nights on Capri. Considering Hotel La Tosca. We hope to do some hiking on the island.
2 nights in Naples. We fly home to the US very early on May 10 from Naples. Hotel budget again around $150. We plan on visiting the Archaeological Museum, eating pizza and checking out the Nativity scenes and anything else that catches our eye.
Any thoughts or suggestions will be appreciated. We do not plan on having a car for this week of the trip.
Jan 25th, 2013, 06:40 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,883
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Laurie, my husband and I were in Naples and the AC in October and had a lovely time.
We stayed 3 nights in Naples at this hotel www.hotelpiazzabellini and loved it. It is right in the historical centre a few minutes walk from the Archaelogical mueum. I just had a quick look and it fits your budget, get a terrace room if you do stay there. The staff will recommend some good pizza places.
We had a wonderful six hour tour of the historical centre with a guide called Marina de Martino: www.napolinostressitinerari.com she was very knowledgeable and passionate about her city and she did take us into what she considered the best Nativity scene store which was interesting but not really my thing. But I did read an article later in a magazine which verified that it was indeed one of the oldest and best shops for that.
In Sorrento we spent five nights at this hotel: www.mediterraneosorrento.com/ It might be just a touch over your budget, when we booked we took the pay in advance option to get a better deal and we had the classic sea view room. It was worth it, what a view over the Bay of Naples and Mt.Vesuvius in the background.
We loved the hotel and would stay there again. It is about a 20 minute walk into the centre of Sorrento or the hotel has a shuttle. Some people don't like this but we are big walkers and it was never a problem for us.
To get to Sorrento by train, you will train into Naples and then switch to the Circumvesuviana line.
Paestum was one of our favourite sites but we had a car and I am not sure how you would get there without one. Probably take the train from Sorrento to Salerno and then there must be a bus.
Have a great holiday!
We stayed 3 nights in Naples at this hotel www.hotelpiazzabellini and loved it. It is right in the historical centre a few minutes walk from the Archaelogical mueum. I just had a quick look and it fits your budget, get a terrace room if you do stay there. The staff will recommend some good pizza places.
We had a wonderful six hour tour of the historical centre with a guide called Marina de Martino: www.napolinostressitinerari.com she was very knowledgeable and passionate about her city and she did take us into what she considered the best Nativity scene store which was interesting but not really my thing. But I did read an article later in a magazine which verified that it was indeed one of the oldest and best shops for that.
In Sorrento we spent five nights at this hotel: www.mediterraneosorrento.com/ It might be just a touch over your budget, when we booked we took the pay in advance option to get a better deal and we had the classic sea view room. It was worth it, what a view over the Bay of Naples and Mt.Vesuvius in the background.
We loved the hotel and would stay there again. It is about a 20 minute walk into the centre of Sorrento or the hotel has a shuttle. Some people don't like this but we are big walkers and it was never a problem for us.
To get to Sorrento by train, you will train into Naples and then switch to the Circumvesuviana line.
Paestum was one of our favourite sites but we had a car and I am not sure how you would get there without one. Probably take the train from Sorrento to Salerno and then there must be a bus.
Have a great holiday!
Jan 25th, 2013, 08:43 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you so much Raincitygirl. I can't wait to investigate your suggestions. The tour in Naples sounds great because we are only there a short time. Did you use your car much while in Sorrento?
Jan 25th, 2013, 09:33 AM
#4
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,883
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Laurie, I should clarify that we also had five nights in Minori right on the Amalfi coast and this is where the car really came in handy. We went to Paestum from Minori, also to Ravello and Amalfi a couple of times. We took the ferry to Positano from Amalfi.
Sorrento was at the end of our trip and we had thought we would use the car to go to Pompeii but we ended up taking the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii from Sorrento, it was very easy.
If you do that I will just say that the train gets very crowded and just be very careful of your wallet, handbag etc.
So no, we ended up parking the car at the hotel and not using it at all in Sorrento. We took the ferry to Capri from Sorrento. One day we thought about driving out into the hills to look around but nixed it in favour of lazing by the pool.
And yes, that was the very reason we took the tour in Naples, to maximize what we saw and wow, we saw a lot with Marina. After she finished touring us around the historical centre she took us to her car and drove us up into some of the nicer neighbourhoods so we could see the views and the contrasts to the grittier inner city. She said she was taking us from the hell to the heaven. lol.
Sorrento was at the end of our trip and we had thought we would use the car to go to Pompeii but we ended up taking the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii from Sorrento, it was very easy.
If you do that I will just say that the train gets very crowded and just be very careful of your wallet, handbag etc.
So no, we ended up parking the car at the hotel and not using it at all in Sorrento. We took the ferry to Capri from Sorrento. One day we thought about driving out into the hills to look around but nixed it in favour of lazing by the pool.
And yes, that was the very reason we took the tour in Naples, to maximize what we saw and wow, we saw a lot with Marina. After she finished touring us around the historical centre she took us to her car and drove us up into some of the nicer neighbourhoods so we could see the views and the contrasts to the grittier inner city. She said she was taking us from the hell to the heaven. lol.
Jan 25th, 2013, 02:46 PM
#5
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,117
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
To get to magnificent Paestum, I believe you need to get to Salerno (worth a few hours in its own right IMHO), which you can do by boat or rail. While in Paestum, do consider making time for the museum, which holds some very unusual pieces.
