OverIt

We live in Boston and would like to take a short trip (5 - 7 days) to Naples in April 2019. Fares are so expensive! Right now they are $1000-1200 per person unless we take Turkish Air, which is inconvenient. It's much cheaper ($600-700) to fly to Rome but we'd prefer to fly in to Naples if possible. Any chance that the fares drop closer to April? We were hoping to connect through Germany or France to avoid a long trip (for a short stay it's important to miminize time in airports, buses, and trains).

Another thing that could be fun is taking a train or ferry to Naples from somewhere else. But where else? We did Rome last year.

thursdaysd

Unless you want to go to Sicily or Sardinia, for which you don't have time and which would have the same problem you can forget ferries (see https://www.directferries.com/ )

There's no reason you have to stay in Rome if that is the cheapest flight. Take a train south as soon as you arrive.

panecott

>>> Take a train south as soon as you arrive. >>>

Exactly.

greg

>>> We were hoping to connect through Germany or France to avoid a long trip (for a short stay it's important to miminize time in airports, buses, and trains).
I am not sure how you are computing the trip time. At google flight, I do see a few flights through FRA or CDG to NAP but with unrealistic layover time. If you look at layover >> 1 hr, it seems to take about 12 hrs to Nap. Compare this to, for example, Alitalia (if one can set aside the on-time performance of this carrier which is a different question) non-stop to FCO. It is about 8 hours. The train from FCO to Napoli Centrale is about 2 hours. Leaving about 2 hours connection time at FCO, then for the outbound leg, you are looking at similar travel time.

>>> Another thing that could be fun is taking a train or ferry to Naples from somewhere else. But where else? We did Rome last year.
I am not understanding this reasoning. For inbound, via FRA or CDG is ok but not via FCO because you visited Rome last year? For return leg, you should come back to Rome the day before, but you can do that as late as around 8:30pm Napoli Centrale departure to Rome. If you want to have a sit-down last dinner in Italy, you can arrive in Rome earlier. So the difference between flights to FCO and NAP is probably just one item - where you have your last nice sit-down meal in Italy unless you have a must do item on your last night in Napoli.

janisj

>>Any chance that the fares drop closer to April? <<

Absolutely no way to tell.

>>We were hoping to connect through Germany or France to avoid a long trip (for a short stay it's important to miminize time in airports, buses, and trains). <<

Maybe I'm missing something -- I can't see any way flying in to say Paris or Frankfurt would be faster or more convenient than flying in to Rome??

StCirq

If money is an issue and a very short trip is your plan, why don't you focus on someplace that is affordable for such a short trip? It seems dumb and unwieldy to place your thumb on a place on the map and then try to make it all work out to your specifications.

starrs

FWIW, we hated Naples. Loved every place else in Italy, but hated Naples. Flew there from Venice and took the ferry over to Capri and then over to Sorrento. Took a train back from Naples to Rome and then flew home.

Check other cities to see what the fares are and then fly via a lower cost airline or take the train to Naples or wherever.

neckervd

A train ride from Rome Fiumicino airport to Naples takes just 2 hrs. Trains about every 20 min.
I like Naples very well. There is a lot to see in the town and even more in the surroundings (Pompei, Sorrento, Capri, Ischia, Vesuvio, Positano, Amalfi, Paestum, Castellabate, Caserta.............)

HappyTrvlr

starrs

HappyT, I don't know why. I love seeing the Veiled Christ. Other than that, just really didn't like Naples. I wouldn't have spoken up but they were planning to spend so many days there!

My travel friend (also a Fodorite) didn't like it either. We didn't say anytning until we were leaving. Neither of us were fans nor want to go back.

J62

When we travel to Europe we fly out of BOS on Lufthansa via Munich or Frankfurt and can get to essentially any place in Europe by noon by getting on the early departure that leaves around 5pm. (there are 2 a day to each LH hub). So while total travel time via FCO might be about the same you should also look at what time you'd arrive. Connecting in MUC or FRA is effortless, and we never touch our bags until the destination airport.

This past year we flew into FLR, and prices for May travel hit a low around late January and stayed in the ~$900 RT range for about 2 months.

Easter 2020 is April 12th so if you're trying to fly around that week there will be higher demand & hence higher price than a few weeks later when no kids are out of school.

OverIt

Thanks everyone. We are going the week after Easter. Want to go for several reasons, including watching Hirving Lozano at Napoli, our kids study Italian in school, and my husband is intrigued after watching La Camorra on Netflix. Flying to Rome means Norwegian, which we did last year, and I don't need the drama of worrying about a cancelled flight. We are hoping to get a good Lufthansa fare but they are really $$$ right now. Taking the train from Rome may be a hassle for kids, and my brother in law flew in to Naples last year with no problems. Spent some time at the bookstore with some travel guides and think Naples and the surrounding are sounds perfect for us. Maybe we will even do Turkish Airlines. Maybe we could fly to London and do a budget flight from there.

kja

IMO, Naples is an absolute delight! I'd love a week there, not counting any of the wonders outside the city itself. Good luck finding a flight that works for you.

J62

I'm seeing BOS to NAP for $550 round trip on lufthansa.com. Depart 4/13, return 4/20 so perhaps you should play around with dates a bit.

starrs

I would check into that. A friend just had a nightmare experience with Norwegian.

neckervd

Norwegian has actually all kinds of problems.
But I don't understand why kids shouldn't enjoy a short train ride.
In any case, it's much easier to ride by train than by bus.

kja

What an interesting comment! I see pros and cons for at least their general attributes (though any specific train or bus might be different):

• Train: You can move around and, if available, visit a cafe car, but you generally must heft your suitcase up a few steps into the car, not to mention the possibility of having to manage staircases at the train station. If traveling with others, time for managing to get the group and it's luggage off can be frustratingly short.
• Bus: No stairs, as a rule (road-level entry, even at stations) and under-carriage luggage storage, but once on board, you generally must stay in your seat. IME, drivers make sure you have time to board and get off.

Traveler_Nick

FCO Naples the bus has the advantage of multiple direct trips. Saving you the connection at Termini.

neckervd

" any specific train or bus might be different)"
That's the key sentence.
In most Swiss railway stations and in most bigger railway stations in other Western Europen countries, there are ramps or escalators (or both) to the platforms. There is no need for such things in dead end stations like Roma Termini or Napoli Centrale.
There ar train carriages with no steps (like IC trains in Switzerland) and there are others where you have to climb up to 3 steps (French TGV for example).
It' just the same with buses. Buses with no steps are a big exception. Some citybuses are low floor buses because there must be no space fol luggage below the cabin.
In train wagons, You may put your (normal sized) luggage between the seats or over the seats whereas in buses you have to do some gymnastics in order to enter it in the luggage storage room below the cabin and you will have no guarantee that your luggage will still be there after many stops where everybody can enter and take out the luggage he likes.
Some European bus terminals are well organized, but others are just chaotic. It's not unusual that you have to ask other people at which place your bus will stop.
But the main advantage of the train is that people can move, go to the toilet or to the restaurant or just walk a bit around (many kids like that).

kja

@ neckervd: Thanks for explaining your reasoning!