Naples?
 

Hello Hello! I'm planning a last minute trip to Italy and Greece with my husband. We're going to fly into Rome, stay a couple days then do Pompeii for a day. My question is: should we take the train into Naples for a couple days or just skip Naples and head over to Greece? We have 10 full days (not including travel) and I do not want to be stretched too thin. What do ya'll think?

Thank you!

Are you asking whether to spend a few days in Naples rather than Rome, or in addition to Rome (which I assume would mean fewer days in Greece)? Have you been to Rome before?

It would help to know what your plans are for the rest of the trip.

Frankly I think Rome, Pompeii and Greece (what parts?) is already a lot to stuff into 10 days - esp given the time needed to get to and between the Greek islands and the need to get back to Athens the day before your flight home.

I agree that this is a very busy itinerary.

If you really want to do it, I'd suggest flying into Athens first.

Connect straight through if you can to an island ( Santorini, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, are some of the most popular depending on your interests).

Spend five days on ONE island to decompress and enjoy.

Fly back to Athens, spend two days sightseeing.

Fly to Rome for three days with possible day trip to Pompeii.

Although please keep in mind that Pompeii is a 2.5-3 hour trip EACH WAY from Rome, depending on time of day and traffic.

Jean: I am asking if Naples would be worth going to in addition to Rome? I have been to Rome before but my husband has not. He has always wanted to go and I have NO problem going back...I loved it! nytraveler: my plan is to go do Rome for a couple days then go to Pompeii...we would either do it as a day trip and head back to Rome for a day then fly out to Santorini or train it to Naples for a couple days then fly out to Santorini. We'd stay there for 3 full days then finish in Athens for 2 days Im thinking we'll just stick to Rome and Pompeii in Italy and spend the majority of our time in Santorini and Athens. Thoughts, input?

If you skip Naples, it would be the biggest mistake you will make. Naples is in a class by itself. There are things to see and do there which are fantastic.

I loved Naples, but your itinerary is so tight already that only you can decide whether it would be worthwhile to try to fit it in. If you are going to Pompeii no matter what, then you might want at least a few hours at the magnificent archeological museum in Naples.

You might want to take a look at my trip report dealing with Rome, Naples, etc.; click on my name to find it.

you could easily spend your entire trip in Rome, Naples and places in between without running out of things to do.

Athens isn't too much of a stretch but if you want to see an island as well, you'll have very little time left for Italy. AND you lose at least half a day when you fly to Athens, probably more especially if you go to an island.

I'm thinking the Naples-Santorini flight must be at least 3 hours. That's the loss of a big chunk of time in an already fairly short trip.

I assume you'd be flying home from Athens. Would you have to spend the last night there? If so, this trip would involve too many hotel changes in 10 days for me.

For these two reasons, I'd add more days to this trip or skip Greece.

Just for reasons of history, Napoli + Greece is wonderful, because Napoli was a colony of Greece (the name is a Latinization of the Greek word "neapolis", or "new city"). If anything, I would skip Rome for this trip, especially if your husband's main interest in not the Vatican.

There are very few flights from Naples to Santorini. I think it's one discount airline plus Alitalia (?) and possibly not every day. Flight time is just under two hours.

From Rome, you have more options on Iberia, easyjet, Vueling, or Aegean with a connection through Athens. Flight time is about 2.15.