Depending how you organize your days, you might want to purchase the 3 day Campania ArteCard (32 euro) which would cover local/area transport and entrance to 2 sites with discounts for entrances after that. It pays if you can plan your most expensive entrances first and you are using enough travel. It would cover the metro in Naples, regional trains to Paestum or Caserta. For example, the Royal Palace entrance is 15 euro (plus a euro in summer). Your train there (it covers the regional trains) and back will be 8 euro plus if you use the metro in Naples to reach the train station (another couple of euro), you will have close to the value of the pass in one day. Train to Paestum is 7.60 euro one way. It does cover a couple of things in Ravello, but I'm not sure about the transport there or whether it would be a good use of a pass day.

FYI - Only the 3 day (consecutive) Campania includes transport. The 7 day does not. There is a 3 day Naples card, but it only includes transport within the city of Naples (metro/bus/funiculars). Be sure not to activate your pass until you plan to use the full day as the 3 day timing starts as soon as it's swiped. The English version of the website isn't great. You used to be able to buy the pass in the tourist office in Centrale, one level down from the fast trains.

https://www.campaniartecard.it/campania-3-days/?lang=en

https://www.campaniartecard.it/tour-...egion/?lang=en

Tom, I think I may have missed your post back in August but now that I'm thinking about this area, you have put Royal Palace of Caserta on my radar and think I missed it in my reading.

Dangit, i might need to add a day!

I was a bit disappointed in Caserta. Not very well ke

I was a bit disappointed in Caserta. Not very well kept up.

There was an interesting story in Italian news a few years ago. The employees' Union at Caserta were up in arms about a new director. The problem? He didn't go home early like the previous director, forcing all the other employees to stay until quitting time.

https://www.lastampa.it/cronaca/2016....36572478/amp/

If he's still there maybe he's tightened up the ship.

I'm sorry to hear about the upkeep but given the lack of employee, ahem, work, it sort of makes sense. Hopefully improvements get made.

This palace once appeared in a Star Wars film, I'm surprised the SW nerds don't flock there. Then again, the film in question is the least favorite amongst the fandom...

Tom,
We just returned from Portugal and drove through the Douro Valley to Ventozelo Hotel where we stayed. Driving on the Amalfi coast is much easier than the Douro valley. We are in our 70's and have driven from Sorrento to Positano, Amalfi and stayed in Ravello 3 different times. The roads are curvy but you drove in Douro valley so you can definitely drive the Amalfi coast which is absolutely beautiful. We had a private driver to Naples from Rome, caught the ferry to Capri and stayed 2/3 nights. Then we took the ferry to Sorrento where we picked up rental and drove the Amalfi coast and then on to Ravello. As much as Tracy loves gardens, she would love the gardens on Capri and Ravello. They are stunning!
Amalfi coast serves much more than a daytrip!

**I'm sorry to hear about the upkeep but given the lack of employee, ahem, work, it sort of makes sense. Hopefully improvements get made.**

I was there after the date of that article and didn't really notice any upkeep issues. The palace rooms weren't as "staged" as some other palaces.

**This palace once appeared in a Star Wars film, I'm surprised the SW nerds don't flock there. Then again, the film in question is the least favorite amongst the fandom...**

Not a SW fan and only saw the first two movies, but it is the reason I wanted to go to see the reflecting pools/fountains. There was a scene in one of those movies walking down those reflecting pools, but it's not the SW movie credited on many websites (that's a later one with scenes inside the palace). There've been lots of movies filmed there.

Agree that driving on Amalfi Coast is not difficult. If I can do it, anyone can!!! I thought it was fun! Although I would not rent a car there in high season--too much traffic and difficulty parking.

As per my post above, I recently had an exceptional pasta and fish dinner in Cetara, at ACQUAPAZZA restaurant. It's very well-known among Italians and gets food-centric foreigners, too, although I did not see any non-Italians at my dinner last month. It's really out of this world, especially for a seafood lover. And my partner claims that his non-fish pasta was among the best ever!


https://www.hungryonion.org/t/cetara...dinner/35444/4

We were there before the time of that article. Maybe the new director ( who wasn't Italian) succeeded in whipping things into shape.

I'm not much into palace interiors, my impression was more about the gardens.