Naples or Venice?
 

I'm going to Italy with my wife from 9/10-9/17? Thanks to some good advice from a previous post, I'm picking between Naples and Venice for half of the trip. The other half we're going to spend in Rome. My wife works for Delta, so we can get discounted airfare to Venice. My family is originally from Ischia, so there's a draw to Naples. Venice just looks and sounds incredible. Obviously we've never been to Italy so any advice is appreciated!

Absolutely Venice. There's no comparison. Granted I only went into Naples for the archaelogical museum but what I saw of the city was not pretty. Venice is a wonderful place to just wander. The piazza San Marco is lovely unlike most I've seen in Italy and you can't get lost completely. Signs along the way while wandering lead you back to San Marco.

Having said all this my sister visited Ishia for an overnight and enjoyed it. But if you want the "Ishia experience" you might consider heading further south to Sorrento (after Ishia) which I loved. But that makes more moving.

I'd stick to Rome & Venice.

Definitely Venice. Venice is romantic, beautiful, and one-of-a-kind. Naples, imho, is not so pretty, busy, and a little frightening. Good luck!

I agree with the others. Venice is the way to go with your wife. It's very charming, romantic, great for strolling (especially at night), boat rides.

My personal experience in Naples was brief and scary. I was in the train station, making transfers to and from Sorrento. It was the filthiest of them all, and I felt like I was being watched the entire time. On the way back to Milan, some dirty little girl was rubbing and kissing my husband's hand and begging for money. Shortly after I peeled her off of my man, I went toe-to-toe with a "porter" (not!), who was trying to take off with our luggage as we were boarding the train to Milan. And this all happened below ground! Ultimately, the choice is yours; but Naples gets no love from "the Bug."

I think others are being a bit unkind about Naples. Passing through the first time, we were a bit "frightened" as well, but having stayed there a couple nights last year we grew to really like it. There is much to do there and it has a vibrant character than can win you over if you give it the chance.

But choosing between Naples and Venice? Are you kidding? Venice wins by a landslide.

Venice is unlike any other place on earth - you must see it! We loved Pensione La Calcina in Dorsoduro (175 EU/night in high season for view). www.lacalcina.com. Enjoy!

Thanks for all of the great advice. I figured Venice would be the place. My wife was leaning that way. How far of a train ride is it from Rome to Naples? Would it be possible to do a day trip to Ischia. I'd hate to tell my dad I'm going to Italy and I didn't see where my family is from. Thanks again for the advice!

Wait a minute. Forget about Naples, but a few days in Rome and a few days IN Ischia could be wonderful. Don't do a day trip -- it would be all day connecting. But Ischia is special and if your family is from there -- they you might want to do it instead of Venice. But don't stay in Naples -- stay on Ischia.

Patrick, wharfrat1 posted earlier this week about his family being from Ischia. I knew when I saw this new thread of wharfrat's that everyone would tell him to go to Venice and I sure understand as Venice is so beautiful.

But so is visiting your family's homeland.

Wharfrat, do you have family on Ischia or is it just that you feel you should visit this island because that is where your family is from?

If you still have family living on Ischia IMO going there would be a beautiful experience. And of course spending the other half of your time in Rome.

But if there is not family left on Ischia than I would not bother. I truly understand about "what you tell your father" but I cannot see how doing a daytrip to Ischia would be workable.

Sooo, if there is not family left on Ischia and since your dear wife would love to see that Venice then that is what I would do. Perhaps you could tell your father that you will visit Ischia the next time you visit Italy. And I am sure there will be a next time.

BTW, when you say that you will have from 9/10 to 9/17 does that include travel time? I assume you are in the US. How many NIGHTS will you have in Italy?

Wharfrat1, another question. Are you talking about September of this year or 2006? And if 2005 have you made your plane reservations yet? If so are you flying into Rome and back home from Rome?

Thanks again for all the great advice. To answer a few questions,no I don't know of any family in Ischia, and we'll have a total of 7 nights. We're going this September. With my wife working for Delta (free flight), and expecting our first child, it's something we really wanted to do before the little one arrives. We are flying direct from Cincinnati into Rome. Thanks again to all for your input!

Another vote for Rome + Ischia. Although I love Rome it is a a big city, busy & noisy. Venice is not so big & noisy but it is very busy & involves a lot of walking. A week of Rome + Venice would be tiring. A few more relaxed days on Ischia after Rome would make a nice contrast. We recently spent a week in Venice, were exhausted at the end of it & really needed our lazy 2nd week on the beach.

I love Naples, warts and all. Venice is beautiful, spectacular and unique, but in my opinion there is more than a touch of "Disneyland" about the city. Naples is grimey, frenetic, loud but very real.

Purely in my experience, the people in Venice look down on the hordes visiting their wonderful city as necessary, but not overly welcome. I have always found majority of Neoplitans to be incredibly helpful and friendly.

If pushed, and could only see one, I would choose Naples with Pompeii, herculaneum and the archeological museum over Venice with it's culture and beauty.

I've been to both places: I was fortunately able to visit Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice on the same trip. I enjoyed Naples a lot, but it doesn't come even close to comparing with Venice. Naples is a large urban area. It is very interesting to walk around in, but is not that different from any other large Italian city. Venice on the other hand is unique and incredibly beautiful. I also found it to also be very restful, due to the absence of automobile traffic. It was a very relaxing place to end my vacation.

With 7 days, you have enough time to visit Venice and also a large urban area. For urban area, Rome would be better than Naples. (Rome has many more historical places of interest.) I suggest 3 days in Rome, followed by 3 days in Venice.

Depends on if you want to see fairy tale Italy (Venice) or the real Italy (Naples). Venice is awesome for tourists but there aren't really many Italians there. Naples on the other hand is hard to describe in word but fascinating.

while Naples may be a more nitty-gritty place to visit I've got a hard time with this statement above about Venice... <there aren't really many Italians there>.

tell that to all the people who live in Venice!

I'll jump on the bandwagon with all those have found a lot to enjoy about Naples. We spent three days there in June and would have liked more.

But, for a first time visitor to Italy, I think Venice will be more manageable and more magical. Enjoy!

Hi W,

One more vote for Venice this visit.

I would split the time between Venice (3 nights) and Florence.

You can visit Rome, Naples and Ischia on your next visit.

As for Naples being more "real" than Venice, .....pish tosh.

((I))

Saying there are no "real people" in Venice is like saying there are no real people in San Diego, Santa Fe, Miami, or any other place that attracts a lot of tourists. Venice is filled with Italians.

Of course, if you are foolish enough to limit yourself to St. Mark's Square and Rialto Bridge, that is another matter. But you have only yourself to blame if you do that. The same would apply to spending all your time at the Empire State Building in New York, or at any other famous tourist site. To see the real Venice, you have to walk around. But this is true for seeing any city.

Venice is a work of art. If you enjoy photography, you will be in heaven. You will also see "real Italians" at work, but this is not the main point of visiting there.

I also enjoyed Naples, but the two cities are just not in the same category. It is also not worth missing Rome at the expense of Naples. In fact, for a first trip to Italy, I think Rome should be a priority. But you have 7 days, so this would give you a few days for also seeing Venice.

I suggest making Venice your last visit. After the frenzied streets of Rome, you will appreciate the serenity of Venice's canals.

wharfrat, while I love, love, love Venice and just had my third great visit there (and yes, as mentioned, there ARE plenty of quiet parts of the city and there are friendly people who do actually live there), I also just visited Ischia for the first time and it was wonderful!

I think a day trip to Ischia from Rome would be hard but possible. We actually spent a whole day just getting there --a long story involving a huge train delay due to a WWII unexploded bomb that was found on the tracks! The train from Rome should only take two hours, on a bomb-free day, however!

Anyway, there are quite a few ferries and hydrofoils to Ischia from Naples (as well as travelers, local people commute back and forth) so it is not hard to get there from Naples, and there is a good bus system (well, it was on strike one of our 4 days on Ischia) and plenty of taxis when you get to the island.

We spent 4 nights there and took one long day trip, well worth it for us, back to the mainland to Pompeii. If you click on my name and look for a query I wrote a while back about what to do on Ischia, you will find some good info from other fodorites.

With just seven days, though, it would make more sense to me to choose the two cities, Venice and Rome, saving Ischia for a future trip, or skip Venice (hard for me to say!) and spend most of the time in Rome and go to Ischia for a night or two.

Talk with your wife about what are the must-do's for the first trip, and then remember that Italians love children; you can go back with your child in tow in the future...

(While I did not find Naples scary, and we really only saw two train stations and the port, I would agree with others here, don't spend a night there on this short trip)