Great post, Waldo...I'm one of the many who have given the much-maligned Napoli short shrift, using it only as a place of transit. Thank you for the wonderful tips.
I'm now rethinking for our next visit.

I might add, for the OP, the tranquil and beautiful US Military cemetery in Anzio (actually in the next door town of Nettuno)
is off the usual path...when we visited, there literally was absolutely no one there.

We drove down from Ostia, along the coast..beautiful drive.

Stu T.

I know this is a little off subject but I just looked at Rickmav's pictures linked to the thread they cite.

Mavis and Rick, they were fantastic!

I enjoyed them even more I am sure because I've wandered some the same places - Bevagna, Montefalco (=off the beaten path) and have stayed at Le Case Gialle in Umbria.

Thanks,
Tuscanson

Waldo - loved your descriptions of special places in Napoli! It's one of my favorite cities also - maybe most favorite. I get back there every chance I can. Another good way to spend a morning is to take the funicolare from Castellamare to the top of Monte Faito, where you can walk a few kilometers along the narrow and winding road to the 4200-ft summit of San Michele, where there is a chapel and shrine and stunning panoramic views. Before returning to sea level, stop for a lunch of freshly made pasta in the small mountain taverna near the funicolare, perhaps ravioli with gorgonzola and nut sauce or fettucini with a ragu of wild boar and wood mushrooms.

Tuscanson - thanks very much. Just looking at them again makes me want to throw some things in a bag and get to the airport.

I forgot to add: Procida. Just a small island, not a lot to do, not a 'must see' by any means, but lovely all the same. Here are some photos, if you're interested: http://gardentouring.fotopic.net/c1544804.html

Julia, I never knew wild board to be a Campania specialty. Please tell us more.

I think wild boar, cinghale, can be found on menus in season throughout much of Italy, wherever it can be hunted and brought to market. I've eaten cinghiale in panini in Venice; dolceforte, with a sauce of vinegar and bitter chocolate, in Tuscany; with pumpkin ravioli and fizzy wine (lambrusco) in Mantua; spit-roasted in Puglia and Calabria; thinly sliced at table from the cured-and-aged leg in the Maremma and Lazio; stewed with onions and cabbage and served with polenta in Bisuschio, Lombardy; and in various versions of ragu with fettucine in Campania. It's worth looking out for on menus because it's a lovely taste.

Basilicata!
Everywhere in the region is way off the beaten path ;-)! (and inland Campania as well for that matter)

Julia - When were you last in/on Procida? Some people at my hotel last week (Amalfi coast area) had come from Procida and said they couldn't escape fast enough. They said the trash problem was terrible there with piles of trash everywhere.

kybourbon- I was there last September. I'm now wracking my brain looking for memories of terrible trash problem, but none so far. Also looked for piles of trash in my photos but didn't find any: http://gardentouring.fotopic.net/c1544804.html

Not to say it's not so. With the garbage/trash disposal problems Naples has been having, it wouldn't surprise me to find the trash overflowing to Procida also. What a shame if this is happening here. You can bet you won't find it on Capri or Ischia or the heavily-touristed (read: expensive) Amalfi Coast towns. Procida, along with other 'off the beaten path' parts of southern Italy, are real places where real people live real lives. They're not gussied up and prettified for wealthy tourists by people who make their living from the tourist trades.

The couple had stayed a couple of nights on Procida and were very disappointed. They were really surprised by the trash.