bxl4373

We have decided to travel to Italy in Sept-Oct 2012. We will have 14 nights. I thought about staying close to Pompeii for 2 nights as I'd like to spend 2 days visiting the area. On to Naples for 5 nights and then Sicily for a week. We want to travel to Trapani, DH's father immigrated from there. I'm thinking about flying out of Naples to Sicily, but also thought about renting a car and visiting Taormina on the way. I'm not sure if visiting Eastern Sicily is a bit much and should just stick with Western Sicily for this trip. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Michael

Naples is a fine base for Pompeii, and you might discover that 5 nights is enough both for Naples and the Roman ruins nearby. It's a relatively short commute ride to Pompeii and even shorter to Herculaneum. You might want to take a look at my trip report of this past May; click on my name to find it. I strongly recommend the B&B Medea.

kja

With only 1 week in Sicily, I would think you would have to choose between east and west. The whole island takes at least 2 weeks just for its highlights.

Michael

<i>The whole island takes at least 2 weeks just for its highlights.</i>

We traveled only nine days outside Palermo and only regretted missing the Noto area for its Baroque churches. We could have spent more time in some places, but it was not in the cards.

mamcalice

I agree with the suggestion to spend 5 days in Maples, visiting Pompeii, etc. from there which will leave you with 9 days in Sicily. We spent 10 days visiting only the eastern part of Sicily and it wasn't nearly enough for me. Sicily isn't a place you can rush through.

caroline_edinburgh

Rather than staying 2 nights near Pompeii then 5 in Naples, I'd just stay a week in Naples and visit Pompeii etc from there. The first time we stayed in Naples, for a week, we still didn't get to Pompeii or Herculaneum as there was so much intetesting stuff to see in Naples itself !

I agree that with a week in Sicily it would be best to stick to the west, flying into Palermo then renting a car. Normally I would recommend some time in Palermo itself but if you are coming from Naples, you'll probably feel like a quieter, more relaxing second week in smaller places.

Mimar

When you get to Pompeii, you're not very far from Capri and the Amalfi coast. Do you intend to see any of that?

Viajero2

Stay 3 days in Naples, explore. Rent a car and drive/ferry over to Sicily. Spend 6-7 days west Sicily. Drive back and spend a couple of days in the Naples area; explore.

This way: 1) you get a chance to see the Amalfi Coast, 2) cheaper to ferry over/quick crossover, 3) drive from Messina to Taormina, 4) spend the night, explore, 5) get on your way West Sicily. You see more, have more flexibility, cheaper.

Michael

My cousin's Sardinian husband complains that ferry costs have suddenly shot up over the last year, and tht it is no longer worthwhile for him to take his car to Sardinia during his summer vacation. I would think that taking the overnight ferry as a foot passenger and renting in Palermo would make more sense. The Amalfi coast is so close to Naples that I do not see the value of driving what others have said is an uninteresting area just to get to the Amalfi coast.

bxl4373

Thanks for all the suggestions. This will be our third trip to Italy. We have been to Capri,stayed in Sorrento in 2008 and 2010 and Amalfi for 5 nights in 2010. We visited the National Archaeological Museum but did not spend anytime in Naples itself.We also stayed in Tuscany and drove to Salerno to return our car. We are really looking forward to visiting the town were my DH's father grew up! Any thoughts of a nice hotel or B&B in Naples? I do like the idea of staying in Naples for 5 nights and then on to Trapani.

Michael

B&B Medea.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

With the proviso that we've not stayed in any of them - and mainly for the great Tourist Guides you can download from their site (originally produced by the Regione of Campana, but hard to find elsewhere now) - might I suggest you have a look here...

http://www.bb-napoli.com/english/naples.htm

Sounds like you've plenty still to see!

This, from the Naples tourism people, will hopefully be going through to next year - but might make an interesting read now...

http://www.inaples.it/public/quinapoli/quinapoli.pdf

And perhaps I can offer some photos from around the Campania region?

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

Peter

Viajero2

Back in late April we took a ferry roundtrip St. Giovanni-Messina at a cost of $40 TOTAL. There were FOUR of us in a minivan. If that is not the cheapest way to get from mainland Italy to Sicily, not sure what would be. We drove Messina-Taormina in about 1.5 hours. Could not have been less hazzle-free.

bxl4373

Thanks for the links Peter.
Judy