Should we go to Naples? First time to Italy
 

My fiance and I are going to Italy for our honeymoon in December, over Christmas. It's our first time going to Europe and wanted to come here for some suggestions. We already booked plane tickets and flying in and out of Rome. Here's our plan so far:

Florence-1.5 days
Cinque Terre-1 day (if weather is nice, or we'll stay in Florence)
Pisa + Luca - 1 day
Naples-1 day
Pompeii - 1 day
Rome - 6 days

I'm a bit worried going to Naples after reading some bad reviews online. Is it safe for us to go? Considering we're not world travelers, don't speak any Italian, on small budget. We wanted to go because it's the birth place of pizza. That's all. If we do go, where's a good neighborhood to stay for 2 nights?

Any suggestion on our itinerary is super appreciated. Thanks guys!

Couple of things...I hope the times you listen do not include travelmdays..meaning you have additional days to travel between these places...otherwise you will have no time to really see these places other than Rome! Florence to Naples will eat up most of a day so if you only have one night there it's not worth the time and money getting there to sleep, spend a coupe hours then head off to Pompeii (you get the idea). I would drop Naples and Pompeii and stick to the Florence area and Rome.

Also, when over Xmas are you going? Lots of things will be closed Xmas day and over the holidays so be sure you check times for things you want to see.

Happy travels!!

Agree that if you don;t have extra days to travel this isn't doable. How many days do yu actually have on the ground - not counting the day you arrive and the day you leave?

If it's 12 you haven't allowed any time for travel and will have to cut some places.

Naples may be the "birthplace of pizza" but Roman pizza (thin crust) is better!

I enjoyed Naples but I have been to Italy perhaps 30 times. I would not put it on a first-timer's list (and yours is too long aleady.)

You did not answer yet to question about extra day for travel between one destination to another.

Meantime, I have other questions / notes:

I suppose that you plan to stay in only 3 locations, and just to make day trips from there (Florence, Naples, Rome). Is this true?

I suggest to eliminate Cinque Terre, it will be winter.

In this case, you will stay
- Florence 4 nights , with day trips to Pisa (1/2 day) and Luca (1/2 day)
- Naples -3 nights - with day trip to Pompeii
- Rome

As Jamikins said, check the opening time , because most of the places are closed on December 25 and January 1.

I heard that Naples is wonderful during Christmas.

Hey Z,

>I'm a bit worried going to Naples....<

Some people like it, others don't. I think it is the "real" Italy.

However, I am more concerned about your itinerary.

You fly into Rome and head for Florence.

Are you planning to visit the CT, Pisa and Luca as daytrips from Florence?

Then you are turning around and going south of Rome. Will you visit Pompeii as a daytrip from Naples or from Rome?

Do you really want to do all that traveling on a honeymoon?

Why have you left out Venice?

As Winston Churchill said in another context, "This pudding has no theme".

((I))

Thank you so much for all your help! We are there for 13 days and 12 nights, so the list I made including travel time also. I guess there's not going to be enough time to do all that in so little time.

We left out Venice because it's more in the North and we had thought of going to Naples in the South. We might visit other parts of Europe in a couple years again, and thought we could pick up Venice then.

We had planned to stay in Florence for 4 nights, Naples for 2 nights, Rome 6 nights, and the rest are day trips from those cities.

If we drop Naples, should we also just drop Pompeii?

At the end of the day, only you can choose!

However this may be an occasion when a visit to "Ostia Antica" - Rome's ancient port town, more or less on the coast but still within that city's boundaries, and only a short €1.50 train ride away - would be a better option than coming down to Pompei?

Whilst 'second-best' in some respects, it's still a remarkable sight / site...

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

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

And then come to glorious Campania for your first proper holiday together!

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

Peter

Naples is the birthplace of pizza but you can get great ones
pretty much all through Italy; remember, most places serve it
in the evening rather than lunch. I've had pizza in a famous
resto in Naples and it was good, but not earth-shaking. And
I'm a total pizza junkie.

Naples is very interesting - a slice of life and pizza - but
extremely 'intense'; for my honeymoon I think I'd like to see
the more 'relaxed' towns/cities and I think a more leisurely
vacation would be more honeymoonish. As you say, you'll be
going back so why not give yourselves a slower paced taste
of Italy for your first time. JMO.

Well, day trips can be problematic that time of year. It gets dark very early and many sights are open shorter hours - perhaps only 9 am to 1 or 2 pm since it is off season. And a lot will be closed on the holidays - so you have Dec 24, Dec 25 and Jan 1 when very fre places may be open.many places may not be open.

I think on such an important event to go all the way south for a bit of cheese on bread seems a bit odd. I'd invest more time in Florence and Tuscany

I just got back from Naples a few weeks ago. I did love it, but didn't understand the fuss about pizza, and we went to all the famous pizzerias, including the one that claims to be the birthplace of Pizza Margherita.

This was our fourth trip back to the area, first time to Naples. I really think southern Italy is at its best in the late spring/summer months, although I suppose it could be fun over the holidays. But since you have limited time, why not leave it for your next visit when you can visit some of the nearby islands ( Ischia, Capri?) and really enjoy the best weather there.

Thanks guys. All your suggestion makes so much sense. I think we're going to leave Naples out of our first trip, but definitely next time when we return :)

The next important step is to put Venice into your first trip.