My husband and I are taking our two young children to Southern Italy for 2 weeks in June. We start in Rome and then drive South. The first week will be near Lecce at the beach with Italian friends who have family there. We will return to Rome on our own--they will stay longer (in a rental car! any tips there??)and want to take our volcano enthusiast to see Pompeii (and that coast) and wonder where to stay. We have about 3 days and have never been south of Rome (we have been To Rome and N of Rome a few times). A guidebook recommends the town of Amalfi as a good base. Also, is Naples just too much with kids, etc? Thank you!

Ciao,
near Pompei i recomend a nice and relaxing accomodation, (it was a seminario, sort of school for priests)
here you can see it.
http://www.soggiornosalesiano.it/inglese.htm
If you children like Volcanos don't miss Stromboli, the ever erupting Volcano.
You can go there also from Tropea (i live here)
Sal
Ask if you have more question:

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Have you looked at Sorrento as a base? It's closer to Pompeii than Amalfi; you just hop on the Circumvesuviana commuter train for a few stops. You can also take a hydrofoil to Capri and a bus to the Amalfi coast.

Some people don't like Sorrento; it's more a small city than a small town. But it spreads out along the cliffs overlooking the Bay of Naples and has lots of restaurants and other tourist facilities.

Sorrento is your best bet for Pompeii.

Thanks for the tips so far. I will check out the former seminary recommended as well as Sorrento.

agree sorrento is your best bet. also you can take the hydrofoil to naples from sorrento. great city to use as a base

While being about 1 hour+ south of Pompei, I would recommend spending at least one night in Paestum. There is a great B&B there, Casale Giancesare

http://www.casale-giancesare.it/

The people and view are great and if you are lucky enough to get the hostess to cook supper for you, it is fantastic.

Paestum has perhaps the finest example of Greek doric temples in the world and there are very few tourists there.

dave

Hi everyone.
Here are a couple of tips particularly if your on an American Cruise Liner, docking at CIVITAVECCHIA > They charge the earth for trips to Rome from Civitavecchia - circa 200 euros +++ per person for the mini van trip to Rome which takes a very long time on very congested roads.
We simply walked to the railway station circa 8 minutes turn right outside the port & follow the crowd. It costs 9 euros return on the train & for an extra 2 euros they give you unlimited access to buses and underground tubes too.
We attended a service in St Peters Sq & were blessed by the Pope only 5 metres from us!!
The American couple who we spoke to paid up the big bucks - they said they were too late for the service @ St Peters Sq, also they were 1.5 hours late getting back to "The Jade " our cruise ship , we did it all on 11 euros, they were not happy bunnies!!
Hope that saves you all some hard earned bucks !!
Also take the train from Naples to Pompeii for the ruins its circa 5 euros return & easy to find the station - however please note: SENIORS do take i.d. preferably your passport as they give a good reduction for entrance to the ruins,
( they will not take your word for it) which are simply awesome ,but pay a little more to get the Guide who naturally speaks good English as he gives so much info which you will not have if you mooch about on your own.
Finally I would recommend Amalfi as your base if your staying for a longer trip its quite lovely with so much to see including Ravello, or slightly cheaper but very close to Amalfi is the town of Minori also v-nice. By the way the bus ride to Amalfi from Minori is something else - awesome but not for the faint hearted !! So enjoy your hols & hope this info saves you a few bucks.
Regards ALLSTU ( a Brit in case you hadn't guessed !!)

Allstu - This post is 7 years old so the OP has long since returned from their trip. I guess you searched something and turned this old thread up.

HY Kybourbon -- "WHOOPS" yes your correct was surfing and saw the thread thought I would add a little info - didn't realise it was so old ,only saw the month date ie MAY !! Thanks for pointing it out, still the info may still be useful if someone is going that way in the near future
all the best Allstu