Italian Amalfi Coast UNESCO 1997 + Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri, Naples UNESCO 1995, Pompeii-Herculaneum UNESCO 1997, Caserta UNESCO 1997, Paestum UNESCO 1998: Campania Deep Heritage Tour

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Italian Amalfi Coast UNESCO 1997 + Positano, Ravello, Amalfi, Sorrento, Capri, Naples UNESCO 1995, Pompeii-Herculaneum UNESCO 1997, Caserta UNESCO 1997 and Paestum UNESCO 1998: A Deep Campania Heritage Tour

TL;DR

Campania is the densest patch of UNESCO World Heritage on the Italian peninsula, and most travellers walk past three quarters of what it actually contains. The Amalfi Coast Costiera Amalfitana was inscribed in 1997 for its 50 km cliff-corniche between Salerno and Sorrento, with 13 pastel villages including Positano, Praiano, Amalfi, Atrani, Ravello and Conca dei Marini stitched together by the SS163 Strada Statale Amalfitana, which has been called the most photographed road in Italy. Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata went on the list the same year for the Roman cities frozen by the October 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The Historic Centre of Naples carries a 1995 inscription covering 1,700 hectares of Greco-Roman, medieval and Bourbon city stacked above 30 m of catacombs and aqueducts. Caserta Royal Palace with its 1,200 rooms, 120 hectare park and Vanvitelli aqueduct picked up its 1997 listing as the largest royal residence in the world by volume. Cilento National Park with Paestum's three 6th-century BC Greek Doric temples joined in 1998. The Art of the Neapolitan Pizzaiuolo was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2017, and Brandi pizzeria in Naples is where Pizza Margherita was created in 1889 for Queen Margherita of Savoy. On the islands you get Capri with its 109 m, 81 m and 104 m Faraglioni sea-stacks and the Grotta Azzurra Blue Grotto reached by rowboat, plus Procida (European Capital of Culture 2022) and Ischia with thermal springs. Real entry prices in 2026 sit between EUR 4.50 for Amalfi's Paper Museum and EUR 22 for Pompeii. A mid-range budget runs EUR 180 to 380 per day including a Sorrento or Positano room, three meals, ferries and one major site. Fly into Naples Capodichino NAP, ride the Circumvesuviana train, and chain the islands with Caremar and SNAV ferries. Plan a 7-10 day Amalfi Coast and Campania trip.

Why the Amalfi Coast and Campania matter

Few regions on earth pack four separate World Heritage inscriptions, one intangible heritage listing and an active stratovolcano into a Connecticut-sized triangle. Campania does. The Amalfi Coast 1997 inscription was awarded under cultural criteria ii, iv and v for its outstanding example of a Mediterranean landscape shaped by terraced agriculture, lemon-grove cultivation of the Costa d'Amalfi IGP citrus that produces Limoncello, and a settlement pattern adapted to vertical limestone cliffs of the Lattari mountains. The SS163 itself, engineered by Bourbon road-builder Luigi Giordano between 1832 and 1850, was carved by hand into rock that drops 600 m straight into the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata 1997 preserves the only complete Roman cities in existence, sealed by 6 m of ash and pyroclastic flow on October 24, 79 AD as documented by Pliny the Younger in two letters to Tacitus. Pompeii covers 64 hectares and Herculaneum 11, with the Villa of Mysteries, the Lupanar brothel, the Forum baths and more than 30 plaster casts of victims made by Giuseppe Fiorelli's 1863 injection technique. The 1995 Historic Centre of Naples inscription protects 27 monumental centuries from the Greek polis of Neapolis founded around 470 BC through the Angevin, Aragonese, Spanish and Bourbon city, including Catacombs of San Gennaro 30 m below ground and Caravaggio's Seven Acts of Mercy painted in 1606 for the Pio Monte della Misericordia.

Caserta Royal Palace 1997 was commissioned by Charles of Bourbon in 1752, designed by Luigi Vanvitelli with 1,200 rooms, 1,742 windows, four courtyards and a 3 km canal park fed by the 41 km Carolino Aqueduct. Paestum 1998, inside the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park, contains three of the best-preserved Greek Doric temples on earth, the Temples of Hera I (550 BC), Hera II (460 BC, also long called the Temple of Neptune) and Athena (500 BC). Add Pizza Margherita 1889, Mount Vesuvius 1,281 m crater walks, Capri's three Faraglioni rocks, the 13 cliff-hugging villages and Limoncello distilled from Sfusato Amalfitano lemons, and the case for placing Campania in the world's top three coastal heritage destinations writes itself.

Background: from Greek colony to Bourbon kingdom to Allied bombing

Campania's history begins with Iron Age Oscan, Etruscan and Samnite settlements, but the heritage record really opens around 740 BC when Greek colonists from Euboea founded Pithekoussai on Ischia, followed by Cumae on the mainland in 730 BC. Paestum was established as Poseidonia by Achaean Greeks from Sybaris around 600 BC, and Neapolis (the new city, today Napoli) followed around 470 BC. These were the heartland cities of Magna Graecia, and the Doric temples at Paestum survived because the site was abandoned to malarial swamp after the Roman period and rediscovered only in 1748 during Bourbon road-building.

Rome absorbed Campania in 326 BC, made it the agricultural and pleasure villa heartland of the empire and saw its volcanic coastline buried by the 79 AD eruption. The Lombards held Salerno from 774 AD and built a maritime trading state at Amalfi that became one of the four medieval Italian maritime republics alongside Venice, Genoa and Pisa, peaking in the 9th to 11th centuries with the Tavole Amalfitane maritime code. Norman conquest after 1077 brought Sicily, Apulia and Campania under one crown. The Angevins from 1266, the Aragonese from 1442 and the Bourbons from 1734 made Naples the capital of southern Italy. Charles III of Bourbon began Caserta in 1752 and supported the early excavation of Herculaneum 1738 and Pompeii 1748. Allied bombing in 1943, the Salerno landings of Operation Avalanche in September 1943 and the Four Days of Naples uprising 27-30 September 1943 marked the war years. Post-war tourism took off after John Steinbeck's 1953 Harper's Bazaar essay called Positano the only Italian town where the view is the address.

Greek colonisation from 740 BC: Pithekoussai, Cumae, Paestum, Neapolis
Roman imperial coast 326 BC to 476 AD: Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, Oplontis
Maritime Republic of Amalfi 839 to 1131 AD: gold ducat coinage, Tavole Amalfitane
Norman, Angevin, Aragonese and Bourbon dynasties: 1077 to 1860
Bourbon excavation of buried Roman cities: Herculaneum 1738, Pompeii 1748
World War II: Salerno landings September 1943, Naples uprising 1943, heavy bombing
1953 onward: Steinbeck, Gore Vidal and Jacqueline Kennedy turn Amalfi into a global brand

Tier 1 destinations: the five anchors of any Campania trip

1. Positano, Praiano and Marina di Praia

Positano clings to a 300 m near-vertical pocket of the Lattari Mountains between Punta Germano and Punta San Pietro, with a pyramidal cascade of pastel houses dropping from Montepertuso 365 m down to Spiaggia Grande sea level. The architectural type is called Costiera Amalfitana vernacular: whitewashed cubic blocks with majolica ceramic roof tiles, vaulted ceilings (volta a botte), and external staircases (scalinatella) replacing internal corridors because flat land is too valuable to spend on hallways. Population is roughly 3,900 in winter and over 20,000 on an August Saturday.

The Church of Santa Maria Assunta on Piazza Flavio Gioia was rebuilt between 1777 and 1779 around the older monastery of San Vito. Its dome carries 1,200 hand-painted yellow, green and blue majolica tiles produced in Vietri sul Mare, the ceramic capital of the coast. Entry to the nave is free, the crypt with the 13th-century Byzantine Black Madonna icon and the small Roman villa beneath (uncovered in 2003) costs EUR 2. The sand of Spiaggia Grande is technically free at both ends, with concession umbrella-and-lounger setups from EUR 30 in May to EUR 50 in August. Spiaggia di Fornillo, a 10-minute walk west via the Via Positanesi d'America cliff path, stays quieter and a little cheaper.

The Sentiero degli Dei Path of the Gods is the canonical Amalfi hike: 8 km from Bomerano in Agerola down to Nocelle above Positano, with an elevation loss of about 500 m, walkable in 3 to 4 hours including stops. It is free, signed CAI 327, and best between mid-April and mid-October. The descent from Nocelle to Positano is another 1,800 steps. Marina di Praia in Praiano is a tiny black-pebble cove inside a vertical canyon, with Africana Famous Club, a dance floor literally inside a sea cave, charging EUR 25 to 45 cover summer evenings. Le Sirenuse, opened by the Sersale brothers in 1951 as a private home turned hotel, has 58 rooms, the Champagne and Oyster Bar of the Franco's Bar, and is the building you have seen in every Talented Mr Ripley still ever published. A cocktail on the terrace costs EUR 25 to 45. Cala Marcello and the sea grottoes of Conca dei Marini are reachable by 30-minute boat tour from Marina Grande EUR 25.

2. Ravello, Amalfi and Atrani

Ravello sits 365 m above Atrani on a ridge nicknamed the city of music, founded in the 5th century by Romans fleeing barbarian invasions and rising as a refuge of Amalfitan nobility in the 11th century. Population is 2,400. The Cathedral of Ravello dates from 1086 with bronze doors cast in Constantinople in 1179 by Barisano da Trani showing 54 panels. Villa Rufolo, built around 1270 by the Rufolo banking dynasty, has Moorish-Norman cloisters, the famous belvedere terrace that inspired Wagner's Klingsor garden of Parsifal in 1880, and hosts the Ravello Festival every July and August on a stage cantilevered over the cliff. Villa Cimbrone, redesigned in 1904 by English peer Ernest William Beckett 2nd Baron Grimthorpe, ends in the Terrazza dell'Infinito Terrace of Infinity, a marble balustrade lined with 18 white busts looking over 300 m of empty air toward the Gulf of Salerno. Entry to the gardens is EUR 10. Villa Rufolo gardens cost EUR 8, more during festival nights.

Amalfi town, population 5,000, was the seat of the maritime republic. Duomo di Sant'Andrea, completed in 1208 to house the relics of Apostle Andrew brought back from the Fourth Crusade in 1206, dominates the piazza with a 62-step staircase and a polychrome Arab-Norman facade rebuilt in 1891 by Errico Alvino. The nave is free. The Chiostro del Paradiso Cloister of Paradise, built in 1266 by Archbishop Filippo Augustariccio as a noble cemetery with 120 interlaced Moorish white columns, the underlying basilica and the Crypt of Saint Andrew together cost EUR 5. The Museo della Carta Paper Museum, in a working 13th-century paper mill on Via delle Cartiere, demonstrates rag-pulp paper-making (Amalfi was making paper before Fabriano) for EUR 4.50. Limoncello tasting at Antichi Sapori d'Amalfi or Andrea Pansa 1830 runs EUR 5 to 15. Atrani, just 700 m east through a single tunnel, has the smallest commune surface in Italy at 0.12 km squared and 850 residents living in stacked houses around the 10th-century Church of San Salvatore de Birecto where Amalfi doges were once crowned. Conca dei Marini holds the Grotta dello Smeraldo Emerald Grotto, EUR 5 lift and rowboat, named for the green refraction at noon.

3. Sorrento, Capri Island and the Faraglioni

Sorrento, population 16,500, sits on a 50 m tuff cliff facing the Bay of Naples across the volcano. Piazza Tasso is the centre, named for poet Torquato Tasso born here in 1544. The Sedile Dominova loggia of 1480 with its frescoed cupola and the marquetry intarsio workshops of Stinga and Gargiulo & Jannuzzi are walking-distance landmarks. Marina Grande, reached by a stepped tunnel down the cliff, is a working fishing harbour with two beach clubs charging EUR 25 a day in season. The Sorrento Roman Bath ruins on Capo di Sorrento and the Villa di Pollio Felice are a free 30-minute walk west. Sorrento is the world headquarters of Sfusato lemons and Limoncello, with Il Giardini di Cataldo gardens free tasting.

The ferry from Sorrento Marina Piccola to Capri Marina Grande is 30 minutes by NLG, Gescab or Caremar hydrofoil, 8 to 12 sailings per day in season at EUR 24 round-trip. Capri (the island, 10 square kilometres, 14,000 residents across Capri and Anacapri communes) is the limestone offcut of the Sorrentine Peninsula. From Marina Grande the Funicolare runs up 138 m to the Piazzetta di Capri (Piazza Umberto I) in 4 minutes, EUR 2.20 one way. The Piazzetta with its four legendary cafes (Tiberio, Caso, Gran Caffe, Piccolo Bar) is open-air theatre. The Faraglioni di Capri, three rock stacks rising from the sea off Punta Tragara, are 109 m (Stella, attached to land), 81 m (Faraglione di Mezzo with the arch you can boat through) and 104 m (Faraglione di Scopolo, home of the blue lizard Podarcis sicula coerulea found nowhere else on earth).

The Grotta Azzurra Blue Grotto, on the north-west coast of the island, is a 60-metre-long sea cave where sunlight refracts up through a submerged opening to colour the water cobalt. Access is by rowboat only, EUR 14 cave entry plus EUR 18 rowboat, with 60-minute queues at peak and total closure on rough swells. Many travellers prefer the full island boat tour from Marina Grande, 2 hours including the Grotta Verde, Grotta Bianca, Faraglioni arch passage and a Blue Grotto rowboat option for EUR 25 to 45.

Anacapri sits 286 m above Capri town. Take the orange bus 10 minutes EUR 2.20 or the historic Phoenician Steps Scala Fenicia (921 steps, free, sweaty). Villa San Michele, built by Swedish physician Axel Munthe between 1896 and 1910 on the site of one of Tiberius's villas, contains Roman sarcophagi, a Sphinx terrace and a chapel-museum for EUR 13. The Monte Solaro chairlift from Piazza Vittoria climbs 589 m in 13 minutes to the highest point of Capri for EUR 13 round trip and a 360-degree view that on a clear day shows the Faraglioni, Vesuvius, the Apennines and Calabria. Punta Carena lighthouse at the south-west tip is a free swim spot with the cleanest water on the island.

4. Pompeii UNESCO 1997, Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius

Pompeii covers 64 hectares, of which roughly two-thirds (44 hectares) is excavated and one-third still under volcanic deposit. Entry is EUR 22, audio guide EUR 8, free first Sunday of the month. The Forum, dominated by the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter framed by Vesuvius on the horizon, is the photograph everyone takes. Walk east up Via dell'Abbondanza past the Stabian Baths (built 4th century BC, oldest in the Roman world) to the Lupanar Brothel on Vicolo del Lupanare with its painted erotic frescoes serving as a graphic menu. The Garden of the Fugitives at the south-east edge contains 13 of the 30+ plaster casts of victims made by Giuseppe Fiorelli's 1863 technique of pouring liquid plaster into the hollow voids left by decomposed bodies. The Villa of the Mysteries on the north-west periphery, a 15-minute walk past the necropolis, holds the most famous Roman wall painting in the world, a 17 m fresco of a Dionysian mystery initiation rite painted around 70 BC.

The Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Garibaldi to Pompei Scavi-Villa dei Misteri runs every 30 minutes, 38-minute ride for EUR 3.20 one way. From Sorrento it is 30 minutes the opposite direction for EUR 2.80. Allow a full day. Herculaneum (modern Ercolano) at 11 hectares is denser and frequently the better experience: multi-storey buildings up to three floors survive intact with carbonised wooden balconies, doors, beds and even loaves of bread, because the city was sealed by 20 m of fast-cooling pyroclastic surge rather than the falling pumice that crushed Pompeii. EUR 16 entry, Ercolano Scavi station on the same Circumvesuviana line. The Villa dei Papiri, source of 1,800 carbonised Epicurean scrolls being read with X-ray tomography by the Vesuvius Challenge in 2023-2024, is partially open.

Mount Vesuvius 1,281 m is an active stratovolcano in repose since 1944. Bus from Pompei Scavi or Ercolano Scavi to Quota 1000 car park EUR 12 round trip, then a 30-minute zigzag walk on cinder track to the crater rim for the EUR 10 Vesuvius National Park ticket. The crater is 600 m wide and 230 m deep, with fumaroles still active. The full hike if you start lower at the Sentiero del Gran Cono is about 4 km return.

5. Naples, Paestum, Caserta and the islands of Procida and Ischia

Naples, population 920,000 (3 million metro), is one of the densest, oldest and most layered cities in Europe. The UNESCO 1995 historic centre encompasses the original Greek grid of three Decumani (Decumano Superiore, Maggiore and Inferiore, the last of which is known as Spaccanapoli, literally Naples-splitter, because it runs ruler-straight for 2 km cutting the old town in half) crossed by Cardini. The Naples Cathedral Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta, consecrated in 1313 on the site of an earlier 4th-century basilica, holds the blood of San Gennaro that liquefies three times a year. Cathedral entry is free, the Treasury Chapel of San Gennaro with its 70 kg of saint-shrine silver is EUR 12.

The Catacombs of San Gennaro, carved into yellow tufa under the Sanita district 30 m below current street level, were the burial site of the 5th-century bishop. EUR 12 includes a guided tour with the cooperative La Paranza social enterprise and an evening light show in the lower basilica. Caravaggio's Le Sette Opere di Misericordia Seven Acts of Mercy, painted in 1606 for the lay brotherhood Pio Monte della Misericordia on Via Tribunali, is one of the most important Baroque paintings in Italy and remains in its original altar location. The chapel and adjoining gallery cost EUR 7.

Pizza Margherita was created by pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito at Pizzeria Brandi on Salita Sant'Anna di Palazzo on 11 June 1889 to honour Queen Margherita of Savoy with tomato, mozzarella and basil in the colours of the Italian flag. The plaque is still on the wall. L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele on Via Cesare Sersale (1870), Sorbillo on Via dei Tribunali, Di Matteo and Starita are the canonical pilgrimage spots, with a Margherita at any of them costing EUR 4.50 to 8.

Paestum, 100 km south of Naples and 35 km south of Salerno, contains three Doric temples: Hera I (the so-called Basilica) from 550 BC, Hera II (sometimes labelled Neptune or Poseidon) from 460 BC, and Athena (formerly thought to be Ceres) from 500 BC. Paestum is part of the 1998 Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park inscription that also covers Velia, the Certosa di Padula and the Bulgheria mountains. Combined site and excellent on-site museum: EUR 18. The Tomb of the Diver, a 470 BC painted Lucanian fresco of a young man exploring water (a metaphor for the passage to death), is the highlight of the museum.

Caserta Royal Palace Reggia di Caserta, 30 km north of Naples by Trenitalia regional train EUR 3.40, was designed by Luigi Vanvitelli for Charles III of Bourbon starting 1752. It has 1,200 rooms, 1,742 windows, 1,026 fireplaces, a 250 m main facade and a 3 km park ending in the Fountain of Diana and Actaeon. The Carolino Aqueduct that feeds the cascades runs 41 km from Monte Taburno. Entry to apartments and park EUR 16, park-only EUR 10. Procida (4 km squared, the smallest island in the bay) was named European Capital of Culture 2022 and is reachable by 25-minute Caremar ferry from Pozzuoli EUR 14. Ischia, 46 km squared with the Aragonese Castle, thermal springs at Negombo and Poseidon Gardens, Mount Epomeo 789 m and beach towns Forio, Sant'Angelo and Lacco Ameno, takes 90 minutes by SNAV hydrofoil from Naples Beverello EUR 22 each way.

Tier 2 destinations and themes

Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park UNESCO 1998: Velia (Roman ruins of Greek Elea), Certosa di Padula (one of the largest charterhouses in Europe at 51,500 m squared)
Phlegraean Fields Campi Flegrei: Pozzuoli amphitheatre, Solfatara fumaroles (closed to walking since the 2017 family accident but viewable from rim), Lake Avernus once believed to be the entrance to the underworld in Virgil's Aeneid Book 6
Capodimonte Museum and 134-hectare royal park in Naples: Caravaggio Flagellation of Christ 1607, Titian, Masaccio and the Farnese collection inherited by Charles III, EUR 15
Caserta Park alone: cascades, fountains, English garden by John Andrew Graefer 1782, bike rental EUR 5
Art of the Neapolitan Pizzaiuolo UNESCO Intangible 2017: pizzaiolo schools at Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana, dough hand-thrown spinning, 60 to 90 second wood-fire bake in 485 degree Celsius ovens

Cost comparison: representative day in Campania (mid-range, 2026 EUR)

Item	Naples city	Sorrento base	Positano splurge	Capri day-trip	Paestum and Cilento
Accommodation 2 pax	110	160	320	0 (return)	95
Breakfast + 2 meals + 1 drink	65	75	95	80	55
Major attraction	12 (Catacombs)	16 (Herculaneum)	10 (Villa Cimbrone)	27 (Funicular and Blue Grotto)	18 (Paestum and museum)
Local transport	6 (metro day)	8 (Circumv. return)	12 (SITA bus)	24 (ferry round)	12 (regional train)
Daily total per couple	193	259	437	131 + base	180

How to plan it

Arriving and inter-city. Fly into Naples Capodichino NAP, served direct from London, Amsterdam, Munich, Madrid, Istanbul, New York JFK (United seasonal) and most European hubs. The Alibus shuttle to Naples Centrale costs EUR 5 in 20 minutes. From Centrale the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento takes 70 minutes for EUR 4.90, stopping at Ercolano Scavi (Herculaneum) and Pompei Scavi.

Driving the SS163. The Strada Statale 163 Amalfitana runs 50 km from Vietri sul Mare to Positano. Sorrento to Amalfi via SS145 then SS163 is 60 km on paper and 2 hours in summer reality, with single-lane sections where the SITA bus drivers honk at corners. Summer parking in Positano runs EUR 5 per hour with very limited spots; consider parking in Sorrento and using the bus. ZTL Zona Traffico Limitato restrictions apply in Positano, Amalfi, Sorrento and Naples old town from morning to evening; rental cars trigger automatic camera fines (EUR 80+).

Ferries and buses. SITA Sud buses connect Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello (change at Amalfi) and Salerno every 30 to 60 minutes, EUR 1.30 to 3.40 per hop, all-day Costiera Sita pass EUR 10. TraVelMar and Alicost ferries run Salerno-Amalfi-Positano-Capri April through October, EUR 13 to 25 per leg, faster and far more scenic than the bus. Capri ferries from Naples Beverello, Sorrento Marina Piccola and Positano.

When to go. April through mid-June and mid-September through October are the prime windows: sea is warm enough, temperatures sit at 22 to 27 degrees, and ferry frequency is full. July and August deliver 32 degree heat, day-tripper crowds, three-week-ahead booking lead times for Capri rooms and EUR 50 lounger fees. Easter weekend, Ferragosto 15 August and the Ravello Festival nights are the three busiest windows.

Italian phrases. Buongiorno (good day until 5 pm), buonasera (evening), grazie (thank you), prego (you are welcome, please go ahead), per favore (please), il conto per favore (the bill please), un caffe (an espresso), una pizza Margherita (no further translation needed), scusi (excuse me, formal).

Money and payments. Euro currency. Contactless tap is universal in cafes, shops and even SITA buses since 2024. ATMs (Bancomat) are common but charge EUR 3 to 5; withdraw EUR 200+ at a time. Tipping is optional because of the coperto (cover charge EUR 1.50 to 3 per person) already on every restaurant bill; rounding up or leaving EUR 5 for great service is fine.

FAQ

Q: What is the best season for the Amalfi Coast?
A: Mid-April through mid-June and late September through October are optimal. Sea swims become comfortable from early May onward. July and August are crowded with cruise day-trippers and Italian Ferragosto holiday traffic, and August lounger rates on Spiaggia Grande hit EUR 50. November through March is quiet, soft and atmospheric, but many hotels close from early November to Easter and ferry service drops to a winter skeleton schedule. Ravello Festival runs July through August so if you want the Wagner concerts that is the trade-off. Skies are clearest in late May, early June and October. Olive harvest is November, lemon harvest February to October.

Q: Capri as a day-trip or overnight?
A: Overnight transforms it. Day-trippers (about 6,000 per cruise day) saturate the Piazzetta and the Blue Grotto rowboat queue from 11:00 to 16:00 and largely vanish by 17:30. Once they leave, Capri shrinks to its 14,000 residents and you can walk Via Tragara to the Faraglioni viewpoint or eat at Da Paolino under the lemon trees at a humane volume. Hotels are pricey (EUR 250 minimum in season, often EUR 600+), but Anacapri pensions and B&Bs from EUR 130 are reasonable. If you can only day-trip, take the 08:00 ferry, hit the Blue Grotto first, lunch in Anacapri and return on the 19:30 boat.

Q: How difficult is the Path of the Gods?
A: Moderate. From Bomerano (725 m) at the top down to Nocelle (430 m) you cover 7.8 km in 3 to 4 hours with rolling terrain, then descend another 1,800 steps to Positano sea level. Bomerano to Nocelle is the easier direction by 200 m of net descent. Wear actual hiking shoes (not sneakers), bring 1.5 litres of water, and aim for an early start in summer to beat the midday sun. There is no shade for long stretches. SITA bus connects Amalfi to Bomerano via Agerola in 60 minutes EUR 2.40. The trail is signed CAI 327 and 333.

Q: Pompeii or Herculaneum, if I only have time for one?
A: Herculaneum if you want intimacy and intact buildings; Pompeii if you want the scale and the Forum-Vesuvius photograph. Pompeii at 64 hectares takes 5 hours to walk well and easily 8 hours to walk completely. Herculaneum at 11 hectares can be properly seen in 2 to 3 hours, has multi-storey buildings with original wood, carbonised food and far fewer people, and the ticket is EUR 6 cheaper. Most heritage travellers prefer Herculaneum after their second day in the Bay of Naples. Doing both is ideal: Herculaneum morning, Pompeii afternoon, with the Circumvesuviana train switching between them in 12 minutes.

Q: Is Mount Vesuvius hike safe and worth it?
A: Yes on both counts. The Vesuvio National Park bus from Pompei Scavi or Ercolano Scavi drops you at Quota 1000 (1,000 m), leaving an easy 30 to 45 minute walk on switchback gravel to the crater rim at 1,281 m. The crater is 600 m across, 230 m deep, and there is a guided rim trail of about 1 km. The volcano last erupted in March 1944 and is in eruptive repose, monitored by INGV Osservatorio Vesuviano (the oldest volcano observatory in the world, founded 1841). Weather closes the summit on rare days of fog or thunderstorms.

Q: Should I base in Positano, Sorrento, Amalfi or Naples?
A: Sorrento is the most practical base: best Circumvesuviana access to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples, ferries to Capri, SITA bus to the Amalfi villages and lower nightly rates (EUR 120 to 200 mid-range). Positano is the prettier base but doubles the room cost and slows daily logistics. Amalfi town is the best base if you want to combine Ravello, Atrani and quieter beaches. Naples works only if your focus is the museums, the Catacombs and the pizza pilgrimage. For a 10-day trip, split: 4 nights Sorrento, 3 nights Amalfi or Positano, 2 nights Naples.

Q: Ferry or SITA bus along the coast?
A: Ferry whenever weather and season allow. April through October the TraVelMar and Alicost boats run Salerno-Amalfi-Positano-Capri with 8 to 14 sailings daily. The ferry is 20 minutes Sorrento to Positano and shows you the cliff villages from sea level, which is the angle Steinbeck wrote about. SITA buses are cheaper (EUR 1.30 to 3.40 versus EUR 13 to 25) but slower in summer traffic and can leave you standing on a 50-minute ride. Combine: bus out, ferry back.

Q: How do I do a Naples pizza pilgrimage right?
A: Hit four pizzerias in one long day. Open at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele on Via Cesare Sersale for the original Margherita (EUR 5) at 11:30 to beat the queue. Walk 10 minutes to Sorbillo on Via dei Tribunali at 13:00 for a softer dough. Espresso break at Gran Caffe Gambrinus. Late afternoon Margherita at Starita ai Materdei (EUR 5.50) where the 1954 film L'Oro di Napoli was set. Finish at Brandi on Salita Sant'Anna di Palazzo near Piazza Plebiscito for the original Margherita pizzeria 1889 (EUR 8). Walk between them; you will need to.

Local-language Italian phrases and cultural notes

Italian is the only language you need; English is widespread in tourist zones and patchy in Naples back-streets. Useful starters: buongiorno (good morning to early afternoon), buonasera (good evening from around 17:00), buonanotte (good night, bed only), grazie (thank you), grazie mille (thanks very much), prego (you are welcome, please go ahead, after you), per favore (please), scusi (excuse me, formal), permesso (excuse me, getting past), il conto per favore (the bill please), un caffe (an espresso, the only coffee word that exists at the bar before noon), un cappuccino (only ordered before 11:00 by locals), una pizza Margherita, dove si trova (where is), quanto costa (how much).

Cultural tips. Italians eat dinner at 20:30 not 18:00; most kitchens reopen for service at 19:30 and many do not seat before 20:00. Aperitivo runs 18:00 to 20:30. Coperto cover charge of EUR 1.50 to 3 per person appears on most restaurant bills and is not a tip; rounding up the total to the nearest EUR 5 or 10 is more than enough. ZTL Zona Traffico Limitato zones cover the centro storico of Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and most of Naples; cars without permit trigger automatic plate-camera fines around EUR 80 per pass. Pizza in Naples is folded into quarters in the libretto fold or eaten with knife and fork, never sliced or held flat like takeaway American style. Bread on the table is not free everywhere, but coperto covers it.

Practical pre-trip prep

Schengen visa-free entry for 90 days in any 180 for most passports including US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan and India ETIAS-eligible from late 2026. Power is Type F (Schuko) and Type L (three-pin Italian), 230 V 50 Hz; a single Type F universal adapter covers both. SIM cards from Vodafone, TIM and WindTre in any Naples Centrale or Sorrento phone shop cost EUR 25 to 35 for 100 GB and 28 days, with passport required for activation. eSIMs from Holafly, Airalo or Saily run EUR 19 to 35 for 7 to 30 days. Pack genuine walking shoes (Capri, Path of the Gods, Pompeii cobbles destroy ballet flats), sun cream SPF 30+ even in May, a refillable water bottle (Italian tap is excellent), a light merino layer for ferry decks at sunset, swimsuit even out of season, a reef-safe option for snorkel coves around the Faraglioni, and a small dry bag for boat tours.

Putting it together: three sample trips

Trip A: Amalfi Coast classic, 7 days, Sorrento base. Day 1 fly to Naples NAP, Circumvesuviana to Sorrento, Marina Grande sunset. Day 2 ferry to Capri 08:00, Funicular up, Anacapri Monte Solaro chairlift, Blue Grotto rowboat, Faraglioni boat ride, 19:30 ferry back. Day 3 SITA bus or ferry to Positano, Spiaggia Grande swim, Santa Maria Assunta dome, Le Sirenuse cocktail. Day 4 Path of the Gods Bomerano to Nocelle to Positano, evening Praiano dinner. Day 5 ferry to Amalfi, Duomo and Cloister, lunch in Atrani, bus up to Ravello, Villa Cimbrone Terrace of Infinity. Day 6 Pompeii full day plus Mount Vesuvius bus and crater. Day 7 free Sorrento, Limoncello gardens, fly out.

Trip B: Naples, Pompeii, and Amalfi 10 days. Days 1-3 Naples base, Catacombs San Gennaro, Cathedral and San Gennaro Treasury, Spaccanapoli, Pio Monte Caravaggio, Capodimonte, two pizzeria pilgrimage afternoons. Day 4 day-trip Caserta Royal Palace. Day 5 transfer Sorrento via Circumvesuviana, half-day Herculaneum. Day 6 Pompeii and Vesuvius. Day 7 Capri overnight. Day 8 transfer to Amalfi by ferry, Duomo, Atrani, Ravello. Day 9 Positano, Path of the Gods. Day 10 return Naples, fly.

Trip C: Campania complete 14 days. Trip B itinerary days 1 to 10 plus: Day 11 Procida ferry from Pozzuoli, day on the island. Day 12 Ischia transfer, Aragonese Castle and Negombo thermal park. Day 13 ferry back to Naples, train south to Paestum, Greek temples and museum, night in Cilento. Day 14 Velia ruins, Certosa di Padula on the way back, train to Naples Centrale, fly out.

Related guides

Naples, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, and Capri deep heritage tour
Rome, Florence, Venice, and Amalfi two-week Italian classic
Puglia and Amalfi Coast heritage tour
Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre Italian Riviera comparison
Sicily Palermo and Agrigento UNESCO heritage tour
Italian UNESCO grand tour 21 days

External references

Wikipedia: Amalfi Coast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amalfi_Coast
Wikivoyage: Amalfi Coast https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Amalfi_Coast
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Costiera Amalfitana https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/830
UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/829
Naples Tourism official portal https://www.visitnaples.eu

Last updated 2026-05-11.

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