Naples, Pompeii, and Amalfi Coast
- Only A Plane Away
- Sep 9, 2019
- 3 min read
Our cruise terminated back at the port of Civitaveccia. From there we caught a train down to Naples. We had to transfer trains at Termini station in Rome on the way. Once we made it into Naples, we hired a couple of van cabs to take us to our hotel. Pro Tip: There is no Uber or Lyft in Naples, only cabs, so make sure you plan accordingly.
Once we checked in to our hotel, we decided to venture a bit out from the city to see the hospital where Josh was born. We had our front desk staff arrange a cab to take us there. They arranged the fare in advance, so we didn't have to worry about any scams.
The hospital was quite a bit out from city center and not in the most scenic of areas. We stopped there and took a few pictures and Martina (Josh's mom) was very happy happy to show Josh his birthplace and snap a few photos. Our cab driver even took a few photos of all of us together.
On the way back, he took a scenic route and pointed out different landmarks.
He even stopped at a nice lookout where we had great views of Mount Vesuvius. He let us get out of the cab and walk around a bit and grab a few photos.
After our mini tour of Naples, we headed back to the hotel and then ventured out to explore our neighborhood a bit and find a bite to eat. Of course, we had to try some of the famous Neapolitan pizza, and we found a great little place near our hotel called Ristorante Pizzeria Napolié. It's not the most original name, but the food was great. We were not staying in a touristy area of Naples, so we did notice that not a lot of people spoke english, including at the pizzeria, however we managed just fine.
The pizza was great and the calzone was probably the best we've ever had. After dinner we headed back to our hotel to get some rest, because the next day we had an early morning pick up for our tour to Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.
Luckily our pick up spot was just a few blocks from our hotel, so we got some espresso and met up for our tour. It was a bit disorganized at the start because some people were going to Mount Vesuvius after the Pompeii tour and some of us were heading to Amalfi. We also found out that it was a holiday in Italy and therefore many people were spending the day outside the city and traffic was very bad.
Once we got to Pompeii, we had a guided tour. It was quite hot for April and incredibly crowded. It seemed many of the tour guides follow the same route so certain areas would get very congested.
It was still very cool to see the ruts in the roads cut from the Roman chariots 2000 years ago. The brothel was also interesting with it's frescos.
After Pompeii, we had lunch included with our tour. We didn't have high hopes because it was a feed the masses type of place catering to bus loads of tourists, but we were pleasantly surprised by the food and delicious local wine.
We then headed to Amalfi where traffic was even more crazy. Traffic was at a standstill, so we ended up walking down the hill on foot so we would have a little time to enjoy Amalfi itself. The walk down the hill was a blessing in disguise because we were actually able to capture some beautiful pictures of the town and the turquoise waters.
We found a cute restaurant right on the beach and had wine cocktails. One was a lemon spritz made with local limoncello and something called "Adore Me"made with sour cherry. We then walked around the town a bit and found a quaint wine shop to buy some local wines to bring home with us.
Traffic was equally as bad on the way back, which made for a late arrival, so we just grabbed dinner at the same pizza place near our hotel. If you'd like more information on or want to book the same Pompeii Amalfi tour, click here.
The next morning it was time to head back to Rome. We had a morning train but it wasn't too early, so we stopped for some pastries and espresso on our way to the train station.
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