Campania – Amalfi Coast, Naples, Pompeii, and Ischia

This is part of our Italy Summer Road Trip – check out the rest of the trip.

Amalfi Coast – Ravello and Sorrento

July 2018 – 7 days with the family

Airbnb in Ravello – We may have had visions of staying in the center of the town of Amalfi with a balcony hanging off the edge of a cliff, but our budget had a different plan. Instead, we ended up in an Airbnb in Ravello, a town set a little further back from the water’s edge. Luckily, we still had amazing views and it was only 1500 steep steps down to Amalfi (and back up again –  see the sweaty pictures for proof). Actually, it was an excellent location. We parked our car and didn’t use it again until we drove to Sorrento. And that was a harrowing drive – Lynn’s hands still have evidence of calluses from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.  Although there are small rocky beaches in this area, we spent the majority of our time hiking, eating, and relaxing on our balcony. The views were breathtaking. 

• We hiked the roughly 1700 steps from Ravello to Amalfi which takes about 3 hours multiple times on this trip. The kids were troopers. It was hot, but so beautiful. 

• We enjoyed some treats from Pasticceria Pansa Amalfi in the center square. After the walk from Ravello, the kids (and the parents) deserved some sugar. Amalfi is small but cute to walk around. We included a very brief visit to the Amalfi Duomo.

• Amalfi Lemon Experience – We booked a tour here in order to best understand how lemons grow to be 1 kg (2.2 lbs) each and how they are different from the lemons we are used to buying in the supermarket in the United States. We learned so much about the difficulty of farming in this region and came to understand why so many of the houses/farms are abandoned. This was a great experience, complete with limoncello and a recipe on how to make a frozen sugary lemon peel dessert (yes, you eat the peels!).

• Museum of Paper – After the lemon farm tour the girls elected to dip their feet in the water at the little beach in the town of Amalfi, while the boys still wanted to learn more, so Dave and Kai visited a small museum in an ancient paper mill to see the old process of making paper.

• Boat to Capri – It was Kai’s 9th birthday, so we decided to splurge on a private boat trip to celebrate the day and to check out the island of Capri. Although in the coming years, we would spend a lot of time on these boat trips, this was really the first of its kind for us and it was an awesome way to experience Capri. Although it’s not a place we would go back to (we’re not into overpriced food and luxury window shopping), it was fun to see especially – because it’s so famous. 

• Torre Cangiani Agriturismo and Organic Farm in Massa Lubrense near Sorrento- This is a beautifully run hotel with plenty of space for us and a delicious breakfast made with all local products. We also loved this tree (Italian stone pine) and spent a lot of time around it at sunset.

• Kebabs at Ciampa and N’hambu in Sorrento – After weeks of only Italian food, we were craving some different kinds of spices. Dave found two kebab places, and we jumped on them. Maybe it’s not what most people eat when they travel to Sorrento, but we liked them! 

Naples

July 2018 – 1 day with the family

• Pizza – Pizza – Pizza!  Everyone knows that pizza was first invented in Naples as a fast, affordable, and tasty meal for working Neapolitans in a hurry. So, it’s hard for us to hear the word Naples and not immediately salivate and think of the pizza we ate here on our short one-day trip into the city. If we could only eat one thing for the rest of our lives, this might be it. Dave of course had an entire pizza tour “scheduled” for us but was extremely disappointed after we all were full after a few pies at Gino e Toto Sorbillo. 

• Galleria Borrbonica  – This was a great tour of the tunnels originally dug during the 1600s and used by the Borbonne family to avoid the commoners. It also functioned as a cistern and connected the many aqueducts of the city. More recently, it was used extensively during World War II by the local people to avoid bombardments by the Allies. 

Pompeii

July 2018 – 1 day trip from Naples with the family

• Although it was hot, it was impossible to not spend a few hours visiting Pompeii, a Roman town from the 7th century BC that was literally frozen in time following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. As with a lot of the historical sites, we depended on Rick Steve’s audio guide to point out all the highlights, trying to shuttle the giggling children past the erotic images in the “secret room”. Seriously though, visit Pompeii. It’s amazing. And it helped us to understand why the bathrooms in Italy are so functional. The Italians definitely understand plumbing.

Ischia 

August 2018 – 4 days with the family

Ischia was another recommendation from somebody we met that said we “absolutely can’t miss it”. It really was a hidden gem, a tremendously green island with thermal spas. A quick ferry ride from Naples, it’s a great place to tag on for a few days after visiting the city. We soon learned (after the hotel picked up all 5 of us and our luggage in a tiny car) that we should have rented a car from the port. The hotel did provide transfers to the port and there are buses, but the island is really too big and too hilly to depend on walking on foot or biking. We generally like having the flexibility of the car.  We mostly spent our time on this island exploring the thermal spas and doing some hiking. Oh, and learning how to drive on tiny hilly roads! This would prove to be a very useful skill when we returned to Turin in a few weeks. 

• Pera di Basso Agriturismo – We loved this property high on the hill in Ischia. Google maps failed us multiple times trying to find our way back (in fact, the owner had to come to guide us late one night after dinner), but its hidden location was so picturesque. They had beautiful landscaping, a pool, and a good breakfast.

• La Grotta da Fiore – One should always climb to the highest point for the best views, and it was no exception on the island of Ischia. This entailed about a 40 minute climb up a rocky path, but the views were tremendous and there was a nice restaurant with super friendly people at the top –  ready to provide a cold beer. And we saw a woman walking a baby goat with her 2 dogs on the way back down. That alone was worth it. 

• Dolce è La Vita Pasticceria e Gelateria – After working so hard on the hike, we deserved gelato by the water. This place hit the spot.  

• Parco Termale Giardini Poseidon – These thermal spas on Ischia were incredible. This one was massive, with sections directly on the beach and many pools to choose from.

• Negombo Thermal Baths – We had such a nice day at the Poseidon thermal baths, that we went to this one the next day. This one was also huge and had some adults-only sections for some extra relaxation. Lynn also had a (naked) massage here. Always a new experience being in Italy!

• Castello Aragonese d’Ischia – We didn’t get the chance to go here during the day and take a tour, but we walked the long bridge towards it, and it was beautiful to see at night. We also had a great meal at Porcavacca Steak House.

Next time we go to Campania…

 We will DEFINITELY have more pizza. Kai is now an avid fan of Napoli so we will need to catch a Napoli football match in between eating all the pizza. Visit the Museo Cappella Sansevero and the Royal Palace of Caserta. We also now have Napoletani friends who rave about another island close to Ischia called Procida, so we would love to check that out with them sometime.  

This is part of our Italy Summer Road Trip – check out the previous stop on our trip – Campania – or the next stop – Florence

Have any questions or suggestions? Post them in the comments below or contact us at LewinAvventura@gmail.com.