Lonely Planet Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast , livre ebook

Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast
Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast’s Top 10
Need to Know
First Time Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast
If You Like…
Month by Month
Itineraries
Eat & Drink Like a Local
Activities
Travel with Children
Regions at a Glance

On The Road

Naples, Pompeii & Around
Naples
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
Campi Flegrei
Pozzuoli & Around
Lucrino, Baia & Bacoli
Bay of Naples
Herculaneum (Ercolano)
Mt Vesuvius
Pompeii
Historical Riches
The Baroque
The Islands
Capri
Capri Town
Anacapri & Around
Marina Grande
Ischia
Ischia Porto & Ischia Ponte
Lacco Ameno
Forio & the West Coast
Sant’Angelo & the South Coast
Procida
Lazy Beach Days
The Amalfi Coast
Sorrento
Sorrento Peninsula
Massa Lubrense
Sant’Agata sui due Golfi
Marina del Cantone
Amalfi Coast Towns
Positano
Praiano
Furore
Amalfi
Ravello
Minori
Cetara
Vietri sul Mare
Salerno & the Cilento
Salerno
Cilento Coast
Paestum
Agropoli
Castellabate & Around
Acciaroli to Pisciotta
Palinuro & Around
Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni
Accommodation
Naples
Centro Storico
Toledo & Quartieri Spagnoli
La Sanità & Capodimonte
Santa Lucia & Chiaia
The Islands
Capri
Ischia
Procida
The Amalfi Coast
Sorrento
Massa Lubrense
Sant’Agata sui due Golfi
Marina del Cantone
Positano
Praiano
Furore
Amalfi
Ravello & Around
Cetara
Salerno & the Cilento
Salerno
Paestum
Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni
Agropoli
Castellabate & Around
Acciaroli to Pisciotta
Palinuro & Around

Understand

Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast Today
History
The Arts
The Neapolitan Way of Life
Saints & Superstitions
The Campanian Table
Architecture
The Subterranean City
The Camorra

Survival Guide

Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Climate
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBT+ Travellers
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Work
Transport
Entering Campania
Air
Land
Sea
Getting Around
Air
Bicycle
Boat
Bus
Car & Motorcycle
Local Transport
Train
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast

Campania is the Italy of your wildest dreams: a rich, intense, hypnotic ragù of vibrant street life, decadent palaces, pastel-hued villages and aria-inspiring vistas.

History & Art
Few corners of Europe can match Campania’s cultural conundrums. Should you spend the morning waltzing through chandeliered Bourbon bedrooms or the frescoed villa of a Roman emperor’s wife? And which of Caravaggio’s canvases should you see first: the multiscene masterpiece inside Naples’ Pio Monte della Misericordia, the violent showstopper inside the hilltop Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte, or the artist’s swansong inside the belle-époque Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano? Campania’s blockbuster heritage will set your imagination alight with its chariot grooves, frescoes and heart-stirring sculptures.

Natural Highs
Mother Nature let loose in Italy’s south, creating an adventure playground of rugged mountains, steaming fumaroles and ethereal coastal grottoes. Crank up the pulse rate cave-diving off the Capri coast or go mountain-bike riding and grotto roaming in the Parco Nazionale del Cilento, Vallo di Diano e Alburni. Need to bring it down a notch? Go horseback riding on the slopes of Mt Vesuvius, sail the Amalfi Coast or soak at a thermal beach on Ischia. The options may be many, but there’s one constant: a landscape that is beautiful, diverse and ethereal.

Culinary Riches
Campania is a never-ending feast: bubbling, wood-fired pizza in Naples, long lunches at Cilento agriturismi (farm-stay accommodation) and lavish pastries at celebrity-status Amalfi Coast pasticcerie (pastry shops). Should you tuck into coniglio all’Ischitana (Ischian-style rabbit) at an island trattoria? Pick up some famous colatura di alici (anchovy essence) in Cetara? Or just kick back with a crisp Falanghina and debate which has the creamier buffalo mozzarella – Caserta or Paestum?

Southern Lifestyle
Campanians have a way of making other Italians seem just a little uptight. Despite the demands of modern life, there is always time for an impromptu espresso at the local bar or a bite of juicy gossip on a sun-bleached piazza. One minute you’re choosing produce at a street market, the next you’re in the middle of a feverish discussion of the weather, the in-laws or Napoli’s on-field performance. No one is a stranger for long, and a casual chiacchiera (chat) could easily land you at the bountiful table of your new best friend.

Amalfi Coast | MARK READ/LONELY PLANET ©

Why I Love Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast
By Cristian Bonetto, Writer
My family might hail from Italy’s north, but my heart is tied tightly to Naples and Campania. This is the nation at its most intense, a place of brawny espresso in scorching cups and hairpin coastal roads. The region thrives on drama, from opulent palazzi (mansions) replete with scandalous tales to ghostly ruins in the shadow of Vesuvius. That the Bay of Naples resembles a giant amphitheatre is hardly coincidental. Bursting with twists, turns and inimitable pathos, no other corner of the bel paese (beautiful country) makes me feel so incredibly alive.
For more see Our Writers
Naples, Pompeii & the Amalfi Coast’s Top 10

Positano
Pearl of the Amalfi Coast, vertiginous Positano is scandalously stunning, a picture-perfect composition of pastel-coloured houses tumbling down towards a deep indigo sea. This effortless beauty also informs its skinny, pedestrian streets, lined with chic boutiques for fussy Italian and foreign fashionistas. If fabulous food inspires you more than fine fabrics, swoon over superlative seafood at legendary La Cambusa. Just don’t forget Positano’s less-famous neighbour, Praiano, a tranquil corner on this clamorous coast where locals, rather than tourists, fill the piazza benches and bars.

LEOKS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Pompeii
A once-thriving Roman town frozen for all time in its 2000-year-old death throes, the ruins of Pompeii are a haunting reminder of Mother Nature’s merciless force and the fleeting nature of life itself. Wander Roman streets, the column-lined forum, the city brothel, the 5000-seat theatre and the richly frescoed Villa dei Misteri and ponder Pliny the Younger’s terrifying account of the tragedy: ‘Darkness came on again, again ashes, thick and heavy. We got up repeatedly to shake these off; otherwise we would have been buried and crushed by the weight.’

JON DAVISON/LONELY PLANET ©

Top Experiences
Amalfi Coast Trails
The charms of the Amalfi Coast stretch way beyond the glittering baubles of the coastal towns. Venture inland and you find meandering footpaths that, prior to 1840, were the only way people got around on dry land. Orange groves, pine trees, wild orchids and crumbling ruins flank the trails amid landscapes that shift and change according to the light and time of year. Yet one thing remains constant: the breathtaking coastal views. If you are seeking something suitably divine, succumb to the Sentiero degli Dei , the ‘Path of the Gods’.

MARK READ/LONELY PLANET ©

Top Experiences
Grotta Azzurra
Capri’s craggy coast is studded with more than a dozen sea caves, most accessible and spectacular, but none as justifiably famous as the Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto). Charted since antiquity, the cave is rendered especially ethereal by its iridescent blue light. What’s the secret, you ask? It’s all in the refraction of sunlight through the water, reflected off shimmering white sand. The result is an electric-blue marvel that Walt Disney could only dream of. Accessing the cave is an experience in itself: on a little wooden rowboat complete with singing captain.

AGF SRL/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ©

Top Experiences
Ravello
Lofty Ravello exudes a tantalising sense of beauty, idle luxury and the past, its illustrious legion of fans inc-luding Virginia Woolf and Truman Capote. Perched above the Amalfi Coast, the town bristles with sumptuous churches, palaces and villas. Among the latter is Villa Rufolo, its romantic gardens famously inspiring the German composer Richard Wagner. In commemoration, a summer festival of classical music is held on its terrace, a fabulous event best booked ahead.

Villa Rufolo gardens | BLUEJAYPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Museo Archeologico Nazionale
A treasure chest of ancient art and propaganda, Naples’ Museo Archeologico Nazionale is one of the world’s most important archaeological museums. It’s here that you’ll find the commanding Toro Farnese (Farnese Bull), the largest sculptural group to have survived from antiquity. The epic piece keeps fine company, from exquisitely detailed mosaics and glassware to vibrant frescoes that once adorned ancient villas.

Mosaic detail from Pompeii, battle of Alexander and Darius | GREG ELMS/LONELY PLANET ©

Top Experiences
Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte
It’s just as well that Charles IV of Bourbon built big: his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, handed down one serious hoard of art and antiquities. The collection is a sumptuous feast of commanding canvases and tapestries, elegant sculptures and dainty ceramics, with just a splash of contemporary paintings and installations. Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte might be one of Italy’s less-famous collections, but it’s also one of its best, spanning over seven centuries of creativity and showcasing greats including Masaccio, Raphael, Caravaggio and Warhol.

GIMAS/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experience