A week in Campania: a great tour through art, history, sea and food

Every self-respecting tour of Campania can always and only start from one place: Naples. After checking in at the designated hotel, you will have time until dinner time to visit the surroundings in total autonomy to discover new places and interesting views: a quick tour before meeting the tour manager who will explain the development of the whole week followed by a welcome cocktail that will anticipate dinner and overnight stay. But in case you aren't tired to rest but contrary to the idea of ​​discovering the city of Naples at night, a walk in the surroundings is more than legitimate, not forgetting the destinations of the next day that will lead you to discover the city of Pompeii and of Herculaneum, custodians of the millenary history that they tell thanks to its open-air excavations, UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Breakfast at the designated hotel and then departure to nearby Pompeii, less than half an hour by bus from Naples: walking the streets dating back two thousand years, a tour guide will provide you with a 360 degree experience on the civilization that resided once upon a time, guaranteeing you a unique historical-cultural experience in the world. The findings of the archaeological excavations, begun at the behest of Charles III of Bourbon, are one of the best testimonies of Roman life, as well as the best preserved city of that time, destroyed by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano in 96 AD. The archaeological park, together with that of Oplonti and Herculaneum, where you will be accompanied as a result of your stay at the archaeological site of Pompeii, is a world heritage site and the most visited in Italy after the Pantheon and the Colosseum in Rome. The rich experience will keep you busy for the whole day and you will return to Naples at the designated hotel only around dinner time.

After the typical breakfast at the designated hotel, a bus will not wait for you for your next excursion, but a ferry that will take you to discover the island of Capri: the pearl of the Tyrrhenian Sea, a natural jewel set in the blue waters that surround. The trip will be short, given the proximity to the Gulf of Naples, in such a way as to extend the time spent on the fantastic island. During the visit, you will be taken to Villa San Michele, a museum itinerary that overlooks the sea as if it were a balcony, and to the floral spectacle of the Gardens of Augustus from which you can look out to admire the famous Faraglioni, a naturalistic peculiarity of the island, and Marina Piccola, located on the shoulder of Marina Grande, the main port of Capri. You will have free time for a good coffee in the main streets of the island and to get lost in the small streets, noting the typical culture and traditions. A ferry will take you back to Naples, for dinner at the designated hotel and overnight stay.

The day finally arrives when, for the whole day, you can visit the places of main historical, cultural and artistic interest in Naples. After breakfast at the hotel, a bus will take you to discover the city through a panoramic tour in motion, with an obligatory stop at Piazza del Plebiscito from which your pedestrian tour will begin: you will visit the historic center, from the Church of S. Chiara with the Cloister at the Cathedral of San Gennaro, and again from the artisan shops of S. Gregorio Armeno to the historical-monumental sites that surround them. For lunch, the peculiar food of the city is a must, known all over the world, which has the city of Naples as its origin: pizza. After tasting the ancient flavor coveted by every palate, you will visit the main street of the city, Via Toledo, to which the most beautiful metro stop in Europe has been dedicated, capable of generating a play of colors directed through a reflection of lights upward. The visit continues to other places of attraction, successive to each other due to their proximity, including Galleria Umberto I next to Piazza del Plebiscito, the exterior of the San Carlo Theater, the Royal Palace, the Maschio Angioino and finally Piazza Municipio.

Day dedicated to the discovery of the Sorrento Coast and the Amalfi Coast. The first location will be Sorrento, eternal beauty overlooking the sea, and its historic center. Then a bus will take you further south, where the Sorrento Coast embraces the Amalfi Coast, with an obligatory one-hour stop at Positano, and then continue to Amalfi by motorboat (weather permitting), where you will have lunch and spend the whole afternoon: a day full of colors, characterized by paradisiacal naturalistic panoramas accompanied by the superb architectural riches that both coasts preserve. A speedboat will take you to the city of Salerno (weather permitting) where a bus will be waiting for you to take you back to your hotel in Naples for dinner and overnight stay.

Day dedicated to the town of Paestum, famous for its open-air archaeological museum. Paestum is an ancient city of Magna Graecia called by the Greeks "Poseidonia" in honor of the god Poseidon, despite being very devoted to other divinities such as Athena and Hera. You will find all these references by visiting the ancient temples of the archaeological area, together with the entire Greek history that the locality still intends to tell today despite the passing of the centuries. Lunch will be served at a local farm, where you can enjoy another culinary excellence born in Campania: mozzarella, along with other typical buffalo products. You will be guided not only through a tour of flavors, but also of traditions, observing the various stages of processing the grapes destined to become wine. Before returning to the hotel in Naples, you will stop in Salerno for a walk along the seafront and on the main street.

The last day will be dedicated to the discovery of the city of Caserta and its Royal Palace. Built and built between the mid-1700s, it was completed almost a hundred years later and includes the historic royal palace and the adjoining park, including private gardens, fountains and a fish pond. Commissioned by Carlo di Borbone, king of Naples and Sicily, based on a project by Luigi Vanvitelli and the support of Carlo Vanvitelli, it is the largest royal residence in the world by volume with an area of ​​47,000 m². After lunch, the return to Naples is scheduled for a last visit to the city given the free afternoon available, to enjoy the last sunset over the sea before departure, scheduled for the following day.