My last week in Campania, southwestern Italy, so I’ve been trying to squeeze in more ‘must sees’ in this area! Later this week I head to central Italy to visit Siena, Assisi and Orvieto in Tuscany and Umbria regions for my final week of great food, weather and wine.
Mt Vesuvio is accessible from Pompeii town, then a 45-minute drive to the drop-off point by bus. Not a great start that morning, my train to Pompeii was cancelled and the next train was late so I missed my booked time slot. But, the folks at the office managed to squeeze me in the next tour leaving so that was nice. An amazing view of the Bay and City of Naples is visible from this bus ride up the mountain. After getting dropped off, there is still a rather steep 1km or so hike up to the crater (great views though)!
The trail is scree, a loose pebbly consistency common on mountain slopes (I remember Kili!) and I wished that I had worn my trail sneakers for a better grip. I reach the crater and all I could think of is: This is the ONLY ACTIVE VOLCANO on the European continent. Thankfully I didn’t witness any smoke! They did a pretty good job at the top, building a trail around a good portion of the crater to look down into the abyss. An enjoyable day on the mountain looming high above Naples, visible for miles and miles.
Another popular destination, high above the Amalfi Coast, is a town called Ravello. Again, transportation links failed me when the bus that takes you from the coastal highway up the hill to Ravello was full after leaving Amalfi and it drove right by. Oh well, Google tells me it’s 5KM uphill to walk it, so what the heck! Nothing is flat around here anyway!
The town entrance is dramatic with stone archways to welcome you and then a pleasant piazza facing the Duomo to hang out, have some lunch and of course, people-watch.
I visit Villa Rufolo in the centre of town – a palace dating back to the 13th century that is a real showpiece of Ravello. Built with Moorish and Norman architectural influences, huge gardens, cloisters and amazing views – it was quite spectacular.
I grabbed a bus back to Amalfi to catch the ferry, where I can sit back and get one last glance of Ravello from the sea. Yep, that is it, way-way up on top of that hill.
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