Naples first, loud and unedited, then the vertical coast to the south. Pompeii and Herculaneum with an archaeologist, the markets of the Pignasecca with a local host, and lemon terraces above Amalfi. Coach access on the coast is planned around the hours when the road works.
Arrival at Capodichino and transfer to the hotel in Chiaia or the historic centre. The afternoon is free. Welcome dinner in the Spanish Quarter, with a first sense of a city that does nothing quietly.
Morning through the Pignasecca market with a local host, buying what will be cooked, followed by lunch prepared and eaten together. In the afternoon, the Cappella Sansevero and the Veiled Christ, then Spaccanapoli on foot. Evening free.
Full day at Pompeii with a working archaeologist, entering early with timed tickets, and Herculaneum in the afternoon, smaller and better preserved. Lunch at a family trattoria between the two sites.
Morning at the Naples Archaeological Museum, seen after the excavations rather than before, so the mosaics and bronzes have somewhere to belong. Lunch in the city. Transfer along the coast in the early afternoon, outside the worst of the road traffic, to the base for four nights.
Morning at Ravello, with the gardens of Villa Rufolo and Villa Cimbrone and the terrace above the gulf. Independent lunch in the square. The afternoon is free, with an optional walk down the old stepped path towards Atrani.
A private boat along the coastline, seeing the villages the way they were built to be seen, with swimming stops for those who want them and lunch in a harbour reachable by sea. Return in the late afternoon.
Morning on a lemon terrace above Amalfi, with the family who works it, and a tasting of what they make from it. In the afternoon, the Greek temples at Paestum, among the best preserved anywhere. Farewell dinner on the coast.
Morning transfer to Naples airport or the Salerno station for onward connections, with the coastal road taken early to avoid the mid-morning congestion.
Splendido private tours
