Manzi Hospitality

Chances are a trip up Mount Vesuvius (50 minutes’ drive) may be first on your sightseeing list; you can choose a guided tour or take yourself up there on foot – the view over the Bay of Naples is simply spectacular. If you’ve got kids with you, they may prefer a day playing on bumper cars and 3D simulators at Vesuviuslandia (20 minutes). Destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii (35 minutes) deserves at least a day’s attention; there is so much to see, from the frescoes in the Villa of the Mysteries to the colonnades and pillars of the Forum and the well-preserved Stabian Baths. Herculaneum (half an hour) suffered in the same eruption, but areas of it have remained relatively intact; check out the glittering mosaics in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite. The Campania coastline also beckons; Vietri sul Mare (40 minutes) is known for its sandy beaches and ceramic shops, and the nerve-tingling drive along the Amalfi Coast (an hour) is rewarded with bijou towns like Positano (about an hour and a half) clinging to precipitous cliffs. Heading north, Naples (25 minutes) is an intriguing city full of cultural museums, churches and catacombs.