Italy Vacation

[Dodgey]

For the first time in my working life I have managed to get THREE weeks vacation! Something of a celebration in itself, though really it's our 40th wedding anniversary, so we thought we would take a trip to Rome, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius before heading further South. So my question is, have I got enough time to do all I want to do and where is the best places to stay at?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. (lol)

[Caddies104]

Hi

In a word NO... But.. If you drive for long lengths of time, perhaps you could get there and back in 3 weeks, but you would miss the beauty of the journey down there..

We were going to do Northern Italy last year, but found it a bit of a rush to get there and back in 5 weeks as we wanted to spend a week or two in Annecy, but good luck and hope you have a good time..

 

 

[lennyhb]

Short answer no not unless all you want to do for 3 weeks is drive, Naples is nearly 1900km (1200m) from Calais. To do do what you suggest to do it justice you need 5-6 weeks at least, Just to see all the sites in Rome you need a week. I would go for the Italian Lakes or Tuscany or bit of both.

[Guest JudgeMental]

enough to time visit a Northern lake or 2 and/or Tuscany...you wont regret it. Last 7 years to Italy during summer. last year including Tuscany and probably going back again this summer..

[Tony Jones]

Our only trip to Italy (so far!) was in 2003.

We had three weeks and only got as far down as Sienna, but we did spend a couple of days in Bavaria on the way down, and deliberately left ourselves a bit of extra time for a gentle meander back through France.

On the other hand, we did the whole stretch from Calais to Bavaria at full tilt, putting the hammer down along the Autobahns and no looking at scenery.

 

Based on that one experience, MAYBE you could get further down, and have a worthwhile visit there, in three weeks, but only if you kept travel time to a minimum by some all-day 130kph drives.

 

Personally, I'd want a bit more time if I was going that far.

[myshell]

Sorry Dodgey but I have to agree with other replies to your post, it's just not feasible to do that in just 3 weeks, unless you are both sharing the driving (and driving almost non stop without seeing any of the sights) you would need at least 2 to 3 days to see Rome & Vatican City, 1 day for Pompei, 1 day for Herculaneum and 1 day for Mount Vesuvius so that has eaten away 6 days of your second honeymoon without even seeing The Bay of Naples, Sorrento, Isle of Capri or the Amalfi Coast. If you do manage to get to Pompei there are 3 campsites all within 5 mins walk of the ruins, non of them are very salubrious but Camping Spartacus on Via Plinio is the best of the 3, it's just a matter of crossing the main road, through a small out door market, turn left up the hill towards the train station (Circumvesuviana) and the main entrance to Pompei is directly opposite the train stn.

Regards

Phil

[Arthur Brown]

Hi

You have to decide whether you want to race from place to place without the time to take in what is available or cut short the wish list and spend quality time at much less. You can drive like a demon and spend time around the bay of Naples. Beautiful area and places like Pompeii are mind blowing but to do that in three weeks you will miss such a lot racing to get there and back. In view of the circumstances may I suggest Rome is your target and really enjoy it. Enjoy your trip down and back. Take say a week to get to Rome, a week in Rome and a week to return via an alternative route. It would be a pity to spoil your first three week vacation by trying to do too much. So much to see. Whatever you decide, enjoy and drive carefully.

Art

[Brian Kirby]

Dodgey - 2013-02-12 4:54 PM

 

For the first time in my working life I have managed to get THREE weeks vacation! Something of a celebration in itself, though really it's our 40th wedding anniversary, so we thought we would take a trip to Rome, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius before heading further South. So my question is, have I got enough time to do all I want to do and where is the best places to stay at?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. (lol)

I agree with the above. I think what everyone is really saying is, do the research.

 

How many hours per day do you want to drive? How much ground do you really expect to cover in those hours? How many days on end do you want to carry on driving in that way? How much time will you spend shopping, and how often? What about doing the washing etc?

 

We don't know where you live, how you would cross the Channel, or what van you have, so have no idea what are realistic average driving speeds, or how long it will take you even to get to/from France. Just apply what you know to the total distance and work out how far, realistically, you think you will get before the plan becomes the monster that destroys all pleasure.

 

We took our van in 2006 and went as far south as Lecce, in Apulia (on the heel of the boot, about 3,000km from home). We spent 11 weeks there and back, total distance 6050km. The longest we stayed anywhere was 5 days. You are considering doing something like the same distance on 3 weeks. Like the others, I honestly don't think it will work.

 

If you haven't been before, go to Venice, and just relax. It is about 1,600km, so reasonably manageable, and it is not for nothing that it is called La Serenissima! Plenty to see and do, and a fantastic place to just walk around (don't take the vaporettos, though, they have become punitively expensive, and IMO the best thing to do with a gondola is watch other people being sculled around in them. Plenty of reasonable restaurants if you avoid the obvious hotspots, and a really beautiful, quiet, other-worldly place to just slowly enjoy.

[Delfin Driver]

I have to say I disagree with the previous postings. If we all had to wait till we can have weeks to spend on a trip, we would have seen nothing. If you want to see the Bay of Naples in 3 weeks, it is perfectly feasible, if you are prepared to drive a reasonable distance each day and don't dilly dally too much.

 

I lived in Naples for 3 years in the 70s and my parents were so enamoured with the place that they drove out for 10 days at a time - from GLASGOW! And the motorways were nothing like they are now. All my holidays as a child were mostly taken in Italy, with a caravan, in 3 weeks and from Glasgow. We visited Sicily, Gibraltar, Yugoslavia and the Neapolitan area umpteen times. If my parents had waited until they could have a month or more, we would have seen nothing. We also have taken our children to the area, only coming from Oxford, with a motorhome and managed to spend time there, in Umbria, Tuscany and Switzerland on the way there and back. We only ever had 3 weeks' holiday and wanting my children to see all we could show them, we were prepared to do as much as we could in the time. Spending weeks in France just because it is close doesn't appeal to some of us. There is a big world out there and with a bit of planning, you can get to a variety of places

 

You will love Rome, Sorrento. Pompei etc. I say go for it- life is short and you have to do all you can in the time you have available. Don't attempt to drive in Naples itself- take the by-pass routes, but it is really worthwhile going to visit. It would make for a wonderful trip and if you sensibly decide to go ahead with your trip, I would be more than happy to give advice on what to see and do.

 

Susan

[Guest JudgeMental]

while I agree with Susan in some respects, I think it better to plan properly and do manageable chunks, keeping the holiday enjoyable and memorable rather then a whistle stop tour.

 

before retirement I have driven from Spain to french port in a day, and to Italy with one overnight stop before now. Always at night when roads quiet a big help. with kids and wife asleep....tough on me but they used to wake up on the Med. Catch the evening tunnel and could be on the cote de azur for mid morning next day.... :-D

[robin.frith]

I would have thought that it was possible. 4 days to Naples. 1 day each at Pompeii, Vesuvius, Sorrento & Capri, Amalfi and Positano, Naples and archaeological museum. You might want longer in some of these but at least you could visit them all. Best to stay outside Naples - we were at piano di Sorrento and Vico Equense. The sites in Pompeii can be quite noisy and some of the cabins appeared to be rented by the hour by couples who did not want to be identified. That would leave plenty of time to travel back via Rome and even Florence or Siena. Good luck with your trip.

[peterjl]

Hi

 

Yes it is doable as long as you are realistic about how much time you have at certain places. Certainly i have returned twice from Bologna in 2 days (one overnight stop) because i needed to get home for various reasons. You would need another 2 days to get to Rome. So if you took a rest day at Bologna thats 5 days to Rome.

 

As to camp sites, you don't say when you are going. For Rome Camping Flaminio is ideal but can be expensive. We used camping Cheques for that site sooo if you are going in the camping cheque period that can save you loads of money + the journey into Rome by train is quick and easy. Its also cycleable along the river if you are so inclined. Rome was great, we had planned for 3 days and stayed for a full 5 days.

 

For Pompeii we just stayed in one of the sites oposite the entrance; not ideal but position was great to see the ruins. You could stay and see the ruins then move on next day and visit Vesuvius. I did see motorhomes up at the top parking but space is tight (just parked to see the site). Again it depends when you are going, if out of season it shouldn't be a problem, in season rather you than me.

 

I must admit did not bother with Naples, read about it and thought "thats not for me".

 

I don't think i would try for anyfurther south. You are already a long way from home and if you find you have the time you could always come back via Venice! You can get home in 2 long days from venice.

 

Enjoy your trip

 

Peter