Ancient ruins, island ferries, a coastal road trip & a volcano summit
Three Italys in one trip: the ancient capital, the Amalfi Coast, and a full loop of eastern Sicily by rental car. It runs Rome → Naples → Ischia → Pompeii → the Amalfi Coast, then flies to Catania to circle Mount Etna, Taormina and Ortigia.
From Al centro di Roma we did a guided Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill morning, an eerie afternoon in the Catacombs and Capuchin Crypt, and a full Vatican day. Skip-the-line entries are worth every euro here.
A train to Naples and a hands-on traditional cooking class, then the morning ferry to the thermal-spa island of Ischia — a rented scooter, hot springs, hidden beaches and a sunset. The perfect palate-cleanser between the ruins and the coast.
Back on the mainland we picked up the rental car and toured Pompeii with an archaeologist — the best-preserved Roman city in the world — before basing a night in Sorrento.
The famous cliff road: stops in Positano and Amalfi, a wine tour above Tramonti, and two slow nights in Praiano for beach days and a boat tour. Drive it yourself if you dare; the views are relentless.
A short flight to Catania opened the Sicily loop: a guided summit hike on Mount Etna to 3,400 m across the moonscape, wine at a farm-stay on the volcano’s flank in Randazzo, beach days in Milazzo, and a final night in beautiful Ortigia with a lunch stop in Taormina.
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