The Most Amazing Day Trips From Naples, Italy You Must Take

Hi, I’m Kim, The Abundant Traveler, and welcome to the channel! If you’re new here, I put out laid-back luxury travel videos inspiring you to buy that plane ticket, get out there, and go see the world!

This video is tips, tricks, and inspiration about different day trips you can see when you’re visiting the city of Naples. Naples is known for being a jumping-off point and I can tell you why. There is so much in the area to see and do and Naples has a great international, easy to get in and out airport. So, this video is all about going to Sorrento and Amalfi and Procida, going to see all the sites around the city of Naples. So, let’s go ahead and get started.

Not only does Naples have a wonderful airport and an easy, in and out train system since it’s a major city, it also has a major port with lots of cruises and ferries. And a lot of the places that I’m going to recommend today, really the best way to get there is by ferry, including going to Sorrento, Procida, Ischia, going around to Amalfi and Positano and Capri. You can see all of those cities by going by ferry.

Before we head out into the Bay of Naples and going on a ferry to some of the day trip places, the first place I’m going to recommend is going to Caserta, which is a palace of the Bourbon kings built in the 18th century. This palace has five stories, it has more than 1200 rooms. What is unique about this area is that they have the beautiful, they’re known for their gardens – 11 hectares of gardens. They have the beautiful English gardens as well as the wild or the more native trees and everything because it was actually a hunting lodge for the Bourbon kings. This is a definite must; it’s like going to Versailles or going to some of the castles around St. Petersburg but without all the masses of crowds. It’s about a 20 minute to 30 minute ride on the bus from the port or on the train from the main train station, relatively easy to get there and well worth your day trip.

And if you’re headed to Naples and the Amalfi coast, make sure to go to the description below and click my free packing guide. It is a free download that will tell you everything that you’re going to need from hiking to biking to Pompeii to day trips to catamarans to whatever you’re going to be doing from Naples and in Naples. So, check out my free packing guide in the description below.

The next day trip that you have to take, and is also inland, you have to go see Pompeii. Why would you not go to Naples and see Pompeii? It’s an absolutely incredible experience from the architecture and the mosaics. It is so worth going to see Pompeii. Make sure to do a tour, possibly in the morning, and then spend your afternoon going about on your own maybe with the audio guide. It is so worth it and it’s so crazy to think how they’re so different than we were in 79 A.D when they were frozen in time, and how similar the people were. Also, the easiest way to get there is by bus or by train from the main train station. If you’d like all the details about Pompeii, make sure to watch my video on Pompeii.

And the final thing that I recommend that you do in Naples when you’re going to stay inland is going to Mount Vesuvius and go to one of the wineries. It’s a – I mean Mount Vesuvius, are you kidding me? It’s a pseudo-active volcano, how cool is that to go up and hike around the top of the volcano, come back down and then go to one of the local Campania wineries. It’s incredible when you get grapes grown on volcanic rock; it gives this mineral and texture and so the wineries right around Mount Vesuvius are incredible. I went to one, I had a delicious lunch, plenty of wine, and of course, I had a driver to get home. So, final stop if you are staying in and around Naples and not going out on the water is to do Mount Vesuvius and go see a winery. It’s a great day trip.

So, while we’re talking about heading towards the water, one of the best things to do in Naples is to take a boat trip and spend the whole day on the boat, like 11 or 12 hours. You can have the boat captain take you anywhere – if you want to go to Pozzuoli or you want to go to Sorrento or you want to go over to the Blue Grotto in Capri, taking a boat on the Med, especially in this area, is absolutely spectacular. And also, not to worry about all these suggestions that i am making, I have left links to everything in the description below. From great boat captains to private drivers to tours to everything, even a few hotels that might work in each area if you decide to spend the night.

Those two places were inland, now let’s head to the coast. The first place I’m going to recommend, we’re going to head up north on the Bay of Naples, from Naples, we are going to Pozzuoli. You have to say it like this – Pozzuoli. It is where my catamaran took off for my week catamaran around the Amalfi. What an experience! Pozzuoli is known for, it has like the third largest roman amphitheater. They have amazing Roman ruins as well. The coolest thing that i saw while i was in Pozzuoli was, there is a roman villa underneath the water. So, you can actually go scuba diving or snorkeling and go see all the mosaics and the well and the structures under water. It is such a cool experience. A couple other things to see on your day trip to Pazzuoli is Sybil’s Cave and where you can see the tunnel that the romans could take chariots through. That is like the first major highway tunnel ever. You can also go underground, which is a really cool experience, go underground and see the way that the romans lived in their market city because it was on the port and it was a major port at that time. So, to get to Pazzuoli from Naples, it’s about a 20-25 minute taxi ride and a taxi is going to be about 40 euros or you can take a bus or a train. The bus will be going from the port, it’s not very expensive, and the SITA bus are the buses that you want to take back and forth throughout the Bay of Naples and the area of Campania.

The fourth and fifth place that I recommend for day trips, people try and decide between one or the other but the two are very different even though they are both tiny volcanic islands. One is Procida and one is Ischia. The ferry goes from the Naples port four times a day to Procida and it’s about 30 minutes. Procida is very easy to get around by bike or e-bike. There’s the main port on one side and then the little port for the catamarans and the smaller fishing boats on the other. Literally, it is one town with one basically, one road up and down. You can walk from one port to the other in about 25 minutes. It is uphill and back down, if you’re not much of a walker, so just something to note. The island of Procida is very very small, it’s very quiet, very calm, and it’s super easy to do in a single day.

The second island, which is just next to it, is Ischia. Ischia is much larger, it actually has six little towns on it. The ferry port is on one side, but probably the most popular town to visit is Saint Angelo and that is on the opposite side of the island. It’s going to take you 20 euros or so to go from one side of the island to the other in a taxi and it’s going to take you about 30 minutes, because there is a bus line that goes around the circumference. Just know which direction you’re going so you can decide which way you want to go. Ischia is famous for its thermal baths, as well. It is a volcanic island just like Procida and what is unique here, is they have the hot thermal baths. There are several places throughout the island that you can go, bring your bathing suit, jump in the water, and it’s like you’re in a hot tub. The thing with going to Ischia in a single day, there’s a lot to see and do in one day, so even though I’m recommending it as a day trip, perhaps you want to spend a night or two. And also the ferry goes about 20 times a day to Ischia, so whenever you want to go, you’re good to go, whereas Procida is up about four times a day.

Now that we’ve done the northern part of the Bay of Naples, let’s head south. Our first stop is going to be Sorrento, which is actually the jumping-off point to the Amalfi coast, even though Sorrento is not officially part of the Amalfi. Sorrento is easy to take a ferry or a train or a bus. The ferry, of course I like, being on the water. Plus, there’s no traffic. It also has air conditioning, which the Circumvesuviana train doesn’t have any ac if you’re coming from Naples into Sorrento. Sorrento is on these sheer cliffs, so when you get dropped off at the ferry at the bottom, you have to find a way from down here straight up to the city because the city is actually sitting along the cliff line. The taxis probably not worth it; it’s probably 10 euros. I don’t actually know, we walked, but walking up it is a hike up there so just be prepared when you’re going to Sorrento. Sorrento is a large town, it has tons to see, tons to do. It’s also a great place to stay if you’re going to the Amalfi and want a day trip into different places. Sorrento is a wonderful stop off. While you’re in Sorrento, you can just wander around and enjoy the day, eat, drink spritzes, do a little shopping of the inlaid boxes, the inlaid wood boxes, or you can see the city walls that are originally built from the Greeks that during the Greek times at i think 400 B.C. rebuilt in the 1500s. Or you can go see the museum of the inlaid boxes, the monastery or the cloisters of San Francisco. You can go see the bell tower and the cathedral, you can also go see Villa Comunale, which is where we went in the evening, where you can see Mount Vesuvius on one side and you can see the beautiful sunset on the other. We had an aperol spritz and a nice dinner there, just a little bit of seafood. It was a wonderful way to spend the day in Sorrento.

So, our next stop as we’re going around the coast and headed over to the Amalfi. After we leave Sorrento, we can do a day trip to Capri. Wowza, wow, wowza! Capri is full of people, are you kidding me? Everybody goes for a day trip, so if you only have time for a day trip then do a day trip. But if you can, do spend a night or two on the island of Capri. What is there to do there? Lots of eating, lots of drinking, lots of sightseeing, lots of people-watching, lots of Instagrammable locations. There are incredible restaurants where you can watch the sunset, as well. So, since Capri is an island, then you definitely want to be taking the ferry from Naples. There are about 15 a day and it takes about an hour to an hour and a half depending on the weather. Get that first ferry on and take the last ferry home. Of course, you want to be in line first and last as well, because you don’t want to get stuck if you don’t have accommodation on Capri. It’s well worth going to Capri. Again, I do suggest spending the night at least one night if you can, but if it’s a day trip, take the entire day because more people come in as the day goes on and then they sort of are, everybody’s in town by about 11:30 and then people start leaving around 5 to 5:30. So, if you can take the first one in last one out, that would be my best suggestion.

Now, let’s head around the coast to the south to the Amalfi coast. Now, there are 13 towns that are part of the Amalfi coast and we’re not going to talk about day trips to all of them, we’re just going to talk about a couple of highlights. Let’s talk first and foremost about how to get into the Amalfi. In general, it’s a real pain. My recommendation is do not hire a car. Right now, in 2022, they are only allowing certain license plates ending in even numbers go on certain days and odd numbers go on other days. So, if you have planned it incorrectly, you will be stuck not being able to get into the Amalfi coast with your rental car. Of course, taxis and services can get you into all those cities; they’re exempt from those rules right now. Speaking of getting into the Amalfi, the easiest way to do it is to hire a car or take one of the shuttles from the Naples airport or, you know, a taxi. It’s expensive, it’s going to be 120 to 130 euros to go each direction, but it is so nice not to have to worry about anything and as I just mentioned, it’s a pain to get in and out. There are no direct trains, actually there are no trains along the Amalfi coast. So, you actually have to go take the train from Naples to Sorrento, get off, get on a bus, take a SITA bus up and over to go to one of the towns. The same if you’re going into the Amalfi from the opposite end. If you’re going in from Salerno, you’ve got to go from the Naples airport over to Salerno and then take the SITA bus along the coast. And let me tell you, taking a SITA bus along the coast is a little bit scary! So again, my recommendation is go ahead and hire a car – I mean, hire a driver in a car. They can tell you all those sites and things to see, they can point out all of these amazing things, it’s air conditioned, it’s wonderful. You can kick back and drink an aperol spritz on your way into the Amalfi coast.

So, as far as day trips are concerned, I am going to highlight three towns. Three of the thirteen. I’m going to highlight Positano – how can you not talk about Positano – Amalfi, and the town in the mountains called Ravello.

So, first and foremost, Positano. Lots of tourists, see and be seen, it’s Instagram heaven. You can get your little Postiano shirt like I’m wearing. You can shop till you drop, eat delicious food, hang out. Let me tell you, though, about day trips on the Amalfi. You are doing lots of walking up and down and up and down and up and down. The Amalfi coast is on a cliff. Also in Positano, there’s a couple of small free beaches, but there are some amazing paid for beaches, as well. So, if you bring your bathing suit to Positano, you will be able to get a delicious swim. If you want to know everything about Positano, make sure to check out my videos on the city, but today I’m just talking about quick day trips.

That’s the first one. Next and number two day trip to take into the Amalfi coast is actually the town of Amalfi, not to be confused with the coast but the town of Amalfi. This is the major port city. It’s where all the SITA buses meet and it’s their hub. It is where most of the ferries come in, as well. One thing that I recommend if you’re going to go into the town of Amalfi, is do the lemon experience. It’s kind of cool to go check out these amazing Amalfi coast lemons that can be this big, taste them, see how the process works, see how they you know they put together their limoncello, taste the delicious foods, you can go to lunch there, as well. There’s also great shopping in Amalfi, as well, and there’s a beach right there in town that you can go to. So, well worth doing a day trip to the town of Amalfi.

Now the third town that I recommend going to see if you’re just taking a day trip from Naples is going to see Ravello. Ravello is up in the mountains and it is a beautiful, charming town. Again, take a driver, have the driver pick you up really early in the morning and have him take you home really really late at night. Ravello is known for being just day trips and so there are tons of people in the middle of the day and nobody’s there early in the morning and nobody’s there later in the evening. There are two incredible villas to visit in Ravello. One is Villa Rufolo which is where they have the music, the symphony, in the summer where you can watch the symphony overlooking the coast of the Mediterranean. Really incredible! There’s also Villa Cimbrone, which is at the end of the little peninsula overlooking all of the coast. And they have the most beautiful gardens there, as well. Also, if you decide you want to spend the night, there are some fantastic, five-star hotels there as well. So, I definitely recommend going to visit Ravello on a day trip. But again, like all of the day trips, get up early in the morning from Naples, get a private driver, get there early, stay all day, have them take you home late at night where you can crash on the way back to Naples.

Now that i have described the three villages that would be the top highlights to see when you’re in the Amalfi coast on a day trip, I also recommend one hike. If you’re a hiker, there’s so much hiking along the Amalfi coast and you could go from Naples each day into hike different areas, but the one hike I recommend is the Path of the Gods. This hike is about six and a half kilometers long, the most famous hike in the area, and it goes from Bomerano over to Nocelle. You can actually walk up from Praiano or Amalfi, which are two of the towns on the Amalfi coast, walk across and then down if you’d like all the way into Positano. Definitely makes it more than six and a half kilometers because those two going up and down are about 2 000 steps in each direction, so I’m not sure if you want to do that but if you’re a hiker and enjoy that and want to spend the day out in nature, that is a fantastic thing to do. Go walk the Path of the Gods.

So, those are the highlights of my suggestions when you’re going to Naples if you’re looking specifically for day trips, if you want to see castles, if you want to see underground villas, if you want to go hiking, if you want to do some shopping and eat some great food. I hope that you have enjoyed this video. Also, if you have any recommendations for day trips out of Naples, please let me know in the comments below.

I am Kim, The Abundant Traveler and thank you so much for watching. I cannot wait to see you in Naples very very soon, because there’s so much to do you can’t get it all done in one single trip. I’ll see you on the next adventure. Bye y’all!