Naples and Pompeii

On the way to Naples we found a beach park up near Sperlonga. It was a large park up that was supposed to be 500 metres from the beach.

When we got to the park up the car park was completely empty. We paid the €6 using the machine. We could not see a beach but also we stayed in the van as it was raining heavily.

In the morning we woke early, probably around 6am to a lot of noise. As it got a little later the noise got a bit worse. Engines running, lots of banging noises and people talking in loud voices. We opened our curtains to find that we were completely surrounded by skips that must have been dropped off early! Then, there was a continuous stream of people were arriving to dump their unwanted household items and waste!

We were literally in the middle of them all! Luckily it didn’t cause any problems, no one seemed to care! We did however pack up and get moving quite quickly.

We moved a little bit further round to Gaeta and managed to park at the Marina. We then walked round a little bit to the beach. This was the first and last time I got to swim in Italy. It was quite cold and windy so it was a quick dip really! The Italians looked on in horror!

After this quick dip we were on our way to Naples. It would of course be impossible for us to find anywhere in the centre of Naples to park so we found a campsite for €15 a night where it was possible to get the a train into both Naples and Pompeii. Sounded perfect.

We arrived a bit too late to do anything other than walk into the local town and find out where the train stations were for the next day. Yes there were 2 train stations. We later found out that one was a mainline train and the other one was the metro!

Naples

In the morning we set off early. We went to the nearest station which was the one we were told to get into Naples. It was a little confusing knowing which ticket to buy at the machine so we asked a local lady for help. She stayed with us on the train and told us where to get off. Unfortunately we later found out that we’d gone a bit too far!

The area we were in was mainly shopping and hotels as far as we could work out. We decided to walk instead of getting back on the train!

Our first stop was about a 45 minute walk away for pizza. Naples has a reputation of having the best pizza in the world and Chiara who I met and swam with in Scotland had recommended a place for us to go.

As we got nearer we found ourselves in the area we should have initially been in. It was very lively and busy and had a really nice buzz. It was very different from where we stepped off the train initially!

The pizza’s and the wine were amazing and the whole bill was €31 which we thought was pretty good .

After food we were planning to go to Napoli Sotteranea, a tour of underground Naples!

Under the lively centre of Naples there is an extensive network of streets and squares, originally built partly by the Greeks for material to build Napolis in the 4th centrury, then later used by the Romans to supply water to the city.

There are a few different places and tours you can go on. We chose to go on the most popular one, Napoli Sotteranea.

It is important to book tickets unless out of season then maybe possible to buy at the door which is what we did. It is not possible to go without a tour guide. Once underground the area is vast and you will definitely understand the need for a guide.

On the tour you will see caves, tunnels and underground passages, all 40 metres below street level. The subterranean network stretches for 280 miles (450 Kilometres).

During the Second World War Naples was the most bombed city in Italy. The tunnels were used as bomb shelters by more than 200,000 people.

It was only about 30 years ago when the tunnels were renovated and turned into one of the cities top tourist attractions.

Here’s a few photos from our trip 40 metres below street level.

The tour was about a little over an hour. We decided we would head down to the beach and have a walk around down there.

Castle Ovo is the oldest castle in the city of Naples. Translated it is Egg Castle. It was built by the Normans in the 12th century. According to legend the name of the castle derives from the egg that poet Virgil hid in a cage in the dungeons of the castle. It was locked up as ‘the fortune of the sea castle depended on the egg!’ Later when the castle was damaged Queen Anne had to reveal that she had replaced the egg in order to avoid panic amongst her subjects!

Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe. It has in fact erupted more than 50 times. It is best known for the eruption in A.D 79 that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

After the beach we began to make our was back to the station. We walked back through the busy streets of Naples that were still very lively.

The journey back took us a couple of hours, waiting for the train, then crossing from the metro to the mainline and waiting again! It was another long day, a good one though.

Pompeii

The following day we headed off early again to go to Pompeii. It was a bit further away than Naples. First we had to get to Naples, the main station which is actually the one we initially got off at the day before! Then we had to get another train to Pompeii.

Pompeii is a famous archaeological site. It was once an important and thriving Roman city. Pompeii was buried under about 6 metres of ash and volcanic debris when the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. Because the city was buried so quickly it was preserved for centuries before it’s ruins were discovered in the late 16th century

It is estimated that around 15,000 people were living in Pompeii at the time of the eruption and about 2,000 people died. Human remains were found covered in debris and can still be seen today. No one knows the exact date of the eruption.

The site itself is between 160-170 acres. The remains include streets, houses, villas and businesses. It gives a real insight into life almost 2,000 years ago!

Pompeii became a world unesco heritage site in 1997. It is one of Italy’s most visited places. We could totally understand why.

Here is the first view of Pompeii.

It was so hard know what photo’s to post from Pompeii. It is such a vast place. Definitely bigger than we imagined! It really is worth going there and seeing for yourself. A real insight into a city from almost 2,000 years ago

A bit distressing but you even see the remains of some of the people of Pompeii, preserved after the volcano erupted on them.

There is also the site of Herculaneum which I believe is much smaller and not as famous. I guess it really depends how much time you have and how into archeology you are! We were happy just to see Pompeii.

After walking round what I hope was most of the site we had a late lunch before the journey back. It actually took about 3 hours to get back in total because we made the mistake of not getting the metro and having to wait around 45 minutes for our last train! It was definitely worth it though.

We were hoping to get to do the Amalfi coast, a very famous rugged bit of coast where the drive takes you on mountain roads and is said to be one of the most scenic routes in the world. Unfortunately they do not allow motorhomes apart from between 10pm and 6am! This is due to the roads being very narrow at certain points and the fact that buses and coaches are around in the daytime.

We did consider getting the bus or even hiring a car, but sadly there was nowhere where near enough to leave Jovanna. Another time maybe…

Our next post is in Puglia and features Matera one of the oldest cities in the world. We are heading to the other side of Italy and further South.

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