GETTING THERE
V FLIGHTS to Naples cost from around £25 from London and Manchester, with airlines including Ryanair and easyJet.
Rooms at the Grand Hotel Royal (royalsorrento. com) cost from around £340 or visit manniellohotels.com
Checking in to the five-star Grand Hotel Royal, with its wonderful seaside views of Mount Vesuvius and great service, we couldn’t have chosen better. Part of the Alberghi Storici d’Italia historic hotels group, the family-run hotel is one of four from the collection in the region, dating back to 1878.
Along with the Grand Hotel Ambasciatori, the Grand Hotel Capodimonte and the Grand Hotel De La Ville in Sorrento, they’re owned and run by the Manniello family, whose aim is to give guests a personalised experience. for the other hotels in the collection.
Rooms at Romeo Hotel Naples cost from around £220. romeohotel.it/naples
Our suite — painted blue to complement our sea-view overlooking the stretch of the Amalfi Coast — is wonderful. Downstairs, the lift from the citrus-scented garden takes guests to the private beach, or there’s a heated outdoor pool with a sea view plus the spa to relax in.
But we’re keen to explore, asking the helpful staff — mostly locals — for advice on the best way to get around. By train to the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, where a tour guide points out the ancient food stalls, bakits
EDITED BY CATHY WINSTON cwinston@thejc.com
eries and brothel, before explaining the ongoing efforts to restore, preserve and uncover the ancient sites.
Then a bus up to Mount Vesuvius itself, where we tackle the short hiking trail — a 50-minute round trip — that lets you look directly into the volcano’s heart. The views are spectacular although it is striking to realise it is still active. The last eruption was in 1944, but it’s considered one of the world’s most dangerous, with over three million people living nearby.
The next day, we opt for a more traditionally scenic experience from Sorrento’s port, where ferries run towards Capri and Positano. We head to Capri for a private boat tour around the famous white, green and blue caves of the island, peeking up at the grand homes belonging to stars including Sophia Loren and Giorgio Armani.
Back on land, we drink in the views from Capri’s funicular and wander the streets of the centre, spotting a group of Orthodox Jews as we pass a kosher hotel and its Terrazza Tiberio restaurant; unfortunately shut when we arrive. The high fashion shops and seafront stalls that have made Capri so desirable are still there — although I find my own souvenir, a divine reversible coat by an Italian designer back in one of Sorrento’s small stores.
Ultimately, it’s to Naples we return, on a bus from Sorrento to the airport, with our driver saving us the challenge of navigating the winding coast roads. But I wouldn’t have enjoyed the serene charm of the coast without enjoying the life and bustle of the city first.