We landed in Naples at 7pm and the experience flying from Santorini was a bit of a joke. The airport is tiny there and there aren’t any real terminals. We got to the airport early as we always do and realised that it’s basically a space with few chairs and lots of people. Not the most ideal waiting area. From there, it was just over an hour wait to board.

When we touched down in Naples, we were a bit early and the crew on the ground weren’t even ready for us haha

See how it’s a bit of a joke?

Anyways we arrived into Naples and caught the Alibus station from the airport which takes you to Piazza Garibaldi for 5€ per person.

We took the bus and shortly arrived at our accomodation Hotel Ideal.

It was yet another upgrade in accomodation in terms of a proper working shower and nice amenities. But the reviews are true and the room is a bit small (especially the bed – I swear I was going to fall out at one point in the night!)

Then we came out for our first meal of pizza! Recommended to us by our hotel was La Cantina dei Mille and far out… the pizza was so good and the cheese 😍 I got a Margherita to try and it was perfecto. Note that the pizza isn’t sliced here so eat it from the centre out (or cut your own slices).

Stopover at Pompeii

The Circumvesuviana train

The next morning we packed up our things and began the trip to the Amalfi coast, with a stop at Pompeii.

Note: we took the Circumvesuviana train from Napoli Piazza Garibaldi station which is a local train. Tickets were about 2€ each, but be warned that the trains are not air conditioned and they get very packed. Also keep an eye on all your belongings. We were even told by the receptionist to look after our stuff so you know pick-pocketing does happen.

The train ride was about 45mins and it took us straight to the door of the archaeological park.

Note: make sure you get off at Pompeii Scavi Villa dei Misteri for a short walk to the entrance. Going to Pompeii will take you to the modern city which is at least a 20min walk to the entrance.

At Pompeii

The one time we didn’t book tickets in advance and we ended up having to wait in line for 1 hour! At least it was in the shade, but wow I’m glad we pre bought tickets for everything else. Peak season in Europe is no joke haha

The tickets for an adult to visit Pompeii are also 15€. We also opted to get two audio guides for 13€ or 8€ each. This is a Huawei phone and there are no headphones. If you are not taking a tour and want a bit of background history, take your own headphones otherwise you’ll need to hold it up to your ear like a real phone (which I was not a fan of).

Also remember to take a map from the entrance (we forgot but after asking someone if we could take a photo of theirs, they gave us a spare they had). These maps are lifesavers because the park is so big, you would get easily lost.

Note: we had our packs from Naples on transit to Amalfi, but we were able to store our bags at Pompeii for 4€ each. So it is possible!

My honest opinion about Pompeii

I remember reading about Pompeii and the eruption that destroyed a whole town and preserved the bodies of its inhabitants in their final moments in history class way back in high school. So I thought coming to Pompeii would be a major throwback and opportunity to learn about what happened in Pompeii.

I don’t know whether it was the heat or the waiting we had to do, but it honestly wasn’t that enjoyable to roam around Pompeii.

We probably could have benefited from a tour guide because our audio guides were not the easiest to listen to which made understanding all the ruins around us that much harder.

Everything also more or less looked the same. And in the heat, there was only so much of a stone we could see before getting a bit bored.

Definitely plan your trip if you want to make the most of Pompeii. Get a map (it has suggested routes) and mark out the things you want to see or even take a guided tour (but be wary of the tour guides trying to sell it to you at the door).

One thing I did want to see were the casts of the mummified people of Pompeii. It was definitely surreal to see them in person, and seeing the pained expressions on some faces was eye opening.

Walking to Pompeii station to get to Salerno

To get to the Amalfi coast (the next leg of our trip), we had to go to Salerno. The easier method would have been to go to Sorrento by taking the Circumvesuviana train again from the station we got off at. But then it would have taken longer to get to Amalfi town (our home base).

But the problem was there was no direct train to Salerno from the Pompeii station we were at, which meant we needed to walk 20-30mins in the heat and in our 9-10kg packs go the Trenitalia station which served Salerno.

And I am not good in the heat and I was not mentally prepared to carry my pack for that long of a walk. I had a meltdown and wish I didn’t. But this was a learning experience and I should definitely suck it up when it comes to walking. In the end I made it to the station and we got onto the train.

That’s what I will learn from! That even though the walk looks hard and it’s hot and the pack is heavy… I still managed to make it. Perseverance is key, suffering is only temporary to get to a good outcome!