Naples was our second stop in Italy, and I was already enjoying how easy it was to move around the country by train. Once Laura and I were settled into our seats leaving Rome, the trip south was part of the fun. It was nice being able to sit down, watch Italy go by and know that a completely different city was waiting at the other end.
It wasn’t a bright sunny evening when we arrived in Naples, but I still enjoyed watching everything pass by from the taxi on the way to the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo. The hotel was very nice, and we had a great view from the balcony. Marriott status helped too, especially knowing breakfast was included the next morning.
We dropped our bags and went back out. We didn’t have a plan for that first evening and I don’t remember us heading toward anything in particular. We just walked.
Eventually we passed a restaurant that looked good and smelled even better. We were both hungry, so we stopped, ordered our own pizzas and a glass of wine, and sat outside along the sidewalk. The pizza looked great when it came out, the wine was good, and sitting there watching Naples around us was exactly what we wanted after the train ride.
That first night is still one of the clearest Naples memories for me. No major attraction. No carefully planned dinner reservation. Just walking around and finding pizza.
September 18
- Train from Rome to Naples, taxi from Napoli Centrale to the Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo, then an evening walk and dinner in central Naples.
September 19
- Relaxed breakfast at the hotel before joining our Napoli City Vision / Di Sarno excursion. Morning at Pompeii, followed by the drive toward the Amalfi Coast, sightseeing boat from Amalfi, time around town and the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea, coastal drive through Praiano, a stop at the Positano overlook, then return to Naples for the evening.
September 20
- Taxi to Napoli Centrale, train north to Rome, then a connection onward to Florence.
Leaving Pompeii for the Coast
We started the morning with a relaxed breakfast at the hotel before meeting the tour. Pompeii was the main reason I had booked the excursion, and that part of the day has its own Destination Story, so I won’t repeat it here. Once we left Pompeii, the tour continued toward the Amalfi Coast.
One of the more memorable moments on the road came when traffic slowed because goats were being herded along the roadway. It was the kind of scene you expect to see in an old movie about Italy, not necessarily something you expect to run into on a modern tour. Everyone on the bus was looking out and taking pictures as we worked our way past them.
As we got closer to the coast, I remember wishing we could stop more often. The scenery was beautiful, but a lot of the early photos had to be taken through the bus windows while we were moving. That was probably the most frustrating part of photographing the drive.
Seeing the Amalfi Coast from the Water
The boat ride from Amalfi was the first real chance I had to photograph the coastline without glass between me and the view.
There were only around ten people aboard, and even though the weather was pretty overcast, the coast still looked great from the water. The cliffs, terraces, houses and caves were much easier to appreciate from that angle. Laura and I both enjoy boat rides, and for me this was the best way to see the Amalfi Coast as a whole.
I took quite a few photos along the way, including Amalfi, Atrani, the cliffs and several large cave openings. I don’t remember any big conversation between Laura and me during the ride other than pointing things out to each other as we saw them. Sometimes it was as simple as, “Look at that cave.”
A Short Walk Through Amalfi
Back on shore, our group worked its way through the shops toward the Cathedral of Sant’Andrea. We didn’t have a lot of free time, so everything moved fairly quickly.
The cathedral was beautiful, but the outside is what I remember most because I kept trying to figure out how to photograph it properly. Between the staircase, the position of the building and the crowds, there wasn’t a clean front view. I changed angles where I could, but the group wasn’t stopping long enough to really wait for people to move.
That stretch through Amalfi also gave me plenty of the kind of subjects I naturally photograph while traveling: lemons, storefronts, street scenes, monuments and buildings that catch my eye even if I don’t know what they are yet. The Flavio Gioia monument was a good example. I had no idea what it was at the time. It looked interesting, so I took the picture and figured it out later.
Along the Coastal Road
After Amalfi, we continued west along the coast.
A lot of the Praiano photographs were still taken through the bus windows. The driver pulled over briefly at one point, but we stayed on the bus, so I don’t consider Praiano a true stop. It was part of the drive rather than somewhere we explored.
That section of the road gave us views of hillside buildings, churches, tunnels cut into the cliffs, the roadside nativity scene and the narrow coastal road itself. It was one of those stretches where I was constantly looking out the window for something worth photographing.
The View Above Positano
Positano was different because the tour actually stopped at an overlook above town.
The weather still wasn’t ideal for photography, but the view was fantastic. Laura and I got our photos there, and I took some wider views of the town and coastline below us.
We didn’t go down into Positano itself. Of course it would have been nice to have more time and explore the town, but that’s always the tradeoff on a day like this. We were trying to fit Pompeii, Amalfi and the coast into one excursion, so spending longer in one place meant giving something else up.
For this trip, the overlook made sense.
Back in Naples for the Evening
We returned to Naples that evening and went back out again after the tour.
That’s pretty normal for Laura and me when we travel. If there’s still time left in the day, we usually want to use it rather than sit in the hotel.
We walked around near the hotel, stopped for dinner, and came across Fontana del Nettuno and Castel Nuovo while we were out. Neither one had been a planned sightseeing stop.
Castel Nuovo is one place where I really wish we’d had more time. We only saw the exterior, and I would have enjoyed going inside and exploring the castle.
Naples itself was never the biggest sightseeing stop on this trip. We only had two nights there, and most of our one full day was spent outside the city. What I remember best about Naples is simpler than that: walking around in the evening, eating outside, and finding things as we went.
North to Florence
The next morning we took a taxi back to Napoli Centrale and boarded the train north.
Laura eventually did what Laura does on moving transportation and fell asleep. I stayed awake and watched outside. I’ve always enjoyed looking out the window and seeing what we’re passing rather than sleeping through it.
We changed trains in Rome and continued on to Florence, excited to see the next stop.
Pizza on Our First Night
We were walking, saw somewhere that looked and smelled good, and stopped. That’s usually how Laura and I pick restaurants when we travel.
Laura and I each ordered our own pizza and had wine with dinner while sitting outside on the sidewalk. We were hungry, the pizza looked delicious, and the setting was part of what made the meal work.
The pizza was noticeably different from what we were used to back home. The choices were simpler than what we were used to back home, with Margherita showing up everywhere, but that didn’t bother us. We loved it.
Amalfi
We passed plenty of shops selling lemons, limoncello and local products while walking through Amalfi. We tried limoncello during the visit but didn’t turn the stop into a long food excursion. We simply didn’t have that kind of time.
Final Evening in Naples
After returning from the excursion we went back out and ate outside again, this time having pasta and salad. I don’t remember the restaurant name or anything especially unusual about the meal. It was another evening spent walking near the hotel and stopping when somewhere looked good.
In the Frame
The Faces Behind This Journey
Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo
The Renaissance Naples Hotel Mediterraneo was a very nice hotel and worked well for our short stay.
We had a great view from the balcony, the location made it easy to walk out into the city in the evening, and Marriott status gave us another benefit I always appreciate while traveling: free breakfast.
That breakfast was especially useful before the excursion. Instead of trying to find something early in the morning, we could sit down, eat at a relaxed pace and then head out to meet the tour.
For a stay where we were spending most of the daylight hours somewhere else, the hotel gave us exactly what we needed.
Just Beyond: Pompeii
Our full day from Naples began at Pompeii, where we spent the morning walking through the excavated streets, homes and public spaces of the ancient city before continuing toward the Amalfi Coast. The Pompeii Destination Story follows that part of the day in detail.
Explore the Pompeii Feature Story
The Amalfi Coast portion of the day was probably more frustrating photographically than the scenery itself would suggest.
A lot of the early coastal images had to be shot through the bus windows. The views were there, but glare, reflections and the fact that we were moving made it hard to photograph them the way I wanted.
The boat ride changed that. For the first time along the coast I had a clear view without glass between the camera and the landscape. Even under overcast skies, it gave me much better opportunities to photograph the cliffs, caves, terraces and towns along the water.
Amalfi Cathedral presented a different problem. The building itself was impressive, but the staircase, surrounding buildings and crowds made the front difficult to frame cleanly. I worked the angles I had, but our tour group didn’t stay long enough for me to really wait for the scene to clear.
That trip also reinforced something that is still part of how I photograph when traveling: I don’t need to know what something is before I take the picture. If it catches my attention, I photograph it. Identification can come later.
Combining Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast made for a full day, but the schedule worked.
The biggest tradeoff was obvious: you see more places, but you don’t have unlimited time at any one of them. Amalfi was fairly short, Praiano was largely seen from the bus, and Positano was an overlook rather than a town visit.
I would still keep the boat ride. For me, it was the best way to see the coastline and gave me the best photography opportunities of the day.
I also would have liked more time inside Naples itself, particularly at Castel Nuovo. That doesn’t mean I would automatically add several days to Naples on another Italy trip. There are plenty of places across Italy where we left things unseen.
For this trip, Naples worked well as a two-night stop and the base for Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast.
Behind the Lens
I’m Steve—a retired Army vet who traded rucksacks for camera bags and never stopped exploring. What started with a simple 110 film camera grew into photographing all 50 states and 30+ countries, from quick business-trip detours to adventures with my wife Laura. Shutter Nomadica is where I share those travels through the photographs, stories, and moments that made each place memorable.
Next Stop: Florence
We left Naples the next morning, changed trains in Rome and continued north to Florence. Our next Destination Story picks up there as we began exploring one of the cities I had been looking forward to most on the trip.
Continue to the Florence Feature Story