Initial Planning Stage - Nov 2019 Naples/Pompeii/Amalfi/Sicily

Hello Nicole,
I guess I'll be the first to find that there's a lot on there for 10 days, but if this is how want it, it's your trip after all.
I guess you'd spend one day in Naples to see the port area, maybe the archeological museum(one of the best I've seen ever).
One day for Pompei and Mount vesuvio at the same time. Scenery is spectacular..
If you stay in Sorrento, you can see everything from there, no need to move to other places.
On the coast, the classics are Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, Sorrento. Capri Island by boat, If you like spectacular hiking, the path of the gods is the one to do.
So I guess I'd spend 5 night there and 5 in Sicily.
If you like busy hectic cities, Palermo is the one. Lots of history.
But I spent 2 weeks on the island as there's a lot to see:
Syracusa region is great
Taormina and Etna volcano
Erice hilltop medieval town, segesta greek temple
Agrigento greek temples
And the one thing that I preffered was to go on the islands, and climb the Stromboli active vulcano. A lifetime experience, where you would need a couple of nights, staying on the island of Lipari.
I'm sure others will follow with other advices.
Claude

Congrats!
You could of course pick one small corner in Sicily to include, but then you just lose so much in travel time. I just can't conceive of it, when I could easily spend 10 days in the Naples/Amalfi coast area and not do anything twice.
Consider the following:
1) how much time you wish to spend in Naples
2) any interest in the islands?
3) will you include Pompeii or anything else like that?
4) What exactly in Sicily is of interest?
5) How many days you would like to spend on the Amalfi Coast (AC) before you get antsy?
I think 3 in Naples, 3 on an island, and 3 on the Amalfi coast is about perfect (extra day added according to your interest), but if you need one more destination, Paestum, just south of Salerno, has Greek temples rivaling those of Sicily. The coast further south is a nice contrast to the AC, with hill towns clinging to the earth and sandy beaches.

I would leave out the "at least some parts of Sicily" because 10 days really won't leave you enough time there to make the trip over worthwhile. There is plenty to do in Southern Italy/Campania alone for 10 days (you can add Capri, Ischia, Caserta, Paestum, Vesuvius, etc. as side trips from Naples).

In summary, I would pick either Southern Italy (Campania Region) or Sicily, but not both.

We spent 10 days a couple years ago in Naples and amalfi coast. We were busy and there is no way we would have had time for Sicily.

I would say do one or the other. I am biased of course but I would go for Naples and amalfi coast.

In my view, ten days isn't even long enough for Sicily by itself. It's not an area where a lot of the towns are fairly similar so you can focus on the "best" one or two. And it's quite time-consuming just to get to Sicily. Better to spend that time seeing a bit more of the mainland.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, I appreciate it.
I concede that it is a ridiculous undertaking and I will tell you that this is always the reaction I get to our itineraries on travel forums. It is a good system though and it hasn't failed me once in all my travel planning. The feedback is always invaluable and there are always helpful tips buried in the passive aggressive statements ;)

Thanks again!

Doing both is possible, probably not advisable. A rule of thumb is that public transportation the farther south one ventures in Italy is not quite as reliable as it is up north, so relying on clockwork transport could throw your jam-packed schedule awry.

Keep in mind that Naples & Pompei are open, but much of the Amalfi Coast establishments (hotels, restaurants) are not, probably depending on when in November you go--more is open earlier in the month. That being said, the A.C. is out-and-out spectacular just to see, possibly made better by few tourists to have to deal with. On the other side of the peninsula, Sorrento's stuff is open year around, except for some of the places down by the marina.

OK, let''s try a jam-packed schedule for you, 10 nights worth, since that's what you're used to, doing some of everything. Fly into Naples, out of Palermo. A caveat--I would not do this, nor would I try it at home!

Night 1-4: Sorrento. Best base around, best breadth of cuisine as well. Daytrips to Naples, the A.C., Pompei, Capri unless waters rough.
Night 5-7: Taormina. Air Naples/Catania most efficient, train Sorrento/Taormina would take 8-10 hours, and 3 changes. Daytrips to Etna, medieval towns, Giardini Naxos.
Night 8-10: Palermo or Cefalu. Daytrips to wineries, Madonie Nat'l Forest south of the coast.

You could spread yourselves thinner and see more of Sicily, but I'd rather limit the bases and do daytrips. On second thought, maybe I would try this!

Enjoy your planning!

If you have to do Sicily(but I wouldn't) :-),
I'll Jay's proposal

Sorry, went to fast.
I like Jay's proposal
But again...
:-)

JAY!!!! Thank you! And GREAT tip regarding the unreliable schedules - that's huge.
See, this is such a great start!
And Claude, you're too funny :)

We are looking at the beginning of November, if it makes a BIG difference, we can move it to October and celebrate early.

We are not sit and relax people - it just feels wrong, especially on vacation. We break for meals and that's it!

We are not sit and relax people - it just feels wrong, especially on
vacation. We break for meals and that's it!

The Amalfi Coast might not be the exact right spot for you--but all of this is moot until you determine which specific parts of that area and Sicily that you are interested in.

Agreed! I need to figure that out! My great grandparents came over from Sicily so I need to dig out the records and see exactly what area I hail from. They did not have great experiences (hence the reasoning on coming to America) so they were not very forthcoming in that department. I am in first in the family who has gone to Italy - the elders did not approve of the first trip.

I will do my homework, I promise. I appreciate the list you provided in your previous post Valadelphia!

You are so lucky to have family history to explore! That changes everything -- I would do all ten days in Sicily if you can get a good fare (check Lufthansa, I know they fly to Palermo and Catania because I check every year but have yet to snag a fare in the sweet spot). You can't see everything no matter how much time you have, so you can make a reasonable 10 days in Sicily, especially if you are the hard-charging sort. (I am the opposite, and I typically have 10 days to work with, too--so I'll see a corner, eventually).

If you go to Sicily, keep in mind the cost and complexity of flying home to the US. You would have to catch a very early flight and perhaps make multiple stops on the way home. When we visited Sicily, we flew from Catania to Rome, stayed overnight, then flew home from there. We also stayed in Rome for a couple of nights before flying to Sicily.

Agreed! I need to figure that out! My great grandparents came over
from Sicily so I need to dig out the records and see exactly what area
I hail from. They did not have great experiences (hence the reasoning
on coming to America) so they were not very forthcoming in that
department. I am in first in the family who has gone to Italy - the
elders did not approve of the first trip.

As Emily Litella (Gilda Radner on SNL) said, 'well, that changes everything. Never mind!'

Nicole, you didn't say that heritage would be a part of this trip! If you do it, if you go down that ancestral rabbit hole, it can be extremely rewarding and very frustrating, probably all at the same time. First find out where they were from, then look at it on a Sicilian map, and have that talk with yourself--is it worth it, within a 10-day trip?

I've done it, 4 years ago outside Salerno, a little mountain village called Sant' Arsenio. It was so cool, walking the ground my ancestors did 150 years before. And I was the first one from my extended family to do this. At the same time, however, the locals were--shall I say--less than forthcoming with information, especially because I wasn't about to pay more money than I had already paid to the point person--the owner of the B&B we were staying with in Salerno--to set it up. Just being there, however, made the trip worth it. Experience of a lifetime. Please do your homework & hire a legitimate guide, though.

Depending on where in Sicily, you'll probably need 2-3 days just for this, which means you can still start in Sorrento and then fly to Sicily from Naples.

Keep us posted!

Must be a Sicilian thing! They want to leave the past in the past! My relatives were always yelling at me 'don't dig to deep' & 'don't tell me what you find'!

I lost my Gram, the last of that generation and my favorite person in the world, 3 months ago and she left me some historical family paperwork. I had no intention of going into all this so soon but when my husband proposed this itinerary, I thought it could be therapeutic. I can't let it take over the trip though.

I ordered the 2019 Italy Guide & the Snapshot guide for Naples. I will spend a few days sifting through all that & then see how/if we can add in Sicily or if that has to wait.

Thanks again for all the great input everyone!

Nicole, you may be able to do some advance work on your genealogy with some of the sites here.

http://bestofsicily.com/genealogy.htm

It's very common with that generation to kind of suppress the info. We are working on 4 seperate European countries and it can be mind boggling.

Good luck with your search.

Edit: I've spent six months in the Naples/Campania region and have still not visited everything.

I've only been to Sorrento and the AC in the summer, when it's packed. I'd worry that some seasonal businesses are closed in November (although there is year-round demand from dark places like the U.K.!) Sicily might be more open-for-business all year, and it's good for all of the ten days. I would not find enough to do in ten days between Naples and Paestum. (Opinion.) Certainly Sorrento, Capri, and Positano have too many of the international luxury boutiques you can find in any city in the world. You have to seek out the local gems.

You can take advantage of less crowded roads (because transportation is one of the main issues in both destinations you mentioned.) I would never recommend a car in Positano in the summer. But in November it may be different. Be sure about your parking options and your time to get to your international flight home, before you book the final hotel. You don't display your home state or city, but there are a few direct flights to Naples and Sicily from parts of the U.S., although they tend to no-name airlines.