Naples-Pompeii-Amalfi-Capri for 13 days in May

Just to second Maggie's excellent suggestions for hiking Capri, this is, IMHO, the best way to explore the island! We stayed in the town of Capri for a couple of nights, and found that venturing off on our feet to the further reaches was great for losing the crowds which gather in the piazzas of both Capri and Anacapri during the day. The hike up to Villa Jovis is wonderful, and the views up there are gorgeous. You could also hike up /down Mt. Solaro (or just take the bus up and hike down), off to Arco Naturale, and any number of other places that most day-trippers don't go.

We found wandering Capri and Anapari's centers to be more pleasant in the early mornings before most of the ferries came in, and things quieted down a bit later in the evenings when the last of those departed: a good reason for staying overnight. Most of island is also traffic-free - which makes those strolls off into the tiny residential "streets" even more enjoyable.

Rather than going into detail about where all of our wanderings took us, this is a good reference:
http://www.capri.com/en/itineraries

Ahhhhh Positano! I agree about staying on Capri for a few days if you're there in that one spot that long.

My wife and I enjoyed our five nights in Sorrento (after one in Naples) last May. But I would never spend 13 days in this area - and we are very much "daytrips from a base" people. cgondusky, your profile doesn't give us any hints about your home area or your previous trips. By that, I mean if you've been to California or Maine beaches, you'll be disappointed by the mainland beaches on this trip.

It would also be helpful to know whether your interests focus on the actual outdoorsmanship, or on history, culture, and the arts, or hum-of-glitterati in Positano, or what. Because this area is in such high demand, it is already getting late for the most desirable (I'm assuming "Anniversary" means higher budget ... ) accomodations for May, 2015.

You also need to read past posts here (search box top center) about transportation challenges in this area once you leave Sorrento, the end of the Circumvesuviana commuter train line.

Thank you all very much for your responses..most helpful. To answer your questions, Tim..we suspected that the beaches may not be what we really want to focus on, guessed that they are rocky, and the water may not be very warm at that time of year anyway. We love staying in upscale hotels, and hoped to do that for at least some of our trip, but realize that could get quite expensive for such a long trip, so hoped to do a mix of mid-level inns/hotels with a lot of character and splurges on upscale/luxury hotels where it was really worth it to do so. While I can envision us wanting to maybe lounge around a nice pool with a beautiful view/cool drink at times, we mostly want to be active and tour local areas. We are hoping to find great food/wine, great scenery, and physical activity (hikes etc). We are also interested in culture/history. We aren't big shoppers. Our usual lives are very hectic, so we don't want our vacation to be that way too. We are open to suggestions for other areas to visit while in Italy, if 13 days is too long to spend in the areas I originally mentioned (minus our day of arrival/departure since haven't purchased our airfare yet so not sure how much we will get out of those days).

Thanks again for the advice!!

wow, 13 days sounds amazing! I would find out what things in Naples fascinate me (there are bound to be a bunch!) and start there......maybe take a ferry to Ischia, a trip to Herculaneum, Pompeii, Sorrento, maybe Caserta.....then pack up and move to Capri for a few nights, then pick a nice place on the Amalfi Coast, maybe Positano or Amalfi and do a lot of hiking, visiting the other towns, maybe Ravello and such......then move Salerno, for some city exploring and Paestum.....

that would be a dream!

There are dozens of things to do in this area, 12-13 days is not too much.

In addition to what's been mentioned, Paestum for a couple of nights. The islands of Procida and Ischia. In Ravello, a total splurge would be the Villa Cimbroni (at least visit the gardens).

I know a very economical hotel in Napoli near the train station, rooftop breakfast area. with pool and sauna, you could save enough there to stay overnight at Villa Cimbrone.

A favorite of ours just outside Amalfi town 1/2 mi.. http://www.miramalfihotel.com/

From Amalfi you have access to the Path of the Gods as well as a short hike up to Ravello.

Many others in the hills along the coast.

You are just about in the middle of the coast with many bus and ferry options.

Bus Amalfi-Salerno. Amalfi-Sorrento

http://www.theamalficoast.net/orari_sita_bus_timetables.html

You may also want to look at the http://www.campaniartecard.it/

Lots of info for the area here. You would want the Tutta la regione 3 day card. It includes transportation

for the whole region. Alibus in Naples, bus, metro, Circumvesuvian and sita bus on the AC.

The 7 day card does not.

Wow..what great suggestions! Thank you all so much for the information. This is a really great help!