Greetings, fellow travelers! We have a bit of a dilemma and would love your input. We usually plan our trips a year in advance or in some cases, last minute when we didn't have a strict plan and just wanted to go with it. Our only son graduates in June and between the end of senior year events, graduation, summer job, and freshman orientation, we're in the position of heading to Rome in mid-June. We want to stay 12+ days. My son is interested in Rome and Pompeii; my husband wants to see the Amalfi Coast. My husband and I were in Rome and Florence 25 years ago, and we've all been to Venice at least twice. While we want to visit and see lots of things in Italy, we've traveled enough to know that European transportation takes longer than expected. We want to see some unusual things as well, quirky places like the Park of Monsters in Bomarzo for example.
We'd love to hear your ideas for places to visit in the southern part of Italy - areas in a reasonable radius of Rome that would make this a memorable senior trip for our son and an enjoyable trip for all of us. We like walking and hiking, museums, concerts, etc. We're all mobile, flexible with activities, etc. The reason I call this a dilemma of sorts is because we'd normally already have tickets to everything, and at this point we have nothing. We've resigned ourselves to paying premium prices as a result, so if you also have suggestions about reducing the cost, we'd appreciate that too! Thanks so much for your time.