Southern Italy Trip Brainstorming

I think it sounds great to choose Naples for history, then dip down into Calabria for the nature and such.

The hard part will be deciding what to leave out, but I’d probably turn down a free trip to the Amalfi Coast in July if that tells you anything.

I’d probably turn down a free trip to the Amalfi Coast in July if that tells you anything.

Haha... Fair enough! This is the kind of advice I need :)

But, I’d bear a trip to Pompei in scorching July if that was the only time I could see that amazing sight, and Naples can absorb crowds as a big city.
If you don’t want to go all the way to Calabria (I have not yet), the Cilento coast south of Salerno is wonderful. I’ve heard great things about Maratea as well. But I think you could make it work, maybe take a train to Tropea and rent a car there if needed (not a necessary for coast but vital for interior).

Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, my wife is Calabrese, so we spend a lot of time, basically all our holidays, visiting relatives there, even in the summer. I know the region very well, so after reading your post, I can recommend a few areas of Calabria that are worth visiting, regardless of whether or not you manage to discover where your great-grandparents came from.
Tropea is certainly the most touristy spot, but it’s also very beautiful, so it’s definitely worth a visit. Scilla is equally beautiful and distinctive, with its seaside hamlet of Chianalea, often called "Little Venice." Alternatively, there are some lovely small towns and villages, especially along the Ionian coast, places like Squillace, for example.
Last but not least, Calabria is the only Italian region where the UberX service has been active since last July, so if you want to get around there, you have this option as well.

Thanks so much, Giangilberto! I have heard it is a beautiful region and we are looking forward to visiting.

We took the train to Pompeii and stayed a few nights by an entrance to the ruins. We spent one day at Pompeii and another day took a train to Herculaneum, which we enjoyed more than Pompeii.

I have heard that Herculaneum was a better take than Pompeii. We visited Pompeii and it was interesting but we were told that many of the artifacts had been moved to a museum in Naples. I would also avoid the Amalfi coast in the summer as the streets are not built to handle the crowds. Have you thought about a few days in Sicily? The young ones would probably love Mt. Etna

Elizabeth, The New York Times had a recent article on travel to Calabria. Here is the “gift” link to the article, which may or may not actually work for you. NYT Calabria

We spent 6 nights in some of the Southern Italy areas you and Valadelphia have mentioned (Naples and the Cilento). We drove from Matera to the Cilento for two nights, then to Naples for four nights. Day trips to Pompeii and the island of Ischia. That was at least a day less than we should have spent in those areas and we skipped past Salerno, the Amalfi Coast, and Capri. You can never do it all and we spent a total of 30 days on our trip to southern Italy, with Puglia and Sicily also in the mix.

Lonely Planet has an excellent pocket guide for Naples, the Amalfi Coast and the Cilento.

The Discover Italy travel website allows you to drill down by region into all kinds of highlights, villages, and more. here’s its by region page.

We quite enjoyed the two nights we stayed at Hotel Marulivo in Pisciotta and the morning that we spent at the Greco-Roman ruins in Paestum and the buffalo mozzarella cheese farm near there, Tenuta Vannulo.

Absolutely visit the National Archaeological Museum in Naples in addition to going to Pompeii (and/or Herculaneum).

You absolutely do not want a car in and around Naples. But we were very glad to have a car for three days for the drive to Cilento, around the Cilento and then to Naples, so consider that. The Cilento may be a nice stopping place between Calabria and Naples … or maybe you don’t have time to add nights there.

Looks like a 4-1/2 hour drive or 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 hour train journey from Naples to Tropea … though we had terrible traffic on the freeway near the Naples airport so the drive could be an hour more than the 4-1/2 hours shown on Google Maps.

The Cilento peninsula and coast south of Paestum is very scenic and ther are many beach areas for relaxing.

my great-grandparents emigrated from Calabria in the early 1900s so I'd like to spend some time there (though I unfortunately have no more details as to where they lived).

Have you looked on one of the genealogy websites such as ancestry.com or familysearch? Ancestry often offers free trials so you can see if it's worth joining (or just see what you can find in the free period) and familysearch is free (owned by the Mormon church). You may be able to find records listing their hometown such as an arrival manifest or the records if they ever applied for citizenship. And if you're lucky someone else may have already built a tree with them in it.

The way we beat the heat in the ruins of Pompeii in late June was to stay at the Hotel Forum the night before and just walk over to the entrance first thing in the morning.

On another trip, we enjoyed the town of Sant'Agata de' Goti, perched on steep cliffs all around and with a nice medieval center --- here's a website with a few photos of the town:

https://ita.travel/en/sant-agata-de-goti-a-town-suspended-above-the-valley-1458.htm

Probably need a car to get there.