Suggestions for Secondary Stops

Well, I don’t have any suggestions as we have not done any place in that area yet. Just giving you a bump on the forum.

I think part of the lack of responses is probably because of the broad ranges of questions and requests in your post. The range of possibilities is high so I'll throw out some suggestions.

Salerno is an interesting city that feels smaller than it's population because the old town and train station are at the end squeezed up between the hills and the sea. It has a little of the grit and chaos of Naples but nowhere near the size or crush of humanity.
It provides easy access to Paestum and Pompeii while also being ~40 minutes from Naples by train. You could do Herculaneum and the Naples museum from Naples and Pompeii and Paestum from Salerno. Also check out the art mural alleys in the oldest/cheapest/grittiest section of the city and it is also where the Allies can ashore in WWII. Because it was heavily involved in WWII there isn't much of the old city left but core remains.
It also gives easy ferry access to the Amalfi coast. In general I agree with you about Amalfi but it is beautiful from the ocean so you could just cruise the coast or try Capri.

For hilltowns accesible by train the list is somewhat short. In Umbria Orvieto is a good choice, Spello is further south and closer to Rome and Naples and there is also Assisi. In Tuscany Cortona - train station is down the hill - is famously beautiful, Arrezo is mix of more modern town and old hill town up the hill but is much less touristy than other hill towns.

This map is a good guide to Tuscan towns accessible by train: https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/images/tuscany-rail-map.png
For some of the "name brand" Tuscany hilltowns - Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano - you would realistically need a car.

Hope that helps, it sounds like you still have a lot of planning to do,
=Tod

Hello,

I am attaching the link to the trip report for our Italy trip last year. Similar to your group, two of us had never been to Italy and one person hates crowds. Ancient history, WWII history, Old structures, Old City Centers, Rome and Naples/Pompeii......Yep.

So it may be helpful. And we managed it in 2 weeks, which I think is hard!

Let me know if you have any questions and I hope it helps give you ideas for your trip.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-february-march-in-italy

A few things: If your DS2 hates crowds, but Pompeii is a must, I suggest you include visits to Oplontis and Stabiae in addition to the infinitely more popular Pompeii and Ercolano.

https://pompeiisites.org/en/oplontis/

https://pompeiisites.org/en/stabiae/

The Operation Avalanche Museum in Eboli is worth a visit if you are staying in Salerno. Eboli is a great little town with other interesting things to see and delicious food.

https://www.moamuseum.it/moamuseum/

If you go to Paestum for the ruins, and a look at the Tomb of the Diver, there is an interesting German bunker on the Beach at Paestum.

https://www.liberationroute.com/pois/1226/coastal-defence-post

Thanks Tammy for the bump!
And many thanks to HiredMan, SunnyBlue and EP for the fabulous suggestions. I will work through them all.

I have already hit a bump in the road as I didn't realize this was a Jubilee year. I started looking at some hotel websites for Rome and many rooms are already booked in October, especially on Wednesday/Thursdays.

So...I am going back to the crew. I want to either delay this trip to Spring, 2026 (which will give me more time to plan), or we will need to choose a different destination. I want to stay out of the way of the pilgrims.

It will still be fun to plan this Italy trip, though, for whenever we end up going.