Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
welcome to
naples, pompeii & the amalfi
coast
Naples, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast is the Italy of your wildest and
most lingering dreams: a rich, intense, hypnotic ragù of Arabesque
street life, decadent palaces, pastel-hued villages and aria-worthy vis-
tas.
History & Art
Few parts of Europe would dare compare their cultural riches to those of Naples and its
fabled surrounds. A former royal capital, Naples has been home to countless cultural deit-
ies, from painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio to sculptor Cosimo Fanzago and
composer Alessandro Scarlatti. The region lays claim to Italy's largest opera house and
royal palace, many of the country's finest paintings, sculptures and frescoes, and not to
mention a large share of Graeco-Roman ruins. Let your imagination run wild at the temples
at Paestum, on the chariot-grooved streets of Pompeii, or in the frescoed magnificence of
Villa Oplontis. Compare the Gothic minimalism of Naples' Complesso Monumentale di
San Lorenzo Maggiore to the outrageous rococo of its Chiesa di San Gregorio Armeno.
From frescoes to marble carvings, the region's glut of artistic marvels will satiate the
greediest cultural appetites.
Culinary Riches
Naples and its region are the country's culinary soul, home to Italy's best pizza, pasta, moz-
zarella, vegetables, citrus and seafood. It's like one never-ending feast; wood-fired pizza
and potent espresso in Naples, long, lazy lunches at Cilento
agriturismi
(farm stays),
alici
fritte
(fried sardines) on weathered Tyrrhenian islands and lavish pastries in chintzy Salerno
pasticcerie
(pastry shops). Even the simplest bite can be a revelation, from salty, almond-
flavoured
taralli
(round, savoury biscuits), to the sweet, fluffy ricotta inside a
sfogliatella
(ricotta-filled pastry). Should you scour the markets for seasonal produce? Tuck into
co-
niglio all'Ischitana
(Ischian-style rabbit) at a rustic island trattoria? Pick up some famous
colatura di alici
(anchovy essence) in Cetara? Or just kick back with a crisp local
Falanghina as you debate who has the creamiest buffalo mozzarella - Caserta or Paestum?
