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 Private Tours and Limo Service Destinations |
Click to learn more on the Amalfi Coast
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THE AMALFI COAST: POSITANO, AMALFI & RAVELLO
A drive along the Amalfi Coast follows the indented coastline with unforgettable views of seaside villages and the Mediterranean Sea. Set on the southern side of Sorrento’s peninsula, the Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful in the world. Rugged and wonderfully shaped limestone cliffs overlook intensely blue waters. Poets and millionaires have been journeying here to see its legendary sights, perfect Positano, Amalfi the shimmering medieval city, romantic Ravello, and tiny but no less sparkling villages of Atrani, Cetara, Conca dei Marini and Scala. Climbing up flights of steps called scalinatelle to reach outlooks and belvederes that will take your breath away, is what makes the Amalfi Coast the most delectable part of Italy.
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Click to learn more on Sorrento
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SORRENTO & CAPRI
Sorrento is one of Italy’s loveliest towns. Perched on high cliffs across the bay from Naples- with Vesuvius front and center – Sorrento has no major attractions; the Belle Epoque city itself – with its enchanting palazzo and bouquets of villas –is the draw. The hyper-charming historic quarter is centered on the Piazza Tasso. Shopping along the Via San Cesaro, this charming street is the place to find embroideries, inlaid wooden intarsia, music boxes and dolls in tarantella costumes. At the heart of Sorrento’s historic quarter is the Sedile Dominova, a 16th century loggia that is the perfect spot for caffes and serenading waiters ready to share their rendition of “Come back to Sorrento”. If that is not enough, Sorrento is just a short distance from the mountaintop Sant’Agata where you can feast on the creations of Chef Alfonso Iaccarino at southern Italy’s finest restaurant, Don Alfonso 1890. Sorrento is the perfect jumping off point for visits to Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast.
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Click to learn more on Pompeii
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POMPEII
After an earthquake in 62 A.D., which shook the city of Pompeii and damaged many of its buildings, Pompeii becomes victim of a furious eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D., engulfing the city and its inhabitants with a storm of cinders and ash. In 1750 when the remains of Pompeii are discovered it had looked as though a spell had been cast to freeze all life. More than 200 years of painstaking excavations at the site have revealed an extraordinary wealth of information about daily life in the Roman Empire. Highlights of a tour of Pompeii include the Forum, the center of town; the Temples of Apollo and Jupiter; the Stabian Baths, among the best preserved and most complete in Pompeii; and the mural filled House of the Vettii, the villa of an affluent merchant family. Designed around a lovely central peristyle, the House of the Vetti provides a glimpse of domestic life at the time of the ill-fated eruption. Some of the most significant finds of Pompeii have been removed by archaeologists and were eventually transferred to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale.
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Click to learn more on Naples
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NAPLES
Naples remains one of the most vibrant cities in Italy- within each block exists a small village. The city envelops you with its mix of vibrancy, chaos and stately history. Nearby Mt. Vesuvius forms the backdrop to the city and bay. Naples is home to Pulcinella (the ancestor of Punch and Judy), the Great Caruso and pizza. A visit to Naples must include a walk through the historic center, where you will find the church of Santa Chiara, the chapel of San Severo, the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnoli, and the street of San Gregorio Armeno, where local craftspeople create the famous Neapolitan creche figures. Also worth a visit are the several museums, especially the National Archaeological Museum where you can view Roman murals, coins and pottery, much of it from nearby Pompeii. Not to be forgotten are the castles of Naples, Maschio Angioino, Castel dell’Ovo and St. Elmo and the royal palaces of Piazza Plebiscito and Capodimonte. For the ever curious tourist Naples easily becomes "La Bella Napoli", a city that centuries of romantics have deemed the most beautiful in the world, due in great part of its location on the sweeping expanse of the Bay of Naples, plus an immense past attested to by it grand monuments and way of life that never fails to fascinate.
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Click to learn more on Herculaneum
Click to learn more on Mount Vesuvius
Click to learn more on Paestum
Click to learn more on Caserta & Cassino
Click to learn more on Pozzuoli
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HERCULANEUM
This village where the rich Romans would spend their holidays was both destroyed and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. which also covered Pompeii. Smaller than Pompeii, Herculaneum offers us as interesting if not more fascinating look at the way of life of the ancient Romans. After more than 200 years of painstaking excavations at the site, archaeologists have been able to reveal an extraordinary wealth of information about daily life in the Roman Empire. At Herculaneum, Pompeii’s suburb, you will find many of the houses have been preserved and the gardens have been replanted to recreate what the environment was like over 1900 years ago.
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MOUNT VESUVIUS
Mount Vesuvius is the right top of a two-headed mountain known as Somma-Vesuvius. Dormant at present, it is the only volcano still active in Europe. Today, the volcano inspires both fear and fascination and it is constantly monitored for activity. A visit to the Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio will include a healthy walk along which you can view the fumaroles and gaze down as much as 600 feet into the wondrous depths of the crater. Don’t forget to take in the broad sweep around the Bay of Naples- though the city of Naples more photogenic from lower down the slopes near the observatory. With more than 400,000 visitors in 2005 it is best to plan a visit first thing in the morning so that you can appreciate the sharper vistas and raw beauty of the volcano.
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PAESTUM
One of Italy’s most important archaeological sites Paestum is not to be missed. Set among groves of cypress and oleander that overlook the Mediterranean, the splendid sixth- and fifth-century B.C. Greek temples are among the best preserved Doric structures
to be found anywhere. Here you will see the Temple of Hera, also known as the Basilica, the earliest of Paestum’s temples, the majestic Temple of Neptune, built in the fifth century B.C.; and the Temple of Ceres, dedicated to Athena. You may also visit the museum, which houses many finds from this site, including the well-known metopes from the Temple of Hera.
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CASERTA & CASSINO
Present day Caserta is a modern agricultural town reflecting the major rebuilding carried out in Italy during the 1950’s. A few older buildings remain the Church and Monastery of Sant’Agostino in Via Mazzini and the former residence of the Acquaviva family in Piazza Vanvitelli. However the main reason to visit Caserta is the Royal Palace, conceived by Charles III, it is the Bourbon monarchs’ answer to Versailles. The palace is one of the richest and most fascinating royal residences, with a vast collection of furniture and objects of art, particularly noteworthy are the beautiful Park and the English Garden.
Not far from the palace is Caserta Vecchia (Old Caserta) a lovely medieval village on the slopes of Monte Virgo where you can visit the Cathedral of San Michele, a fine example of Sicilian-Muslim architecture.
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POZZUOLI
Pozzuoli is a city of legends, St. Paul stepped ashore here in 61 A.D. after his ship had been wrecked off Malta and he was brought to Pozzuoli on a grain ship carrying corn from Egypt to Italy. Not far from the harbor side, San Gennaro, patron saint of Naples, earned his holy martyrdom by being thrown to the lions at an imperial gala staged in the town’s amphitheater, the wild beasts were said to have torn the rags from Gennaro’s body but to have left him unharmed – at which point he was taken to the town square and decapitated. More recently the goddess Sophia Loren was born in a small house still standing on a backstreet. Pozzuoli continues to capitalize on its strategic location close to two of the islands in the Bay of Naples, Procida and Ischia.
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