Italy is made up of numerous local distinct personalities found in its lovely varying regions. Here we examine southern popular tourist cities and the island of Sicily located at the tip of the “boot” of Italy.
Naples
This city, known as Napoli in Italian, is the country’s third largest city and one of its most densely populated. It is set on a beautiful bay and in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe. The city, which has a busy commercial center and cruise ship harbor, is one of the most important in the Mediterranean. Ferries depart hourly for the nearby islands of Capri and Ischia.
Many visitors like to start their sightseeing of Naples by walking along Spaccanapoli, a thoroughfare divided into tracts bearing several names. It cuts through the city’s most historic district and is lined with ancient palaces, churches and religious shrines. The city’s vast central square, the Piazza del Plebiscito, is adjacent to such major sites as the elegant Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace), a former royal residence that now is a museum, and the Teatro San Carlo, one of the most famous and most lavish opera houses in the world.
Capri
Off the coast of Naples is Capri. This island, which is about 40 minutes by hydrofoil and 75 minutes by ferry from Naples, is dominated by two main mountain peaks—Monte Solaro to the west and Monte Tiberio to the east. The town of Capri is perched between them, a charming place of white houses, tiny courtyards and narrow alleyways festooned with flowers. Visitors can reach the town from the harbor either by bus or by a cog railway traversing the steep hillside.
Anacapri, the island’s upper village, lies to the west of Monte Solaro. A chairlift scales Monte Solaro, where the view is spectacular on a clear day. The famous Faraglioni, three beautifully situated rocks, are located off the island’s southern shore.
Inhabited from early ages, Capri was first Greek and then Roman. Two ruined Roman villas on the island, Villa Jovis and Villa di Damecuta, are fascinating to explore. A visit to the Grotta Azzurra (Blue Grotto) is worthwhile and usually on everyone’s bucket list. Weather permitting, visitors board a large motorboat at the marina, travel to the grotto, and then transfer to small rowboats. Keeping their heads down and watching for the waves, boatmen pull the small boats through a narrow passage and into the grotto. The grotto’s reputation for dazzling blue light has made it one of the world’s most visited tourist attractions.
Pompeii
Pompeii, one of the world’s greatest archaeological discoveries, lies on the shores of the Bay of Naples. One of the most famous resort cities of the Roman Empire southeast of Naples, it virtually disappeared in A.D. 79 when the Mt. Vesuvius volcano erupted. The suddenness and force of the eruption carbonized its victims, but evidence of the Roman way of life was immaculately preserved. Among the fascinating ruins already excavated are one of the largest known Roman amphitheaters, as well as streets lined with shops and luxurious villas.
Pompeii & Mt. Vesuvius below
Sicily
Sicily, the triangular shaped island at the tip of the boot of Italy has several places of interest to visit. Palermo is 2700 years old and was once part of the Carthage Greek territory and it is part of Sicily’s cultural, economic, and tourism capital. Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, its climate favors great Italian cuisine.
Messina is just miles across the strait from mainland Italy and is a frequent point from which to visit Mt. Etna which is the largest and most active volcano in Europe. It erupted three times earlier this year (2021) and I visited it in 2010, about 5 years after an earlier eruption.
A beautiful city to visit along the way to Mt. Etna is Taormina overlooking the sea. It was established in 396 BC, later conquered by the Romans (after being destroyed by Arabs), and then flourished as a tourist resort in the middle ages.
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