Vesuvius and Almalfi Coast

We woke up to a lovely pastry breakfast that Claudia and Valentina brought in for us and headed out early in Paula’s small but amazingly zippy car up the mountain to the trailhead at Mt. Vesuvius. The hike was only about an hour up and followed the ridge of the crater around – very deep crater!  Our tour guide was a strappingly handsome Italian guide who told us all about the history and geology of Mt. Vesuvius. Took lots of pictures of the crater and the panoramic view overlooking the coastline and villages. The pictures below don’t do it justice. Now off to Almalfi Coast.

As a bonus, Paula Claudia and Valentina took us to the Almalfi Coast for the afternoon. It was about an hour drive through the mountains and by the time we got there we were very happy to walk around and then sit down for a lunch and wine while overlooking the Ravello coastline. After lunch we toured the village and into villa with beautiful statues, walkways, gardens and overlooks to the sea below…bellissimo!

We drove back to Naples and had nice dinner and gelato on the promenade (coastal walkway). This morning we’re headed by train to Lucca where we’ll stay overnight on our way to Bagni de Lucca (a cooler mountain-y village) where we’ll do some canyon/waterfall hikes.

Vista on Vesuvius 

Crater on Vesuvius 

The five of us on Vesuvius 

The trail up - steep but pretty easy

Almalfi Coast in the village of Rabello 

The villa at Rabello 

Looking straight down to the water 

Kristi at the overlook 

Prosecco lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water 

Kristi, Claudia, Jane and Valentina (at the Villa in Rabello)