Hope the Airbnb in Pompei comes with a roof, or if it doesn’t the previous occupants have been removed.
Jealous, but we are off to Florence on Friday for 5 nights. First trip to Italy for nearly twenty years.
3 Likes
Get the Pompeii Plus one & be sure to visit the Villa of Diomedes & the Villa of Mysteries out at the NW edge. There was also a live excavation going on (opened at 1030 while we were there) and you could walk on walkways above while people are uncovering stuff as you watch.
We didn’t get to Herculaneum so will need to do that another time.
I would recommend this Pizza place, not too touristy & where locals would eat.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/exC5vUF6DmicbaFT8
The other enjoyable excursion in our stay was taking our hire car along a section of the Amalfi coast road from Cetara heading West to, in our case Atrani but you could do more if you take all day & still get back to Pompeii in the evening.
3 Likes
Don’t miss Herculaneum I think it’s a much more interesting site than Pompeii
Vesuvius in the background gives you an idea how far away Herculaneum is from it yet in this one you can see just how deeply it was buried by the pyroclastic flow - it is mind boggling
The tree is at the top of the ash flow and where the building stop was the shoreline.
Head in to Sorrento and get the ferry across to Naples it a great wee trip and the pizzas are epic. Capri is also worth a visit although it’s very busy with the great unwashed.
2 Likes
If it was me, I’d take a 4 hour drive south to Tropea. One of the most beautiful places on Earth.
And N’duja 
2 Likes
Villa of Mysteries seconded - amazing frescoes.
Pizzeria Matti, via Plinio 53, for pizzas & seafood. There’s a reason it’s always crowded…
If you’re going by public transport the websites say the train isn’t running because of track works. What they don’t say is that there’s another train (private operator I guess) which leaves from its own platform & is much faster than the bus.
If you’ve got time visit the Bourbon palace in Caserta. Rent e-bikes to visit the grounds:
2 Likes
Just five minutes walk from our place too, nice.
Didn’t know about this, sounds like a good way for a day trip to Naples.
Loving everyone else’s recommendations too, this seems to be shaping up in to a nice trip
2 Likes
Damn that looks good!
I’m in an airport that is 39 days old - it opened on Xmas day 2025. It smells much nicer than the rest of Mumbai - I think that they release fragrance into the air; either that or there’s a new airport smell, like cars.
6 Likes
We can all moan about train ticket prices but £74.10 for two people from Edinburgh Waverley to Kings Cross seems pretty good to me 
2 Likes
China again in 8 weeks.
New places / intinerary being considered:
Nangjing
Qingdao (seaside , seafood, Tsing Tao factory / museum with fresh beer coming out of the wall)
We won’t stay in Beijing for long this time. But, we will be doing Universal Studios for Harben who’s 10.
Chengde (former imperial summer hideaway)
Datong ( hanging temple / giant buddha)
Inner Mongoila (vast grass plains)
Xian again.
Chongqing (bladerunner)
Shanghai to fly out / Disney. A day ticket for Disney is maybe £35 and its a great park.
3 Likes
Florence? Any good records there?
1 Like
A little jazz and usual mainstream fare. But do have a small collection. Of Mofi and Analog Associtws. Including the big 1970’s LPs Bowie Box set and the most unexpected the White Stripes R2R
Move On Records. Hope to visit at least one more before returning on Wednesday
1 Like
I did see one good looking record shop while walking to the Uffizi from where the bus dropped us but I can’t recall the name of it. There appears to be quite a few record shops there though.