The region immediately south of
Lazio,
Campania , marks the
real beginning of the Italian south
or
mezzogiorno . It's the
part of the south too, perhaps
inevitably, that most people see, as
it's easily accessible from Rome and
home to some of the area's (indeed
Italy's) most notable features -
Roman sites, spectacular stretches
of coast, tiny islands. It's always
been a sought-after region, first
named by the Romans, who tagged it
the
campania felix , or
"happy land" (to
distinguish it from the rather dull
campagna
further north), and settled down
here in villas and palatial estates
that stretched right around the bay.
You might, of course, find this
hard to believe now, and anyone
coming in search of the glories of
the Bay of Naples is likely to be
disappointed. Industry has eaten
into the land around the city so as
to render it almost unrecognizable,
and even in the city the once-grand
vistas are often cluttered by cranes
and smoke-belching chimneys. Many
people take one look and skate right
out again, disappointed at such a
grimy welcome.
But give the area time. Naples
is the obvious focus, an utterly
compelling city and one that
dominates the region in every way.
At just two-and-a-half hours by
train from the capital, there's no
excuse for not seeing at least this
part of Campania, though of course
you need three or four days to
absorb the city properly, before
embarking on the remarkable
attractions surrounding it. The Golfo
di Napoli , certainly, is dense
enough in interest to occupy you for
a good week: there are the ancient
sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum
, just half an hour away - Italy's
best-preserved and most revealing
Roman remains; there is the odd,
volcanic Campi Flegrei area
to the north of the city; and of
course there are the islands, Capri,
Ischia and Prócida -
Capri swarms with visitors but is so
beautiful that a day there is by no
means time squandered, while Ischia,
which is the largest island and
absorbs tourists more readily, is a
lively and attractive base from
which you can explore the bay by
ferry.
Inland Campania is, by
contrast, a poor, unknown region for
the most part, but the nearby towns
of Cápua and Caserta
repay visits and are easily seen on
day-trips. Similarly Benevento
, an old stop on the Roman route to
Bríndisi, has its moments, though
you might want to make this part of
a wider trip through Campania's
interior (or on to Puglia), bearing
in mind that it's a difficult and
not especially rewarding area to
travel through. The area south of
Naples has more immediate appeal
- beach-bum territory on the whole,
though certainly not to be avoided. Sorrento
, at the far east end of the bay, is
a major package-holiday destination
but a cheery and likeable place for
that; and the Amalfi coast ,
across the peninsula, is probably
Europe's most dramatic stretch of
coastline, harbouring some
fantastically enticing - if crowded
- beach resorts. Further south, the
port of Salerno is an
inviting place and gives access to
the Hellenistic site of Paestum
and the uncrowded coastline of the Cilento
just beyond.
