View on the Gulf

Our tour starts in Cuma, one of the oldest Greek colonie in Italy, founded around 730 BC. We visit the Archaeological Park of Cuma, stopping at the Cave of the Sybil, on the Upper Terrace and on the Lower Terrace to enjoy a wonderful View on the Gulf. We continue towards the Amphitheatre of Cuma, built together with other buildings when the city passed under the control of Rome.

The territory where we are, the Phlaegraean Fields (from the Greek phlego= to burn) was always subjected to bradyseismic phenomena and, so that’s why, we dive to visit the Underwater Archaeological Park of Baiae, where we see the Flooded Nymphaeum of Emperor Claudius, some buildings and streets. At the end of this wonderful experience we stop for lunch, then we move to Baths of Baiae Archaeological Park. The reason why famous Roman people frequented this town was due to its natural beauties and its thermal springs. We can admire villas and spa complexes of the late imperial age.

In the late afternoon we head to the Casina Vanvitelliana, a royal casino immersed in a suggestive atmosphere on Lake Fusaro, connected to the mainland by a wooden pier, built at the behest of king Ferdinand IV of Bourbon. Among the guests were Rossini and Mozart.

We check-in and we meet in the evening for dinner.

The second day we visit the Piscina Mirabilis, one of the largest ancient cisterns. It was meant to provide drinking water to the imperial fleet in the Misenum basin. It was one of the fixed destinations of the Grand Tour. On its walls we can admire the graffiti of authors such as Dumas, Goethe and Mozart.

Wa stop at the Tomb of Agrippina, which even if it is not open to the public, we can see some ruins of the construction of imperial age, transformed into a nymphaeum and then partially incorporated into some modern buildings.

We visit the Phlaegraean Field Archaeological Museum that in addition to the gathering of most significant finds found throughout the area, reproduces the Shrine of the Augustals made in the Julio-Claudian period, and the Nymphaeum of Emperor Claudius, which we visited in the Underwater Archaeological Park of Baiae.

After lunch we head to Pozzuoli, to visit the Flavian Amphitheatre, the third largest Roman amphitheatre in Italy, with the largest and best preserved underground. We can recognize the trapdoors where the cages with the beasts came out and see the original covering of the ima cavea sector seats.

Once left the amphitheatre we head to the port to take the ferry to the island of Ischia, where once arrived we check-in and meet for dinner. From the island you will have the chance to enjoy the View on the Gulf from another point of view.

The next day we make a tour of the island stopping first at the Aragonese Castle. Its first construction was started by Iero of Syracuse on an island, then the castrum passed under the domination of Rome, then the Aragon and finally bought by the Mattera family, who restored it and opened to the public at the end of the 90’s. We head towards the heart of the island to relax at the Nebrodi springs. Since Greek times the therapeutical water properties were exploited today also recognized by the Ministry of Health. In the afternoon we go to the Borgo Sant’Angelo, an ancient fishing district with its typical coloured houses built on a ridge of tuff, where we stop to have an aperitif and then go back to the chosen accommodation.

The morning of the fourth day we land in Naples. Once we arrive we start our tour from the Castle Nuovo due to the initiative of Charles I of Anjou when he established the capital from Palermo to Naples; Piazza Plebiscito, nerve centre on Neapolitan life; the Cappella Sansevero to admire the breathtaking Veiled Christ by Giuseppe Sammartino; and a tour of Naples underground, a dense network of tunnels in the underground of the old town. We dine in one of the pizzerias in the historic centre of the city.

The last day we start with an excursion in the Vesuvius National Park, where we can choose various routes for trekking lovers or take a walk enjoying a wonderful View on the Gulf. We continue visiting the vineyards of a cellar at the foot of the volcano and we have lunch tasting the typical products of the territory and wine.

In the afternoon we have the illusion of walking in a city of ancient Rome in the Archaeological Site of Pompei. The ash that settled after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD buried the entire area. The excavation campaigns have rediscovered environments in perfect conditions and today we can admire mosaics, frescoes that make us understand who had lived in those dwellings and how they lived at that time.

Our tour View on the Gulf end here, you can choose whether come back to the point of departure or carry on with another tour.

Take a look into the past, visiting the Archaeological excavations of ancient cities of the imperial age, treat yourself at the thermal parks of the Phlaegraean Fields, taste the typical products of the territory during a tasting in a cellar at the foot of the Vesuvius volcano. Do everything with us!!!