The Gulf of Naples (Golfo di Napoli) is dotted with historic and picturesque seaside escapes around the city of Naples. Beyond the rich culture, gastronomy and history of a large metropolis are beautiful towns and attractions from the most famous to the less known. Naples is a wonderful city that takes time to understand and deserves several days to get to know its rich culture, gastronomy and history. But during the summer months, the art of escaping the heat and chaos to nearby less congested areas is a great way to enjoy this region.
We share in this post the route and short notes on some of the places for a full travel story of the region that will be coming soon after summer. The route of the gulf of Naples starts in the island of Ischia to the north and goes until Punta Campanella in the south.
Route Map
Ischia
Sant’Angelo
Ischia is the biggest island in the gulf of Naples and it feels alive with its many hot springs dotted around the island. There is plenty of choice of excellent hotels with pools of natural hot water from local springs. on beaches and inland. Otherwise, an even better experience is to try out the the hot springs on several beaches.
One of our favorite spots in the island is Sant’Angelo, a relatively quite village of Ischia with a small marina a tiny strip of beach and several excellent fish restaurants. Hard to miss while in the island is walking through the streets of Ischia Ponte leading to Castello Aragonese.
Vesuvio
Mount Vesuvio dominates the gulf with its geography and history. For the best views of Naples city and a peak into the volcano, you can walk along the border of its top crater with smoke continuously coming out.
Ercolano
Pompei ruins are well known around the world showing the grandiosity of the city lying on the foot of Vesuvio before the disastrous eruption. However, other two ruins sites are in some ways even more amazing. Our favorite is Ercolano ruins which have preserved a very impressive amount of details of the region life before the ashes buried it.
Penisola Sorrentina
Sorrento
Sorrento is the main gateway for the peninsula, famous gastronomy with its limoncello and tomatoes make it a good place to stay. But count on packed streets with tourists. For a more laid-back experience, make sure you spend time to explore the tip of the peninsula instead of rushing to the next world-famous spot, Positano.
Along the tip of the Sorrentine peninsula several small picturesque stone beaches are worth the drive or walks through the small and zigzag roads. Try out these excellent ones: Marina del Cantone and Cala di Mitigliano. Another more hidden beach is Recommone, which can be reached via a walk path from Marina del Cantone or by boat, if you take the car through the Syrenuse camping you will be asked to pay to pass through.
For great view of the coast and Capri, check the view from the garden in L’Annunziata near Massa Lubrense. Driving further to the west, an overall view lies up the Monte San Costanzo. It is a pleasant walk through a mix of stairs and forest up to the peak. Another unbeatable viewpoint is from the camping of Villagio Syrenuse.
Syrenuse 
Marina del Cantone 
L’Annunziata
Walking treks abound as well with some of the best paths being the walk to Punta Campanella and to Ieranto Bay. Highly recommended is the round walk from Termini to Monte San Costanzo, then down to Punta Campanella and back to Termini via the Cala di Mitigliano.
Map of Penisola Sorrentina
Looking for more info?
If you got interested about these places and want to know more, there will be a complete travel story coming after the summer. So keep visiting and leave your comments below.