The Royal Palace courtyard

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All 48 photos in Naples & the Amalfi Coast 2026

Vesuvius, Positano, Sorrento · Mar 2026 · 48 photos

Late March by the bay: shifting skies, heavy clouds breaking up over the sea and low spring light. The bay first appears from the plane, with the island of Nisida and the shore at Bagnoli. The trip starts in Castellammare di Stabia, the town at the base of the Sorrento Peninsula. It stands on the site of ancient Stabiae, buried by the eruption of 79 AD.

Nisida

The island of Nisida and the shore at Bagnoli seen from the plane, through the window, above the bay.

Nisida and Bagnoli from the air, Naples, Italy

Castellammare

In the evening, a stone breakwater reaching out to sea under clouds lit by the sunset, then the houses and pines on the hill and the neighboring town of Gragnano on the mountainside.

Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
Castellammare di Stabia, Italy
Gragnano, Italy

Next comes Pompeii, the Roman town excavated from the 18th century on. The archaeological areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata are listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pompeii

The Forum with Vesuvius in the distance, paved streets between walls and pines, the Great Theater with its semicircle of stone steps and the tunnel into the Amphitheatre.

The Forum and Vesuvius, Pompei, Italy
A paved street, Pompei, Italy
Pompeii, Pompei, Italy
A street among the ruins, Pompei, Italy
Large Theater, Pompei, Italy
The Amphitheatre tunnel, Pompei, Italy

On the Amalfi Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997, the route begins in Positano, with the Spiaggia Grande beach and the Church of Santa Maria Assunta. It continues along the coast through Praiano and Conca dei Marini, where the headland of Capo di Conca juts into the sea. In the evening it reaches Amalfi, once a maritime republic, with Sant'Andrea Cathedral.

Positano

Ocher and pink houses step down to the beach, beside the church's majolica dome.

Positano, Italy
Spiaggia Grande, Positano, Italy
Santa Maria Assunta, Positano, Italy

Praiano

The road along the cliffs above the sea, with Positano in the distance to the west and the houses of Praiano on the rocks to the east.

View toward Positano, Praiano, Italy
Praiano, Italy

Conca dei Marini

The watchtower on the headland and the cliffs in the sunset light, a village clinging to the mountain and a terrace looking toward Positano and the Li Galli islands.

A terrace facing Positano, Conca dei Marini, Italy
Capo di Conca, Conca dei Marini, Italy
Amalfi Coast, Conca dei Marini, Italy

Amalfi

The cathedral's striped facade above its broad staircase, the harbor quay and houses pressed against the rock in the evening light.

Amalfi Cathedral, Amalfi, Italy
Amalfi, Italy
Amalfi, Italy

Next comes Vesuvius, the 1,281 m volcano that last erupted in 1944. The road climbs the slopes up to the rim of the crater. In the evening the route comes down to Sorrento, on the shore of the bay, at the blue hour.

Vesuvius

Old lava fields covered in vegetation, the bay and the port of Naples seen from the slopes, the path to the crater, then the wide crater with its layered rock walls and fumaroles.

Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
The Bay of Naples from Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
The path to the crater, Ercolano, Italy
A fumarole in the crater, Ercolano, Italy · Video
Crater of Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
Inside the crater, Ercolano, Italy
Crater of Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
Crater of Vesuvius, Ercolano, Italy
The crater with a fumarole, Ercolano, Italy

Sorrento

A palm tree, the lit pier and a hotel on the edge of the tuff cliff, with the dark sea and the lights of the towns strung across the bay.

Sorrento, Italy
Sorrento in the evening, Sorrento, Italy

The trip ends in Naples, under an overcast sky. The Royal Palace, built in the early 17th century, keeps the marble hall of its grand staircase, opening through a glass-doored arch onto the courtyard, and the Teatrino di Corte, its small court theater. From the palace windows, Piazza del Plebiscito lies below. The route then runs through the Galleria Umberto I and the Quartieri Spagnoli, built in the 16th century for the Spanish garrison and climbing the hill in narrow streets, to Castel Nuovo, the fortress built by the Angevins in the late 13th century. The historic center of Naples has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

Naples

The glass-doored arch between the grand staircase hall and the courtyard, the theater and the halls of the Royal Palace, Piazza del Plebiscito through a window, the Galleria Umberto I, the Quartieri Spagnoli, Palazzo della Borsa and the castle by the port.