All 'doable' as daytrips from Ischia, with one or two requiring a fairly early start!

Click on the pictures that follow, for collections from individual places - and

try this website for their opening days, times etc __ http://www.incampania.com/en/

.

Twenty miles or so from Naples - about 45 minutes by hydrofoil - and our home since 2003

Neapolis - the "new city" founded by the ancient Greeks some 3000 years ago - took advantage of a glorious and sheltered position in the curve of the Bay. Later taken over by the Romans, and eventually the capital of southern Italy, the city was one of the first to endorse the creation of the new Italian Republic in the 19th century. For photos from the many years we've known the city, see ___http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/mainlynaples And for the very good magazine issued some 4 or 5 times a year by the tourist board, try ___http://www.inaples.it/eng/quinapoli.htm

Among the greatest glories of Campania, Paestum is one of the few places in Italy that affords more than a glimpse of Magna Grecia - the overseas colonies established by the city states of ancient Greece. Here the remains of three magnificent temples stand amidst ruins from the walled city, attracting relatively few visitors despite Naples, Sorrento and Amalfi all being so close. . (Click on individual pictures here for a larger version)

For five months, from February 1944, the new Italian government made Salerno the nation's capital. . Long before this the city, which stands where the rugged Amalfi peninsula meets the mainland, had already known times of great importance and wealth and few visitors are aware of the extent of the city's role in history, as reflected in the many fine buildings of the old quarter, recently the subject of much restoration. . The city's fine cathedral houses the tomb of the Apostle Matthew. . If coming to, or leaving, Salerno by sea, note that both the Alicost line and the hydrofoils of the 'Metro del Mare' moor at, and leave from, the 'Molo Manfredi' quay - at the mainland end of the port - while local boat firms generally use the smaller tourist harbour, near Piazza della Concordia and the centre of town. . Salerno runs into the neighbouring town of Vietri sul Mare with hardly a pause ___http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/vietri . For more about getting here and away __http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/salerno_links .. with these for sea connections ___http://www.alicost.it/content/?id=6 and ___http://www.coopsantandrea.com/eng/servizidilinea/servizi_eng.asp

Near neighbour to Pompeii, the ruins of the Roman coastal town of Herculaneum are situated in (under?) the modern city today known as Ercolano. Although destroyed during the same eruption of AD 79, different forces were at work - and the buildings and streets fared very differently; rather than being consumed by fire they were buried by a deep layer of volcanic ash, which the rains then turned into mud that hardened as an airtight seal some 20 metres thick in places. A smaller site than Pompeii - with much of the town yet to be excavated from under the streets of modern Ercolano - and in generally better condition, the ruins are much more easily appreciated as having once been part of a living city. In several places earlier scavenging tunnels, dug far into the deep layers of sediment in the hope of unearthing both treasures and the papyri of libraries, have been preserved and can be explored.... [2013 note... If planning a visit, do check whether - and when - the gorgeous "Surburban baths" would be open, as they seem to have been off-limits for a good while now] (click on individual pictures for larger versions)