Herculaneum and Capri?

[CathyCruises]

Hi All:

 

Been off the boards for quite some time as we have been vacationing in new locales; just got back from Australia last week and now it's time to plan a new adventure!

 

We have tentatively booked another Med cruise since we found a great deal--and it stops at a few places high on our list like Malta. But it also stops in Naples and I am wondering whether it would be feasible to spend a few hours in Herculaneum and then Capri or vice versa. Another option would be the archaeological museum in Naples. This cruise is outside the tourist season in early November. We have seen Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, etc and are trying to have at least a few different experiences.

 

Any ideas appreciated

 

Thanks,

Cathy

[lucyintheskywithdiamonds]

which dock in Naples? in Beverello you can catch the hydrofoil to Capri> then another to Sorrento.. then you can take the circumvesuviana train line to get off at Ercolano scavi for Herculaneum> or keep going towards Naples for the museum stop.. not sure which one that would be.

[cruisemom42]

Hi Cathy, good to see you back on the boards again!

 

You could actually just play it by ear; any of these are feasible but being November you could hit a cloudy, chilly, rainy day when Capri wouldn't be so ideal for your destination. Also not sure if everything in Capri is open by then, although I'm sure most of it must be given the extended tourist season now....

 

If it were me, I'd probably do either Capri on its own or Herculaneum plus the museum. If you need some basic DIY directions for the latter two, I can provide them.

[Hlitner]

As much as we love Capri (have been there many times) we are not sure its the place to go in November. This is the off season and many places close by the end of October. There is also the question of the weather and the jetboats/hydrofoils are on an off-season schedule with fewer boats. Since you are going to be doing things on your own (always our style) there is no need to make advance plans. Play it by ear depending on the weather. If you get a really nice day you can walk directly from your pier over to the ferry terminal and see if the boat schedule to Capri works towards your satisfaction. Normally in the season we would suggest you take the Circumvesuviania Line Train to Herculanium Scavi, rush through the ruins (2 hours is enough) then grab the next train to Sorrento where you can normally catch a jetboat over to Capri (only about 20 min from Sorrento). But in November we have no clue as to the boat schedule. If you get lousy weather you certainly have the museum...which is very easy to combine with a trip to Herculanium (weather permitting).

 

I would add that there is an ugly reality coming home to roost with the cruise industry. A few lines have kept ships in the Med well beyond the traditional season thinking that folks will take advantage of lower airfares and somewhat lower cruise prices. But apparently the idea is not working well and we suspect most of these off-season cruises will soon disappear or the capacity will be greatly reduced.

 

Hank

[CathyCruises]

Thanks for the info. We will definitely play it by the weather--after our month in Italy in January, we quickly learned that touring and frigid weather are not good mixes. But Hank, we have done all our other Med cruises in November and so far have had good luck, knock wood. I actually preferred the itinerary of the cruise after ours, departs November 16, but it was more expensive (!) and we would be gone over Thankgiving. I realize that we are taking somewhat of a risk, but the timing works better for us so we're just biting the bullet.

 

We might also consider Herculaneum and then lunch and leisure in Sorrento. This one will be much easier since we don't feel the need to cram all we can into one day--the perks of the repeat visits!

 

Cathy