I’m in Italy this week on a fabulous family tour around the Bay of Naples with my teen, as guests of The Adventure Company. I’m missing my husband and the youngest, of course, but we’re having a great time. We started off in the lively city of Naples, are now in the more relaxed Sorrento and have already been to Herculaneum, Amalfi and Ravello.
We’ve both been to the area before – the eldest last year on a school Latin trip, me as a backpacking student and again when she was a few months old – and it’s been lovely showing each other the places we remember. The eldest told me about a great ice cream shop she went to in Sorrento and I was amazed when she led me through a warren of streets to find it from memory. The Antica Gelateria Sorrentina is definitely worth the trip. It’s been going since 1860, they make all of their ice cream in the shop and even offer ice cream making lessons. The friendly staff claimed they remembered the eldest from last year, but I’m not sure if I believe them.
Today it was my turn to lead. Fourteen years ago, as sleep-deprived new parents, my husband and I decided to indulge in a last luxurious holiday while our first baby was still tiny. We ended up at Il Palazzo Sasso hotel in Ravello for a wintry week of indulgence, and everything suddenly seemed less tiring because we were so well looked-after. Ravello seems like a ridiculously beautiful film set of a perfect Italian town perched high above the Mediterranean and is a great place to just be. We had a couple of hours there today and found our hotel, now called the Palazzo Avino, and still stunning in a cool, understated way. With rooms costing from 230 euros per night I doubt we’ll ever stay there again, but it was lovely going back with my teenage baby girl and she loved hearing about her very first trip to Italy.
Family travel lowdown: We were guests of The Adventure Company on their 8-day ‘Around the Bay of Naples’ family holiday, which visits the ancient sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as Vesuvius, Naples, Sorrento and Capri. Prices start from £1,039 per adult and £987 per child.
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