Pompeii, Matera, Etna & Sardinia, 13 Days

It starts at Naples airport, where machine and luggage are handed over at the service point. After collection the first kilometres lead directly to Pompeii, close to the famous excavation site, where the first hotel with its own restaurant waits.

A short warm-up loop today runs out to the Amalfi Coast and up to Vesuvius, with the sea in view for most of it. After lunch a visit to the excavations at Pompeii is worthwhile, before the evening ends in a small Neapolitan restaurant.

Via the Amalfi Coast and Salerno this stage heads toward Matera, where the Sassi houses cut into the rock make an extraordinary sight. The night is spent in the middle of the winding cave quarter in a rustic setting.

The way leads to the characteristic round houses of Alberobello with their conical roofs, before reaching the ghost town of Craco – largely destroyed by earthquakes and first documented in the year 1060.

Today the way crosses Calabria to the west coast, to the town of Tropea built on a rock in the 13th century for protection against attack, with a wide view over the Tyrrhenian Sea and the islands offshore.

A small ferry takes you from San Giovanni to Messina – the opening of the island section. The way continues via Taormina up to the volcano, before an old winery near Noto offers a place for the night.

From Noto the way leads to the ancient temple complex at Agrigento. In the evening Sicilian food is served with a view of the illuminated temples – with time to spare, a brief beach stop beckons first.

The stage continues to Trapani on the western tip of the island, past the well-known Corleone with its Mafia museum and a coffee stop at the salt pans of Marausa. The night is spent in an old villa in Custonaci.

The way runs over Monte Erice with a stop at the Castello Venere, on to the sandy beach of San Vito lo Capo, before the evening ends with a stroll through Palermo and the ferry waits the next morning.

In the morning the crossing departs from Palermo harbour, arriving in Cagliari late in the evening. To close the day, a late dinner waits in one of the many restaurants in the old town around the harbour.

Through countless bends this stage follows the central east coast of Sardinia to Arbatax, past secluded bays, cork-oak forests and the typical Sardinian interior with its wide open panoramas over the hills.

Over the Silana Pass the way continues through the Sardinian interior, across countless bends and quiet mountain villages to San Teodoro in the northeast, where the last night of these thirteen days is spent.

At the service point directly at Olbia airport the route ends with the return of machine and luggage, before the flight home departs and the last bends of these thirteen days are replayed in the mind.