Most first-time Italy trips skip the south. Most SECOND trips are ONLY the south. Because once you've tasted Naples pizza at midnight, watched the Amalfi Coast turn gold at sunset, slept in a trullo in Puglia, and woken to Matera's cave city at dawn — you understand that the south is not Italy's afterthought. It's Italy's HEART. North vs South →
Days 1-3: Naples. Fly into Naples Capodichino. Day 1: MANN (morning) → Cristo Velato → Spaccanapoli walk + street food → Via San Gregorio Armeno presepi. Pizza at Da Michele (€4). Day 2: Pompeii (Circumvesuviana 40 min, €2.80) — 4h exploring → Vesuvius crater hike (optional, 30 min). Day 3: Capri day trip (hydrofoil 50 min, €20) — Blue Grotto, Anacapri chairlift, Faraglioni swim.
Days 4-6: Amalfi Coast. Train Naples→Sorrento (Circumvesuviana 1h10) → bus to coast. Day 4: Positano (walk, beach, sunset at Franco's Bar). Day 5: Path of the Gods hike (Agerola→Nocelle, 3h, coast+Capri views) → Positano by bus. OR: private boat day (Li Galli Sirens islands, swimming stops, €150-300 for 2). Day 6: Ravello (Villa Rufolo terrace) + Amalfi town (paper museum, Duomo). Drive/bus to Salerno → train to Puglia.
Days 7-10: Puglia. Train Salerno→Bari (3.5h, €15-25 on Trainline). Pick up rental car Bari. Day 7: Bari Vecchia (orecchiette ladies, San Nicola) → Polignano a Mare (cliff cove). Day 8: Alberobello + Locorotondo + Cisternino (Valle d'Itria). Sleep in trullo. Day 9: Lecce (Baroque city) + Salento beach (Porto Selvaggio or Baia dei Turchi). Day 10: Drive to Matera (1.5h) — Sassi cave city, cave restaurant dinner by candlelight.
Days 11-14 (extended): Day 11: Matera morning (Sassi churches, MOOM museum) → drive to Maratea (2.5h — Basilicata's secret Amalfi, 22m Christ statue). Day 12: Calabria coast — Tropea (cliff-top town, turquoise water). Days 13-14: Scilla (Scylla from Homer, castle on the cliff) → fly from Lamezia Terme or drive to Naples (4h).