The Coast, Loosely Planned

Arrive whenever your flight gets in — there's no group call time today, just converge on Naples. Gregg, Sue, Roberto H. & Araceli arrive by train from Rome around 11:30 AM.

All 8 of us have confirmed rooms at Municipio Luxury Suite, 4 Calata San Marco, Port of Naples (+39 081 1853 4470) — check-in 2:00 PM. A €22/person city tax is collected separately at the hotel.

Group dinner, all together: Raf Bonetta – Pizzeria Vomero, Via Domenico Cimarosa 144 (081 556 8169). Kitchen opens 7:30 PM — don't show up early, they've turned people away at 7:00. No online reservations; call ahead for a party of 8 or arrive right at opening.

Getting there, the scenic way: walk ~9 min from the hotel to the Funicolare Centrale station on Via Toledo, ride it up to Piazza Fuga (~€1.30–1.50, buy at the kiosk or the Unico Campania app), then it's a flat 4-minute walk up Via Cimarosa to the restaurant. About 15–18 minutes door to door. Worth checking the funicular's last run for the trip back — taxi is the easy fallback.

Pickup 11:00 AM for the group of 8 (plus luggage) to Villa Margi, Vico Equense. Check-in is 3:00 PM — Daplace (villa staff) handles arrival.

Pickup from Marina di Sorrento ~11:00 AM aboard Capt. Roberto Kokolis's Old Lady — a restored 60-ft vintage wooden yacht. First stop: cruising right up to the Faraglioni rocks for the iconic Capri photo. Then docking down below Ristorante Pizzeria A'Mmare for lunch together — Roberto's own suggestion, and a smarter pick than the Anacapri option we'd been eyeing, since it skips that town's crowds and transport hassle entirely.

After lunch, everyone splits up by preference: cab up to Anacapri for the chairlift to the summit of Monte Solaro (panoramic bay view) if you want the hilltop, or wander into Capri town, the piazzetta, or wherever else looks good. Everyone regroups later at the Capri Marina dock.

Back aboard, dinner is served on deck after sunset, anchored in the Bay of Sorrento — Roberto's wife cooking: caprese with mozzarella di bufala, parmigiana di melanzane, grilled vegetables, potato gateau, torta caprese and baba, fresh fruit, prosecco, and the restaurant's own homemade red & white wine. Back in Sorrento ~11:00 PM, then a ride from the docks back to the villa.

The rest of the afternoon is deliberately unplanned — too much planning ruins the fun of discovery. Just know the hilltop chairlift is there if you want it.

Officially open. For anyone who wants it, it's an easy ~15-minute train down to Sorrento to poke around.

The Amalfi coast-road drive idea got scrapped for this slot — early-September traffic on that road is more stress than scenery. The ferry days do that job better.

Ferry from the Sorrento Ferry Dock over to Positano for the day — all 8 of us going. We'll return on the last ferry of the day; buy those tickets in advance (day-of or up to a week ahead) so we don't get shut out.

Nothing on the books. Pool, terrace, or just recover from Positano.

FYI only, not a plan: if anyone wants to DIY a day trip, there's a ferry from Seiano to Amalfi (~9:00 AM out, ~6:30 PM back — about 4 hrs on the water, 4 hrs in town, ~$140 round trip per person). Sort it out among yourselves if you're interested — today stays a genuinely free day.

Train from Vico Equense to Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri station, where we'll meet a guide and driver arranged by Capt. Roberto Kokolis. Guided morning in the excavations (~2–3 hrs), then the driver takes us to Roberto's wife's restaurant on the far side of Vesuvius for lunch, wine, and a relaxed afternoon, before dropping us at the nearest station to head back to Vico Equense.

Open day at the villa — confirmed, no guide. Pool, terrace, or just rest up before departures.

Gregg, Sue, Roberto H. & Araceli — private car from Villa Margi to Napoli Centrale, departing the villa at 7:00 AM, arriving ~8:00 AM. Multiple trains a day to Rome, ~90 min average, then a cab from Roma Termini to FCO (~30–60 min). Even with real-world buffer for train waits and traffic, that puts us at the airport well before 12:20 PM — a comfortable 3 hours ahead of the 3:20 PM flight.

Ray & Valerie — private car from the villa back to Municipio Luxury Suite in Naples, timed to checkout, then flying out the 9th.