The region of Campania is home to two of Italy's most popular tourist destinations, as well as the birthplace of pizza. In other words, there are plenty of reasons to visit.
Located southeast of Lazio on the western coast of Italy, Campania is the most densely populated region in the country. The long coastline is on the Tyrrhenian Sea, where there are large gulfs, major ports, and touristy islands. Much of inland Campania is mountainous, but the coast isn't entirely flat. Take, for instance, the infamous volcano Mt. Vesuvius looming over the city of Naples and its gulf.
Vesuvius remains an active volcano, but today it's better known as the volcano that buried the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and others in 79 C.E. The excavations from those sites— particularly Pompeii—are some of Italy's most popular tourist attractions. Not far from Pompeii are the towns along the Amalfi Coast, vacation spot of the rich and famous. There are Greek ruins nearby, too, at Paestum. The busy city of Naples is at the region's heart, and is where pizza was born.
Naples and Salerno are both on the Trenitalia and Italo high-speed rail networks, so getting to these major port cities by train is a breeze. The slow Circumvesuviana circles the base of the volcano and connects Naples with Pompeii and Sorrento. There are other train lines linking other cities and towns in the region, too, but the Amalfi Coast is only reachable by bus or car.
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