If you’ve been following along with our epic trip to Europe, then you know we left off after our Mediterranean cruise aboard Enchanted Princess arrived back in Civitavecchia, the port just outside of Rome.
What’s crazy is that we had actually planned to get off the ship the day before in Naples since I’d booked a week at an Airbnb just off the coast on the island of Ischia. But when I asked if we could disembark in Naples, Princess told me that early disembarkation wasn’t permitted because the voyage both began and ended in Italy.
It’s not entirely clear whether that’s due to an Italian maritime regulation or a cruise line or port authority policy specific to this itinerary. Either way, it meant we couldn’t simply leave the ship in Naples. We had to sail all the way back to Civitavecchia and then make our way south again. It wasn’t the end of the world but it definitely complicated our plans.
As I mentioned in my Princess cruise post, one piece of advice I highly recommend passengers heed is to arrange your transportation in advance. The area outside the terminal was pretty chaotic, as you can see above, and having a driver waiting for us made things much less stressful. He was running a little late, but we were able to communicate easily via WhatsApp. Related: All the apps you should download to your phone before your trip to Europe.
We used Daytrip, which made the roughly four-hour journey back to Naples a breeze. You might remember that we previously used Daytrip in Paris.
It’s more than just a car service since you can add sightseeing stops along the way instead of simply going from Point A to Point B.
And apparently, a lot of travelers are doing exactly that.
Daytrip recently released data showing the most popular sightseeing stops its predominantly American customers are adding to their European transfers this summer. Interestingly, Pompeii, which was the stop we originally wanted to make, came in at No. 1.
Here are Daytrip’s Top 10 European sightseeing stops for summer 2026:
- Pompeii, Italy
- Óbidos, Portugal
- Český Krumlov, Czech Republic
- Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Coimbra, Portugal
- Aveiro, Portugal
- Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
- Ston, Croatia
- Stonehenge, England
- Bratislava, Slovakia
I can see why this concept is becoming popular, especially with American travelers who want to maximize their vacation time. Instead of losing most of a day getting from one city to another, you can turn the transfer into part of the trip and visit a place you might otherwise skip.
For example, travelers going between Lisbon and Porto can stop in Óbidos or Coimbra, while those traveling between Prague and Vienna can add Český Krumlov or Bratislava. It’s a clever way to see more of Europe without renting a car or having to drag your luggage on and off trains and buses.
Daytrip says it now operates in more than 130 countries across six continents, with a network of more than 10,000 English-speaking drivers and over 40,000 routes. More than two million travelers have used the service.
The Daytrip PR team was kind enough to set us up with a ride so we could experience the service. We had originally planned to make Pompeii our sightseeing stop, but admission tickets aren’t included, so you have to purchase those separately.
Unfortunately, all the tickets for that day were sold out, even though I had tried booking about two weeks in advance. That’s actually why we ended up booking a last-minute Princess excursion to Pompeii the day before (photo above). According to our Princess tour guide, Pompeii caps visitors at 20,000 per day and there were five cruise ships in port that day.
I messed up on this one because I figured we could just change our Daytrip itinerary and go into Rome for lunch instead. But our driver explained that a stop in Rome needed to be arranged in advance. He could make the change, but it was going to cost an additional €150 on top of the €900 transfer. He also didn’t recommend it because traffic getting in and out of Rome could be a nightmare.
Instead, he suggested we visit Herculaneum. Like Pompeii, the ancient Roman city was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, but it’s smaller, generally less crowded and in some ways even better preserved. Admission was also just €16 and tickets were much easier to get.
But it was hot. Really hot. After spending the previous day walking around Pompeii in the heat, none of us were eager to tour another archaeological site, so we decided to skip it and head straight to Naples.
If it weren’t for Daytrip, we would have had to schlep ourselves and all our luggage to the train station and take the train south, which is exactly what we did a few years ago. Here’s what it’s like taking the fast train from Rome to Naples.
I’ve done the drive between Rome and Naples before and it’s not particularly exciting. But about an hour outside of Naples, we stopped at an Autogrill, one of Italy’s highway rest stops.
Calling it a rest stop doesn’t really do it justice. There were gas pumps, a Burger King and a convenience store that made many of the highway rest stops back home look pretty shabby.
They had all kinds of treats, freshly made sandwiches, fresh produce and toys. The kids didn’t want to leave. Even better, the bathrooms were clean and free.
Our Daytrip driver was super friendly and suggested that if we weren’t going to do any sightseeing, we should at least stop at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, one of Naples’ most famous pizzerias and just about 10 minutes from the ferry terminal.
I’m glad we listened.
The pizza was delicious and just €6 per pie, or about $6.83 USD at the time. There was a line out the door, but the system was pretty simple: Put your name in and wait outside or order your pizza to go.
We didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes. I’m still not sure if we just got lucky or if our driver pulled some strings.
After lunch, he dropped us off at Porta di Massa so I could double-check that there was a ferry leaving for Ischia. Sure enough, there was one departing in about 20 minutes, which was perfect timing. I purchased four tickets for about $47 USD total and we were off.
What could have been a ridiculously long and exhausting travel day of schlepping our luggage from taxi to train to taxi turned out to be surprisingly easy. Daytrip picked us up right outside the cruise terminal, drove us all the way to Naples, gave us the flexibility to make stops along the way and dropped us right near the ferry to Ischia.
After spending a week on a cruise ship, that kind of door-to-door service was exactly what we needed.
And after seeing Daytrip’s list of the most popular stops travelers are making this summer, I think we’ll take better advantage of the sightseeing option next time. Turning a travel day into a sightseeing day makes a lot of sense, especially when you’re somewhere like Europe where there’s often an incredible town, landmark or UNESCO World Heritage Site between Point A and Point B.
Next stop: Ischia.
