north or south of Italy

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We definitely want to go to Italy this year but can't decide to head to the north (thinking lake garda, venice etc) or to the South (sorrento, pompei etc). Will probably stay at more than one place so do a little travelling but don't want to travel the whole length of the country.
The kids will be 14 and 10. I know the north well but i've never been to sorrento etc. I keep hearing negative things about holidays in the south.
Any feedback useful

I enjoyed both. Love the lakes most. How confident a driver are you/dh? Amalfi coast is a scary driving experience i understand. We were fine but MIL was scared by the narrow roads, hairpin bends, roads built into rock and overhanging drops plus mad drivers.

Apparently its easy to bus it from Sorrento. We drove but admittedly traffic was hideous as bank hol weekend.

As you know the north go south. You could go to Sorrento positano amalfi ravello maybe onward to the cliento or island hop from Sorrento to capri (go on a boat trip around the island and into the grottos) plus up mt solero by cable car.
Or ischia is meant to be fab. Avoid Naples. Personally im not captivated by Pompeii but its 20 years since i went. Perhaps it is more interesting now im older.

Italy is very accessible by train so its not to say you couldn't train it to rome from Sorrento. Love love rome: st peters, the Vatican museum, the beautiful buildings and artwork , the history, the food. Ive got to go back.

Oh we stayed in a villa in st agata due gofi (st Agatha of the 2 gulfs) which is 20min drive from Sorrento. I recommend it. There were loads of lovely restaurants, we could get to Sorrento easily, but it was closer driving to positano and on to amalfi.

There was a nearby marina which looked like heaven. Lots of lovely restaurants (plus hotels/holiday lets) its across from capri so all the glitterati sail over for lunch and dinner. Nothing else there apart from watersports and boat hire. I was speaking to a resident tourist and he told me he just stayed there and got boats to places for lunch. Probably very expensive to do it but amazing to avoid driving.

What time of year?

We had a great holiday in Sorrento when DD was 10 - local trains to Pompeii and Herculaneum, and a mainline train to Paestum, trip to Capri, local bus up along the coast. We went at Easter, which was perfect for sightseeing and the hotel had a heated outdoors pool so warm enough for slightly tough brits. I don't think I'd want to do Pompeii in high summer. (Same applies to Venice, of course).

I think the Roman and Greek sites are more interesting for that age than the art etc in places like Florence and Venice.

I've been to both and loved both.

Would definitely visit both again, although would like to see Pompeii in April next time rather than summer.

The Amalfi coast isn’t deep South- as above you can train it there pretty easily from Rome. It’s an incredibly beautiful coastline but yes the roads are scary! I’ve only ever done it by train & bus (train to Naples, train to Sorrento and then bus from outside Sorrento’s train station). Just personal but I wasn’t that keen on Sorrento - it seemed to be really built up with hotels but to be fair I’ve only ever spent a couple of hours there. Amalfi however was great (bus from Sorrento or there is I think a hydrofoil from Naples). It’s not cheap to stay at though and the towns along this stretch are pricey accommodation wise as they are very very pretty! Naples is a hole but it does have some interesting museums. Pompeii is a great experience.

As an alternative ‘South’ itinerary, how about Sicily? We did Catania, Taormina and Ortigia (Syracuse) 2 years ago by train ( train travel is cheap in Italy and you can book it all in advance on the Trenitalia site). The scenery is equally dramatic, the food is great, there’s lots of history (Roman and Greek) and it will be cheaper than the Amalfi coast. We’ve not done it but It’s on our list & I’ve done some pricing but Puglia right down South looks interesting (starting in Bari, going on to the abandoned cave town of Matera then onto Alberobello & staying in a truli) and cheaper than the North.

I really like both the North and South but they do have different feels to them - the South is more rough and ready!

As an alternative ‘South’ itinerary, how about Sicily? We did Catania, Taormina and Ortigia (Syracuse) 2 years ago by train ( train travel is cheap in Italy and you can book it all in advance on the Trenitalia site)

Oh, that's interesting- we were booked to go to Sicily last year but DH was ill. That was a coach tour (just me and him, DD is at uni now) as we didn't fancy driving in Italy - train hadn't occurred to us.

The trains in Sicily aren’t as good as the mainland (lots of stops!) so I’m not sure I’d do the whole island that way but they’re fine if you are doing a couple of towns/cities. Taormina is 45 on the train from Catania & Siricusa 1hr10.