On arrival, Postino’s busy fall tourism season is in full swing. Influencers line up at Instagram-ready viewpoints, armed with selfie sticks and flashing pouty lips for their followers. Social media attention has brought thick crowds to dreamy Positano, not that it matters to the kids, who follow their noses along a maze of narrow paths, admiring painted ceramics and captivating sculptures in a gallery called Liquid Art. They chuckle at the dinky, toy-like Fiats cars that are small enough to squeeze through narrow roads and crowds. With cars, bikes and pedestrians sharing the pathways, we still have to constantly remind them to hug the walls and walk in single file.

The Amalfi Coast is Italy’s land of lemons. The bright fruit adorns hand-painted tiles, souvenirs, paintings and dresses, while the fragrance of citrus permeates the market stalls and outdoor cafes. It’s beautiful and romantic, but younger kids will fall in love with the smooth pebble beaches, swims in the warm sea, and devouring tart sorbets served in hollow lemons. Returning by ferry to Amalfi, we catch the twisty, 45-minute shuttle up the mountain to Bomerano, making sure all car-sick-prone kids and adults are seated up front. Exodus effectively charters the family-owned and run Hotel Due Torri for all its groups, and the spotless hotel/restaurant is warm and welcoming. The secret to travelling with young kids is to make sure there’s a swimming pool, and the Due Torri has a great one – warm, deep, and inviting.

Mount Vesuvius looms over Naples, located just nine kilometres east of the city. The active volcano is best known for wiping out Pompeii in 79CE, burying the sprawling Roman town in ash and rubble, and subsequently protecting it from centuries of conquering armies and looters. Hiking up to Vesuvius’s crater along the dark ash of the Il Gran Cono path is heavy on the coastal views, and geology lessons too. Vesuvius tends to erupt every 50 years, although the real threat to Naples is a massive active caldera that sits beneath the city called Campi Flegrei. Understandably, kids need reassurance that the volcano is not about to erupt and ruin their holiday.

From the volcano, we head into Naples to explore to ruins of its famous victim, Pompeii. One can spend days wandering about this sprawling excavated town, but we only had a few hours to take in highlight murals, amphitheatre, villas, baths and forums. As a child, I was fascinated with photos of the preserved casts of Pompeii victims, forever frozen in their death pose by the falling ash. We see 13 such statues housed behind glass in the Garden of the Fugitives, leaving a powerful if morbid impression on all ages.