Naples has a reputation for being unreliable due to its association with the “home of pizza” and its adoration for football icon Diego Maradona. People disregard the third-largest city in Italy due to its legacy of squalor and crime in favor of the more attractive towns along the southern Amalfi coast.
The secret of Naples
Naples, though, is incredibly undervalued; you’ll kick yourself for skipping it sooner. Because the city’s historical inventory is a blend of grime and grandeur, easily retraced on its Unesco-listed Greco-Roman streets, with the architecture and art of its Imperial city age, and a complex subterranean, what those coast-dashing tourists miss is. The areas of the city are teeming with street life, street food, and street art; this is authentic Italy, not a performance for tourists.
Immerse yourself in the unmatched passion, pride, and brisk pace of the Neapolitan lifestyle by finding yourself in a maze of intoxicating roads and alleys that lead to the serenity of hilltops and harbor bays in the surrounding area. You’ll soon get a new perspective on the city.
Enter one of Naples’ most colorful neighborhoods by leaving Via Toledo’s historic street. The “Spanish Quarter” is a tightly knit, tightly packed neighborhood that, under prior mafia domination, turned into a no-go area.
It so named because it served as lodging for the Spanish military in the 16th century. After being cleaned up over the past ten years, Naples has begun a creative renaissance. After leaving the historic Via Toledo, begin in Via Emanuele de’ Deo and work your way up the long, sloping alley to enter one of Naples’ most colorful neighborhoods.
While traveling to the city’s Maradona Shrine through a self-guided street art trail, you’ll unintentionally peek into stunning open residences. Then navigate the about a dozen blocks on either side of the grid streets, avoid the mopeds, and follow the infectious Latin American sounds to the dive pubs selling the city’s strongest Aperol Spritz.
Take a stroll around the Centro Storico’s historic alleys.
You can see a conveyor belt of Roman ruins set against graffitied walls and the grand facades of buildings containing world-renowned art, such as the marbled Veiled Christ at Museo Cappella Sansevero, as you make your way through the historic center’s maze of narrow stone streets, tiny lanes, and converted alleys. Walk along the Via San Biagio Dei Librai, which is the city’s oldest thoroughfare, beginning at the western end where the fresco-covered Chiesa del Gesu Nuovo basilica is located. Next, visit the painted-tiled Complesso Monumentale di Santa Chiara complex. It is known as “Spaccanapoli” because, when viewed from above, it seems to divide Naples in two.
Observe the sunset near Lungomare
A slice of pizza or some granita from a street vendor can buy, and then you can join the residents on the rocky coastal promenade along Via Partenope. For a lunch, at dusk, while seeing the Castel dell Ovo stronghold sparkling in the harbor lights, take a seat on one of the jetties at Borgo Marinari.
Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius day trip
You are reminded of Pompeii’s proximity by the hulking hump of Mount Vesuvius behind the Naples skyline. To reach the well-known historical site, take the Circumvesuviana train south for 30 minutes. There, archaeologists are still revealing the Roman city that covered in volcanic ash by the tragic AD79 eruption. A guide can show you around the best-preserved sites and recently found artifacts if you arrive early and hire one there.
If you leave Pompeii early in the day, you’ll have time to climb Mount Vesuvius in the late afternoon for views of the Gulf of Naples before sundown. Get aboard the bus at the archaeological site and ride up the twisting road to the volcano access gate after purchasing your time slot ticket in advance online.
The majority of the street food vendors in the historic center serve fried treats, such as a cuoppo (a cone of fried, bite-sized seafood and vegetables) from La Sicilia Di Serafino Napoli and arancini (stuffed and fried rice balls) from Di Matteo along the Spaccanapoli. By purchasing lunch from one of these vendors, you can support a small business.
Tandem Ragu offers a traditional-feeling menu with a heavy emphasis on the meaty, tomato-based Neapolitan sauce, served with soft bits of beef rather than mince in a thick, stew-like broth. Finish with Baba al Rum, a yeast cake covered in syrup.
There is a long list of doughy delicacies to go through here, the home of pizza. L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele, immortalized by Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love is home to some of the best Neapolitan-style masterpieces, and it’s famous for its Margherita and marinara pizzas.
Visit Antica Pizza Port’Alba, the oldest pizzeria in Naples, or Pizzeria Brandi (Salita S. Anna di Palazzo, 1/2), which created the Margherita in 1889 in honor of the Italian Queen. You might even forgo the thin crust in favor of one of Sorbillo’s renowned fried pizzas from Naples.
Where to drink
At the family-run Centrale del Caffe coffee shop, stand and enjoy an espresso to blend in with the neighborhood. Since the 1960s, it has been a mainstay of the historic district, roasting its own blends on-site. It’s also an excellent place to buy freshly ground coffee beans as gifts or trinkets. Try the traditional Neopolitan Espresso blend.
The Libreria Berisio is a cocktail bar by night and a bookshop-meets-café by day in the Dante neighborhood. Before heading to the close-by, bar-lined Piazza Bellini, read or sip in its evocative floor-to-ceiling library.
At OAK Napoli Wine and Craft Beer, with a focus on regional brews, explore Italy’s microbreweries and browse a constantly-changing menu of regional wines. It is one of several young pubs tucked away in a small lane near Via Toledo.
The Chiaia neighborhood is where you should go if you want a secret, hidden pub. The L’Antiquario storefront exhibit fits well with the neighborhood’s variety of antique shops. Behind its doors is a speakeasy-style cocktail bar decorated with velvet seating and seductive low lighting. It is open daily from 7.30 p.m. until 3 a.m.
Where to Shop in Naples
In the Chiaia neighborhood, designer labels, upscale apparel shops, and Italian tailors like Ex Voto and Deliberti compete with labels like Gucci and Emporio Armani. Take any path outward from Piazza Dei Martiri, in the eastern collection of paved streets above the Villa Comunale di Napoli park.
On Via San Gregorio Armebo, also known as “Christmas Alley,” Neapolitan artisans display their work all year long. You may admire the whole range of classic nativity scenes and novelty figures on this 150-meter-long street of artisan workshops and craft stores, including those that let you customize the holy scene with your favorite football players, politicians, or musicians.
In the congested side streets of the historic center, artistic creativity goes beyond the displays of museum exhibits and architectural facades. Between the main thoroughfares of Via Tribunali and Via San Biagio Dei Librai, there are laneways that are home to shops selling glass, pottery, and ceramics, as well as tailors and leatherworkers. There is even a Doll Hospital, a weird cavern filled with doll parts that were formerly a centuries-old repair shop (Via San Biagio Dei Librai, 39).
Architecture’s best feature
Shopping is not necessary to appreciate the magnificent Galleria Umberto I shopping arcade from the 19th century, which features iron and glass-domed ceilings, marble-columned, vaulted galleries, and mosaic flooring. Take the Municipio metro stop and exit, and you’ll see this gorgeous building across from Teatro San Carlo, Italy’s first opera house (Via San Carlo, 15).
What kind of money do I need?
Euros.
What dialect do they use?
Despite English being commonly spoken, Italian.
Do I need to tip?
It’s customary to tip for exceptional service. 10% is the target.
What is the difference in time?
one hour earlier than GMT.
How should I navigate?
Naples is a spread-out, hilly city that is walkable. The metro system and funicular, rather than the buses and trams, are the most user-friendly for lengthier cross-town trips.
Which view is the best?
From the medieval ramparts of Castel Sant’Elmo on the Vomero hill, take in a sweeping view of the seaside and historic district with Mount Vesuvius as a bonus backdrop. Tickets for entry cost €5 (£4.30).
How to get there
Attempting to fly less? You may go to Naples exclusively by train, just as in much of Italy. Take the Eurostar to the Gare du Nord in Paris and then change there for the Gare de Lyon. A twice-daily train runs from here to Milan in northern Italy, where you may catch another train to Napoli Centrale.
I’m good with flying.
Airlines including British Airways, EasyJet, and Ryanair offer direct flights to Naples from UK airports.