Naples is a bustling, hectic city—revel in it if you like, revile it if you must, just don't be scared by it. Travelers who know where they're going (or just look like they do) will fare best. Traffic zooms through the streets in lanes half the width of the painted lines. Red lights are mere suggestions. Crossing the street is a battle of wills—one of which has a V8 engine on its side. Yet Neapolitans take it all in stride. Cheerful chaos is a lifestyle they have eagerly adopted, though they now take out the trash, and much of the crime and grime has gone with it. Laughing together in one hearty chuckle, locals seem to spend every waking hour on the town, drinking, smoking, carousing, and eating.
Especially eating. This city invented pizza, and it sure knows how to make a good slice. The challenge is less finding the best than finding something else to eat: with pies so savory and inexpensive, it's hard to try something a little different. Still, the seafood that has defined the Mediterranean diet for centuries overflows the fishermen's holds in the picturesque bay.
It's a shame tourists often treat this city as a mere stopover while exploring nearby attractions. All they see is the train station—unruly and unclean, the worst of stereotypical Naples, but many areas have the beauty of a resort town. Scrub off the grime and graffitti, and there's much to be found in the city's architecturally masterful centro. Don't trust us? Trust UNESCO, which recently deemed Naples' historical center a World Heritage Site. For millennia, the city has been an outpost for the world's greatest civilizations, so forgive Naples its untidiness and petty crime: the continent and, really, the world as they stand in the modern era owe a lot to this scrappy city.
To get to Naples from Rome, hop on a Trenitalia train. Departures from Stazione Termini in Rome from about 5am-10pm take between 1¼-1¾hr. (ES, ES/Av, and Ex trains; €30-40) or 2-3 hours (Ic, Icn, and ...more
The Centro Storico, also known as Spaccanapoli, is Naples's oldest neighborhood, filled with tiny alleys and beautiful architecture. Located west of the station and east of P. del Plebiscito, the area ...more
Tourist Office: EPT, P. dei Martiri 58 (☎ 081 41 07 211; www.eptnapoli.info). Offers booking services, free maps, and the indispensable Qui Napoli, a twice-monthly publication tourist publication ...more
The UnicoNapoliticket (☎ 081 55 13 109 www.napolipass.it) is valid for all modes of tranportation in the city. Tickets come in three varieties: 90min. (€1.10), full-day (€3 ...more
The first thing most travelers see upon arriving in Naples is a neon junkyard of hotels in the hectic and unpleasant area near Stazione Centrale. Don't trust anyone who approaches you in the station—people ...more
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Naples, eat pizza. If you ever doubted that Neapolitans invented the crusty, cheese-covered pie, the city's pizzerias will take that doubt, beat ...more
Been there, done that. So the Greeks, Romans, and Spanish have each said about the city of Naples, and each of their conquests has left a unique mark on this remarkably historical metropolis. Home to a ...more
The discos in Naples may be few and far between—literally—but the city is not without after-hours activity. Its centro and fashionable outer neighborhoods bustle with bars and, better yet, students ...more
Naples is known more for carefree lifestyles and a disregard for rules than arts and refinement, yet the city presents a number of opportunities to experience something a bit more unique than a red-light-running ...more
Very low prices can make Naples an enticing place to score that killer deal—as long as you remember that there's a reason the street vendor grabs his wares and runs when a police car turns the corner ...more
The waterfront streets of Naples afford city-dwellers a great opportunity for relaxation. A 4km rocky shoreline stretches from V. Nazaro Sauro in the P. del Plebiscito area through V. Caracciolo in Mergellina ...more
Sailing around the Bay of Naples, you'll see Mt. Vesuvius from nearly all vistas. It lurks formidably as though to say, “Don't forget about me.” Well, given the crowds that stream to Pompeii annually ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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