Orientation
STAZIONE CENTRALE AND CENTRO STORICO
Naples’s transit hub, Stazione Centrale, opens onto the vast, chaotic Piazza Garibaldi, full of vendors and traffic that stops for no one. Hotels surround the piazza and line the nearby streets. The neighborhood is seedy, and many streets are, in fact, lined with trash. A little further west, the Centro Storico, also known as Spaccanapoli, is Naples’s oldest neighborhood, filled with tiny alleys and beautiful architecture. If you stay near the train station, be sure to head to the central parts of the city for sightseeing, eating, and nightlife.
WESTERN NAPLES
The neighborhoods get nicer as you move farther from the train station. Piazza del Plebiscito was once one of the most important places in Naples, home to the Palazzo Reale and a stunning church. Today, it has declined in vitality but still remains a central part of the city. The Spanish Quarter in the northwest features a number of small but energetic streets heading up the hill. On a hill high above the city (best ascended by funicular), Vomero is classy and serene. Even farther west, Via Chiaia is fashionable and closer to sea level.