Discovering Naples

Hello, everyone!

Today I will be writing about the second time I’ve ever been to Italy. In January 2019 we went to Naples! I think it was kind of an out-of-the-blue decision. We wanted to go somewhere, then we decided to go to Italy. We had already been in Rome, we wanted to stay away from other major cities such as Milan and Venice, so we decided to go to a smaller one, and then we chose Naples (we were also very excited to go and try the OG pizzas!).

I was quite surprised that we had a direct flight from Lisbon to Naples. We flew with Ryanair and we paid around 70 euros round-trip. After arriving at the Naples International Airport, we took a taxi that cost us between 20 to 25 EUR, and drove us all the way to our Airbnb. We booked one of the best listings we’ve ever stayed at! It was right in the old center, within walking distance to everywhere we wanted to go to and cost us 307.24 EUR for 2 people during 7 nights. It was a small studio, however it was super clean and the host was one of the nicest we’ve ever met. If you are interested in booking a place in Naples, I highly recommend this Airbnb!

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What We Did

We were right by a street named Via S. Gregorio Armeno, which was one of the streets I most enjoyed walking in. Naples has a very particular type of crafts. From what I understood, nativity art is very common amongst Naples families - it is like a religious dollhouse collection, and most (or even all) pieces of these collections are handmade by local artisans. This street is loaded with artisans stores selling this type of art, as well as other handmade souvenirs. If you’re walking around and really observing these pieces, you will come across many “masks” - this mask if called Pulcinella, and it represents a man who tries to face all his problems with a smile. This is a very traditional symbol of Naples, so of course we bought a tiny mask to bring home with us.

One of the first things we did after arriving in Naples was go to a Napulitanata concert. Napulitanata is a concert room dedicated to traditional Neapolitan music. Sebastian booked this concert for us, and although I was not really into going when he told me this, I quickly changed my mind after being there. The room is small, it has a cozy feel to it and it doesn’t get too crowded since there are limited entries. You can enjoy the concert from your own cafe table, enjoy a glass of wine that they offer and the artists will entertain you and even involve you in the activity, which is really fun. Entries are 12 EUR and can be bought on their official website.

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What We Visited

Since we went in January, the weather was not that great. We actually caught a lot of rain, however this didn’t stop us from walking everywhere. One of the first things we visited was the Naples National Archaeological Museum. This museum holds some of the most important and ancient collections of Roman remains, as well as some collections from Pompeii and Herculaneum. We’ve heard it was one of the most visited museums in the city, so we took half a day to wander around and explore the collections that this museum has to offer. We paid the reduced fare (2 EUR) since we are EU citizens within 18yo and 25yo age gap - full rate is 18 EUR, which I consider quite pricey for a European museum. You can check more available rates here.

Naples has three main castles: Castel Nuovo, Castel Dell’Ovo and Castel de Sant’Elmo. We were walking by the Municipio area when we decided to go visit Castel Nuovo. We bought a guided tour visit, and I have to say that, if you’re planning on visiting by yourself, it is better to visit the outside only. Although the history of the castle is interesting, there’s not much on the inside to see, but the view is amazing.

If you walk 20 minutes from Castel Nuovo, you will find Castel Dell’Ovo, which is beautifully located right on the Thyrrenian sea. We didn’t visit the castle inside, however the outside is nice to look at and walking around this area is also a cool experience.

My favorite activity to do in the old center of Naples was to visit the Naples Underground - the current city of Naples we can find is actually on top of several layers of older Naples’ cities. Napoli Sotterranea will show you several remains of the ancient cities that lived below the current Naples, and this was one of the most fun activities! We recommend going on a guided visit since you will be told exactly what used to lay underneath all those layers. We paid around 10 euros per person that includes the entry and guided tour.

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Day trips from Naples

One of the main things that led us to Naples was the possibility to visit many different areas around it. We started by taking a bus to visit Pompeii, which is an ancient city that was conserved after being buried under the Vesuvius volcano ashes. Since it was so well preserved, the remains of the city gave us a close look at what the lives of their people looked like at the time. Pompeii is now a very sought after touristic attraction and very accessible from Naples. We were really lucky with the weather that day, since it was quite chilly but it wasn’t raining, it made it really easy to walk around and enjoy the place. We paid the reduced fee of 2 EUR since we were EU visitors under 25yo, and full rate of the ticket is 16 EUR.

Our second day trip plan was renting a car and driving around the Amalfi coast. It doesn’t have the same charm as it has during summer, however since we were close by we decided to go and get to know it. We left from the Naples train station and headed to the Amalfi coast. We drove for a bit more than 1 hour to get to Amalfi, and we decided to stop the car and walk around town. There was not much life around since it was low season and most stores and restaurants were closed, but we enjoyed walking around and taking a few photos. We had a look at the Curia Arcivescovile, moved on through Via Lorenzo d’Amalfi and got lost in the small town’s streets.

From Amalfi we drove another 40 minutes until we got to Positano. This place is so worth the roadtrip! The views are incredible and there are so many places to stop and visit along the way.

We quickly realised that this coast is really touristic, since the prices did justice to its status. We parked our car in Positano and, during low season, the parking was 4 EUR per hour, which is the most expensive I’ve ever seen anywhere. Anyway, we didn’t take long in Positano. Again, since it was winter and the weather was not that great, we went down to the beach, visited a few cafes and streets around the small town and started our way to Sorrento.

We arrived in Sorrento in the evening and the sun had already set, so we didn’t enjoy it that much since everything was already closed and the views were pitch black. We decided to take the train the next day back to Sorrento and spend the day there, and it was so worth it! I have to say Sorrento was one of my favorite places to visit around the Amalfi Coast, and everything looked so homey and local. Sorrento is famous for its lemons, and many of their products are lemon-based, such as the drink Limoncello, lemon soaps, lemon ice creams, lemon everything! The train to Sorrento costs 3.60 EUR and the ride lasts for about an hour and a few minutes.

In Sorrento, we visited the abandoned mill (which is a famous attraction, however you can only see it from above and are not allowed to go down or inside the building), and then headed closer to the coast. We wandered around the centres´ streets, all the way down to the Marina. We stopped by a few viewpoints and had a look at the amazing view over Naples. Both times we went there, we also went to an ice cream shop close to Piazza Tasso called We Love Puro. I didn’t get the feeling this ice cream store was very local, it looked like a restaurant chain, however the ice cream was amazing (I highly recommend the Nutella one, it looks like they just freeze Nutella and serve it in a cone).

Naples is a small city, so it can be easily visited in a couple of days even if you are planning on going to museums and monuments. Taking a week to go to Naples was longer than we needed, but we were glad that this town has so many places around for nice day trips, and I highly recommend taking some if you are interested. Be aware that the Amalfi Coast is very expensive, much more than I was expecting, especially since the other cities I have visited in Italy, Rome included, were quite affordable. Since we didn’t stay there for the night, I don’t have any relevant recommendations of places to stay or places to eat, but the internet is full of good reviews about the place and it is just a matter of searching to find good places that are suitable for your budget. I’m sure we will be back to the Amalfi Coast in the future and I will be sure to write down all the prices on a blog post.

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Where We Ate

Everybody knows Italy is famous for its pizza, but maybe some people don’t know that Naples is the home of them all! We were expecting to eat lots of it during our week, but I never expected that we would have that much. And it was all amazing!

I won’t be writing down all the places we went to, since there were so many and they are easy to find. I will start by talking about one that was recommended to us by our taxi driver, Pizzeria Dal Presidente. It is located Via Dei Tribunali, which is the street that holds the oldest pizzerias in Naples. I guess this one is quite famous since it was really busy, but we were able to get a table. The smell was amazing and the pizzas looked delicious. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of asking for a lasagna pizza (I’ve always known that less is more so I don’t know why I thought this would be worth the risk). I was really not impressed with this pizza, I believe it was the lasagna sauce that kind of ruined it. I know that even bad pizza is good pizza, but this one was really not good, and I couldn’t finish it. BUT, and this is a really big but, Sebastian’s ham and mushroom pizza was heaven. And all other pizzas that waiters would walk around with also looked a lot better.

My favorite pizzeria in Naples was just a few hundred meters up the same street and it was called Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo - I believe that, from the moment we discovered this place, we went there everyday. I learned my lesson and started eating only margherita or ham and mushroom pizzas, and I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life (this is not true, by the end of our trip I was already feeling intoxicated, ahah). Many times we just ordered to go and went back to our Airbnb to enjoy some Netflix and pizza at night, and sometimes we went out for dessert afterwards - these are some of the perks of booking accommodation in the city center.

Sebastian’s favorite one was Pizzeria Del Portico Napoli, also in the same street, also the same ham and mushroom pizza. This one was also amazing, but I would still go for the Sorbillo one.

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I loved the way we travelled through Naples! I believe it was the most authentic city we visited in a long time, everything feels so local and genuine, although I know there are many tourists around.

In the future, I hope I take more time to visit the Amalfi coast as it is a real gem, as well as Sorrento. However, I will try to go during spring/summer since it will make this experience a lot better!

Naples is a nice city to visit during winter - I say this because I can’t handle visiting cities and walking under extreme heat. There are a few cultural attractions to visit if it is raining and, if you have the same luck as us and catch a few cloudy moments without rain, you will be able to easily enjoy walking around the city.

The best way to visit Italy is renting a car a visiting the whole country, so make sure you include Naples in your roadtrip plans or even for a small winter break!