Naples

The gateway to Southern Italy, this historic city is as tasty and colorful as the pizza Margherita it invented

Naples is like no other Italian city. It’s a street market, a night at the opera, a gelato on the beach, and a dog on a Vespa, all rolled into one. Prepare to be charmed and challenged, cajoled and caressed by its Mediterranean showiness, generosity, and warmth. Pizza, pasta, and nearby Pompeii are just three of its many attractions.

Morning: 

To take in the pulse of the city, begin at its spiritual center, the Duomo of San Gennaro Cathedral. Then take a circular route along streets that were the main thoroughfares of Greek Neapolis, founded in 470 BC. Lined with shops, bottegas, pizzerias and cafés, ancient churches, and underground archaeological sights, Via dei Tribunali to the north and Spaccanapoli to the south are studies in chaotic color. It’s never-ending street theater. Make a detour into narrow Via San Gregorio Armeno, the street of the Christmas nativity crib artisans. 

Afternoon: 

Stop for lunch at family-run pizzeria Concettina ai Tre Santi. Then walk up through the narrow lanes of the La Sanità district to lofty Capodimonte, the palace and hunting park of the city’s former Bourbon ruling dynasty. The ornate royal residence houses one of Italy’s great art collections, replete with Titians, Raphaels, and Caravaggios. Afterward, dawdle in the green glades of the extensive park, a picnic and playtime magnet for local families.

Evening: 

Check out the program of the opulent San Carlo opera theater, with its famously loyal (and vocal) audience. Before or after, book dinner at Cocoloco, an insidery local restaurant celebrated for its Genovese pasta sauce – a rich beef and onion mix that is slow-cooked for more than three hours.

Morning: 

You’ll get so much more out of sites like Pompeii or Herculaneum if you first look around Naples’ Archaeological Museum. Merging Ancient Roman and Greek pieces from the 18th-century Farnese collection with finds from the towns buried by the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, this temple of classical culture is full of works far too delicate or precious to be left in situ. There are magnificent Pompeiian mosaics and exquisite bronze statues from Herculaneum’s Villa dei Papiri.

Afternoon: 

Pompeii is unmissable, of course. But if your schedule only allows a couple of hours for a deep dive into one of the towns suspended in time by a cataclysmic eruption, consider Herculaneum instead. Closer to Naples, this compact site offers a strong flavor of what life in a bustling Ancient Roman community must have been like. There’s even a well-preserved streetside thermopolium – a 2,000-year-old fast-food emporium. Another advantage of choosing Herculaneum is that it’s the main hopping-off point for bus tours to the crater of Vesuvius, an atmospheric day trip pairing if ever there was one.

Evening: 

Back in Naples, end a day dedicated to time travel with a delicious dinner at Europeo Mattozzi, a wonderful old-school restaurant that has changed very little since it first opened in the early 1960s. Much loved by locals, reservations are recommended, though well worth it for the flavorful veal ragu and fresh seafood.

Morning: 

It looks like a mysterious ancient catacomb, but the underground tunnel known as the Galleria Borbonica was created in the middle of the 19th century as an escape route by a royal dynasty worried by the city’s reputation for riot and insurrection. Never finished, it later served as an air-raid shelter during wartime and a municipal storeroom for impounded goods, which explains the dusty Vespa scooters you’ll see down here if you sign up for a highly recommended tour.

Afternoon: 

Hop on a fast ferry to Procida – the closest and most authentic of the islands in the Bay of Naples. It’s all about enjoying the natural beauty here and this place of fishermen, mariners, and artsy exiles has atmosphere by the bucketload. Take one of the island’s breezy micro-taxis to the charming harbor village of Marina Corricella, a favorite location for films including Il Postino and The Talented Mr. Ripley. At the main port of Marina Grande, order a caffè shakerato – an iced coffee mixed in a cocktail shaker – at Bar dal Cavaliere, a local institution.

Evening: 

Back in Naples, head along to the city’s elegant Chiaia promenade for pizza or seafood pasta at historic waterfront restaurant Ciro a Mergellina. Under the same management, nearby Chalet Ciro is an essential local gelato and aperitivo spot, and the perfect place to round off your day.