Naples is the 5th Italian city I’ve visited and the 3rd time I’ve been in the country. I’ve heard things about Naples – normally something along the lines of ‘they created pizza, it’s very historic, but also can be dodgy’.

They’re not exactly wrong. The environs of Centrale station isn’t the nicest. Poorly kept, lots of rubbish on the ground, puddles a funny colour. But that’s not a reflection of the city’s people, rather, it’s shows the city needs money spent on it – the best places are often not the richest and tend to have the best food…

There’s not many places that can say it’s created one of the most popular meals on earth. Pizza in Naples is incredible. Italy has different style and flavours of pizza all around the country, but nothing is like eating pizza with lemonade in Napoli.

Parts of Naples feels South American, the Spanish colonial style architecture places you in Columbia or maybe even Havana. Here is Piazza Dante, just north of the main shopping area (with all the chain stores you’d expect in a major European city). According to Wikipedia, the Neapolitan language is most prominent in this part of the city. In the picture above, on the left is the Line 1 Metro Station; to the right out of sight is the way to the Old Town.

Completed in 1816, the Basilica isn’t as old as other historic buildings in the city but it certainly makes you stop and gaze. The Piazza, completed in 1846, is notably built from Vesuvian Volcanic Rock. Named after the 1860 referendum unifying Napoli with the rest of Italy, it’s the largest in the city, with the Palazzo Reale (Royal Palace) out of shot, behind.

Not too far away is the Fontana del Gigante, originally sighted outside the Royal Palace, it’s now overlooking the Gulf of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

This is defiantly a sight to visit. Rather quiet with tourists, you can get some great photos (thanks to my partner for her photographic eye seeing this).

As with most European cities, the further West you go, the noticeably wealthier the city becomes. We didn’t have time to explore the Chiaia district, but we hear it can be quite fancy! Head there for the Museo Pignatelli, good restaurants as well as luxury shops.

The Metro in Naples is split into 4 lines – L1 & L11 being proper Metro Lines, L2 more of a suburban railway and L6 a light rail. Another line, L10, is under construction.

Using L1, I was unlucky to use one of the old trains, but they’re being replaced with a much nicer, train with air conditioning as part of an extension & upgrade. L2 is a TrenItalia operated route similar to a mini (and quieter) Thameslink or RER C in London or Paris. Of all the cities I’ve visited, tickets are not the simplest; it’s easy to get a ticket for your immediate journey, but twice I asked for a city wide day ticket and both times was given a single ticket – the second time we didn’t realise until we had a ticket check. Do defiantly check your tickets and always remember to validate them.

You can find more transport ticket information here.

At the time of writing, Napoli are Series A champions; lots of blue & white celebratory decorations around the city. A major figure at Napoli (1984-91) and having died in 2020, you’ll see lots of Maradona posters around the Old Town.