Campania      

NAPLES
   HISTORY
   ORIENTATION
   INFORMATION
   DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
   SIGHTS
   TOURS
   FESTIVALS & EVENTS
   SLEEPING
   EATING
   DRINKING
   ENTERTAINMENT
   SHOPPING
   GETTING THERE & AWAY
   GETTING AROUND
AROUND NAPLES
   CAMPI FLEGREI
   BENEVENTO
BAY OF NAPLES
   CAPRI
   ISCHIA
   PROCIDA
SOUTH OF NAPLES
   ERCOLANO & HERCULANEUM
   MT VESUVIUS
   POMPEII
   SORRENTO
   WEST OF SORRENTO
AMALFI COAST
   POSITANO
   AROUND POSITANO
   AMALFI
   RAVELLO
   FROM AMALFI TO SALERNO
   SALERNO
SOUTH OF SALERNO
   PAESTUM
   COSTIERA CILENTANA
   PARCO NAZIONALE DEL CILENTO E VALLO DI DIANO


Campania is southern Italy’s diva – an intense, addictive brew of architectural glories, gastronomic brilliance and geological drama. From the hyperactive laneways of Naples to the ethereal beauty of the Amalfi Coast, the region is as varied as it is compelling.

At its heart is Naples, a sprawling love-it-or-hate-it city theatrically set on a sweeping bay. In the background Mt Vesuvius broods darkly, a reminder of the fate it dealt Pompeii and Herculaneum 2000 years ago. Further down the coast, the magnificent temples at Paestum predate Roman times, testament to the region’s Greek colonial past.

Myth abounds in Campania. Icarus plunged to his death in the Campi Flegrei, and Aeneas consulted the Cuman Sybil before entering Hades via Lago d’Averno (Lake Avernus). To the south, sirens lured sailors to their deaths in the sparkling waters off Sorrento.

Capri is the most celebrated of Naples’ three bay islands. A byword for Med chic, it’s the darling of perma-tanned celebrities and starry-eyed day-trippers. Further north, Ischia bubbles with its thermal spas, and Procida inspires with its authentic, windswept air.

For many, Campania’s crown jewel is the Amalfi Coast, a vertical world of plunging cliffs, tumbling villages and mesmerising views. Hidden to the world until ‘discovered’ in the mid-20th century, it’s now one of Italy’s must-sees. Inland, wooded mountains provide breathtaking hiking and refuge from the summer hordes.

To really get off the beaten track, though, head to the highlands of the Parco Nazionale del Cilento e Vallo di Diano, one of the region’s wildest and least-explored wonderlands.

HIGHLIGHTS

POPULATION: 5.8 MILLION

AREA: 13,595 SQ KM

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NAPLES

pop 3,100,000

Italy’s most misunderstood city is also one of its finest – an exhilarating mess of crumbling baroque churches, bellowing baristas and electrifying street life. Contradiction is the catchphrase here; a place where anarchy, pollution and crime sidle up to lavish palaces, mighty museums and aristocratic tailors.

First stop for many is the Unesco World Heritage—listed centro storico (historic city centre). It’s here, under the washing lines, that you’ll find Naples’ arabesque street life – cocky kids playing football in noisy piazzas, overloaded Vespas hurtling through cobbled alleyways and clued-up casalinghe (homemakers) bullying market vendors. Once the heart of Roman Neapolis, this intoxicating warren of Dickensian streets groans with ancient churches, citrus-filled cloisters, and rough’n’tumble pizzerias.

By the sea the cityscape opens up. Imperious palaces flank show-off squares as Gucci-clad shoppers strut their stuff and lunch in chandeliered cafes. This is Royal Naples, the Naples of the Bourbons that so impressed the 18th-century Grand Tourists.

A place of heirloom businesses, vacuum-packed families and old-school attitude, Napoli is Europe’s antidote to homogenised culture. Take time to look behind the grime and you’ll learn why true love was never meant to be easy.

REGIONAL ITINERARY

Crash-Course Campania         12 Days / Naples / Salerno

Dive into the deep end with two days in Naples, shopping for local produce at the Mercato di Porta Nolana and plugging into culture at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale and the Certosa di San Martino. Sneak through the city’s ancient aqueducts on a Napoli Sotteranea tour Click here and schmooze the night away with the bohemians at Il Caffè Arabo. For inspiring views, spend a morning climbing Mt Vesuvius and an afternoon pondering its malevolent force in ill-fated Pompeii. From here, continue south to Sorrento to catch a ferry to fabled Capri for two days of chichi R&R. Admire natural beauty at Monte Solaro and the Grotta Azzurra and the cosmetically enhanced variety at VIP hangout Anema e Cora.

Head back to Sorrento and push on to picture-perfect Positano for a couple of nights. If it’s summer, hire a boat and comb the coast for perfect beaches. For a heavenly hike, hit the Sentiero degli Dei (see the boxed text, Click here) to the vintage fishing village of Praiano. Stay overnight before following the coastal road to Amalfi. Drop in at the fascinating Museo della Carta before retreating overnight in lofty Ravello, home to the uber-romantic Villa Rufolo. The following day, hit the coast again, stopping off at the foodie village of Cetara for perfect seafood before capping your crash course in bustling, portside Salerno.

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HISTORY

Little is known of Naples’ early days. According to legend, traders from Rhodes established the city on the island of Megaris (where Castel dell’Ovo, Click here, now stands) in about 680 BC. Originally called Parthenope in honour of the siren whose body had earlier washed up there (she drowned herself after failing to seduce Ulysses), it was eventually incorporated into a new city, Neapolis, founded by Greeks from Cumae (Cuma) in 474 BC. However, within 150 years it was in Roman hands, becoming something of a VIP resort favoured by emperors Pompey, Caesar and Tiberius.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Naples became a duchy, originally under the Byzantines and later as an independent dukedom, until it was captured in 1139 by the Normans and absorbed into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Normans, in turn, were replaced by the German Swabians, whose charismatic leader Frederick II injected the city with new institutions, including its university.

The Swabian period came to a violent end with the victory of Charles I of Anjou at the 1266 battle of Benevento. The Angevins did much for Naples, promoting art and culture, building Castel Nuovo and enlarging the port, but they were unable to stop the Spanish Aragons taking the city in 1442. Naples continued to prosper, though. Alfonso I of Aragon, in particular, introduced new laws and encouraged the arts and sciences.

In 1503 Naples was absorbed by Spain, which sent viceroys to rule as virtual dictators. Despite Spain’s heavy-handed rule, Naples flourished artistically and acquired much of its splendour. Indeed, it continued to bloom when the Spanish Bourbons re-established Naples as the capital of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1734. Aside from a Napoleonic interlude under Joachim Murat (1806–15), the Bourbons remained until unseated by Garibaldi and the Kingdom of Italy in 1860.

The city was heavily bombed in WWII, and the effects can still be seen on many monuments around the city. Since the war Naples has continued to suffer. Endemic corruption and the re-emergence of the Camorra have plagued much of the city’s postwar resurrection, reaching a nadir in the 1980s after a severe earthquake in 1980.

Naples’ recent history has brought mixed blessings. In the mid-1990s, charismatic mayor Antonio Bassolino led a mass clean-up of the city. Dubbed the Neapolitan Renaissance, its high point came in 1994 when the city hosted the G7 summit. Bassolino has since been replaced by Naples’ first woman mayor, Rosa Russo Jervolino, who has struggled to keep up the momentum. The city’s Mafia wars hit the world’s headlines in late 2004 and early 2005, and again in 2008 with the release of Matteo Garrone’s film Gomorra (Gomorrah), itself based on a Camorra exposé by Neapolitan writer Roberto Saviano. In 2008, the city’s sporadic garbage-disposal crisis flared up again, leading frustrated residents to set fire to uncollected rubbish in the streets.

More promising has been the recent inauguration of a major theatre festival, a still-under-construction high-speed rail terminal by British-Iraqi starchitect Zaha Hadid and a planned revamp of Pompeii’s train stations by prolific US architect Peter Eisenman.

OUR TOP FIVE FILM LOCATIONS IN CAMPANIA

NAPLES IN…

Two Days

Start your Neapolitan sojourn with a mean espresso at Caffè Mexico before slipping into the Unesco World Heritage—listed centro storico. Pop into the Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo and the Basilica di Santa Chiara before taking in the street life along Spaccanapoli and Via San Gregorio Armeno. For an authentic Neapolitan lunch, munch away at Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo or Trattoria Mangia e Bevi, then spend the second half of the day at the Chiesa e Scavi di San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Cappella Sansevero. After dinner, kick back at Intra Moenia for late-night lounging. Start Day Two with a market wander through La Pignasecca before taking in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale. Alternatively, take a funicular up to Vomero for art and vistas at the Certosa di San Martino. Either way, head down to Chiaia for an evening passeggiata (stroll) along the Lungomare before dining harbourside on Borgo Marinaro.

Four Days

If you find yourself pining for peace on Day Three, retreat underground on a tour of Napoli Sotterranea (Click here) or explore the Catacombe di San Gennaro. From the catacombs, the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte and its superlative art collection is a quick trip uphill. Head back down for dinner at Nennella and a late-night cocktail in fashionable Chiaia. The following day, head west to explore Pozzuoli’s Anfiteatro Flavio Roman amphitheatre, the ruins below Rione Terra and the freakish Solfatara crater.

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ORIENTATION

Naples stretches along the waterfront and is divided into quartieri (districts). A convenient point of reference, Stazione Centrale (the main train station) forms the eastern flank of Piazza Garibaldi, Naples’ chaotic transport hub. It’s not an attractive place, and the surrounding area is noisy, dirty and seedy.

From Piazza Garibaldi, busy Corso Umberto I runs down to Piazza Bovio, skirting the southern edge of the centro storico. The historic heart is centred on two parallel east—west roads: Via San Biagio dei Librai and its continuation Via Benedetto Croce (together these are known as Spaccanapoli); and, to the north, Via dei Tribunali. At the western end of Via dei Tribunali is Piazza Dante and the north—south road Via Toledo, which is Naples’ main shopping strip. From the piazza, head north up Via Enrico Pessina (Via Toledo’s continuation) to get to Parco di Capodimonte; go south for Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples’ showpiece square.

From Piazza Trieste e Trento, adjacent to Piazza del Plebiscito, Via San Carlo leads to Castel Nuovo and Piazza del Municipio. On the seafront at the castle, Molo Beverello is the terminal for ferries to Capri, Ischia and Procida; next door, long-distance ferries sail to Sicily and beyond from the Stazione Marittima.

Follow the seafront west for the districts of Santa Lucia, Chiaia, Mergellina and Posillipo. Above it all sits Naples’ upper-middle class in the relative calm of Vomero, a natural balcony with lavish views.

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INFORMATION

Bookshops

Emergency

Internet Access

Internet Resources

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR EURO

If you’re planning to blitz the sights, the Campania artecard ( 800 600601; www.campaniartecard.it) is an excellent investment. A cumulative ticket that covers museum admission and transport, it comes in various forms. The Naples and Campi Flegrei three-day ticket (€16/10 for adult 18 to 25 years) gives free admission to three participating sites, a 50% discount on others and free transport in Naples and the Campi Flegrei. Other options range from €12 to €30 and cover sites as far afield as Pompeii and Paestum. The tickets can be bought at train stations, newsagents, participating museums, via the internet or through the call centre.

Laundry

Medical Services

Post

Tourist Information

Head to the following tourist bureaus for information and a copy of the useful bilingual brochure Qui Napoli:

Travel Agencies

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DANGERS & ANNOYANCES

Petty crime can be a problem in Naples. Be especially vigilant for pickpockets and scooter bandits, many of whom specifically target out-of-towners with expensive watches. Also, watch out for groups ofdishevelled-looking women and children asking for money.

Car and motorcycle theft is rife, so think twice before bringing a vehicle into town and never leave anything in your car, particularly at night.

Ignore touts offering taxis at Stazione Centrale; use only marked, registered taxis and ensure the meter is running.

Never purchase electronic goods (cameras, mobile phones) from market stalls and be careful about walking alone late at night, particularly near Stazione Centrale. The area west of Via Toledo and as far north as Piazza Carità, though safe enough during the day, can also be threatening after dark.

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SIGHTS

Centro Storico

DUOMO & AROUND

Naples’ spiritual centrepiece, the Duomo (Map; 081 44 90 97; Via Duomo; 8am-12.30pm & 4.30-7pm Mon-Sat, 8.30am-1pm & 5-7pm Sun) sits on the site of earlier churches, them selves preceded by a temple to the god Neptune. Begun by Charles I of Anjou in 1272 and consecrated in 1315, it was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 1456. Copious nips and tucks over the centuries, including the addition of a late-19th-century neo-Gothic facade, have created a melange of styles and influences.

Topping the huge central nave is a gilded coffered ceiling studded with late mannerist art. The high sections of the nave and the transept were decorated by Luca Giordano.

The 17th-century baroque Cappella di San Gennaro (Chapel of St Januarius; also known as the Chapel of the Treasury) features a fiery painting by Giuseppe Ribera and a bevy of silver busts and bronze statues. Above them, a heavenly dome glows with frescoes by Giovanni Lanfranco. Hidden away behind the altar is a 14th-century silver bust containing the skull of St Januarius and the two phials that hold his miraculous blood. Naples’ patron saint was martyred at Pozzuoli in AD 305, and according to legend, his blood liquefied in these phials when his body was transferred back to Naples. For information on the mysterious San Gennaro festival, Click here.

The next chapel eastwards contains an urn with the saint’s bones, cupboards full of femurs, tibias and fibulas, and a stash of other grisly relics. Below the high altar is the Renaissance Cappella Carafa, also known as the Crypt of San Gennaro.

Halfway down the north aisle and beyond the 17th-century Basilica di Santa Restituta is the fascinating archaeological zone (admission €3; 9am-noon & 4.30-7pm Mon-Sat, 9am-noon Sun). Tunnels burrow into the remains of the site’s original Greek and Roman buildings. Here, too, is the baptistry, the oldest in western Europe, with its remarkably fresh 4th-century mosaics.

At the Duomo’s southern end, the Museo del Tesoro di San Gennaro (Map; 081 29 49 80; Via Duomo 149; admission €6; 9.30am-5pm Tue-Sat, 9.30am-2.30pm Sun) glimmers with gifts made to St Januarius over the centuries, from bronze busts and sumptuous paintings to silver ampullas and a gilded 18th-century sedan chair. Admission includes a multilingual audioguide.

Opposite the cathedral is the entrance to the Chiesa e Pinacoteca dei Girolamini (Map; 081 44 91 39; gallery 9.30am-12.30pm Mon-Sat), a rich baroque church with two facades. A small gallery in the adjoining 17th-century convent features excellent local art, including works by Luca Giordano and Battista Caracciolo. Church opening hours vary.

A short walk to the north, MADRE (Map; Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina; 081 19 31 30 16; www.museomadre.it; Via Settembrini 79; admission €7, Mon free; 10am-9pm Mon & Wed-Fri, to midnight Sat & Sun) has the city’s best collection of contemporary art. Highlights include Jeff Koons’ uberkitsch Wild Boy and Puppy, Rebecca Horn’s eerie Spirits, and a perspective-warping installation by Anish Kapoor.

Nearby, the baroque Chiesa di Donnaregina Nuova houses the Museo Diocesano di Napoli (Map; 081 557 13 65; www.museodiocesanonapoli.it; Chiesa di Santa Maria Donnaregina Nuova, Largo Donnaregina; admission €5; 9.30am-4.30pm Mon, Wed-Sat, 9.30am-2pm Sun) and its superb collection of religiously themed art, from Renaissance triptychs and 19th-century wooden sculptures to works from baroque greats like Fabrizio Santafede, Andrea Vaccaro and Luca Giordano.

SPACCANAPOLI

Following the path of the ancient Roman decumanus inferior (minor road), Via San Biagio dei Librai (becoming Via Benedetto Croce to the west and Via Vicaria Vecchia to the east) is affectionately known as Spaccanapoli (Break Naples). Seen from above, it cuts right through the heart of the old city.

MARIO SPADA

This award-winning documentary photographer and stills photographer for the film Gomorra muses on his home town.

What are your favourite corners of Naples? There are several. I like walking up the Salita Moiariello (Map) in the Miracoli district. From here, Vesuvius forms the backdrop to the Centro Direzionale’s skyscrapers. To me, it’s a more realistic view of contemporary Naples than those traditional postcard panoramas.

Places you would take a novice to Naples? After breakfast at a pasticceria, we’d go straight to Pio Monte della Misericordia (opposite) to see Caravaggio’s incredible Le Sette Opere di Misericordia, followed by a trip to see the Cristo Velato at the Cappella Sansevero (below). We’d probably go for a seaside walk in Mergellina, then cap the night off in a centro storico bar.

What distinguishes Neapolitans from other Italians? In Morocco, I often find myself in situations that remind me of home. To me, Neapolitans are half ‘magrebini’ (Maghrebis). Our temperament has a similar intensity – in both good and bad ways. Our faces and gestures recall Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro.

A record 100,000 people attended an anti-Mafia memorial march in 2009. Does this give you hope for the future? No, because while people are hungry for change, the fundamental steps required aren’t taken. Here, too many politicians prefer to let problems fester until they become emergencies. This way they can step in with token gestures and exploit the crisis for their own political gain. The ‘emergency’ inevitably passes, and the root of the problem remains.

What do you miss most when you’re out of town? The food, the coffee and Naples’ one-of-a-kind energy.

At its eastern end, the Ospedale delle Bambole (Map; Dolls’ Hospital; 339 5872274; Via San Biagio dei Librai 81) is a local institution, a quirky shop full of dusty dolls’ heads and assorted mannequins. Further down, the Chiesa di Sant’Angelo a Nilo (Map; 081 420 12 22; Vico Donnaromita 15; 9am-1pm daily plus 4-6pm Mon-Sat) is benignly presided over by a quartet of tubby gilt cherubs. A modest 14th-century church, it’s of note for the monumental Renaissance tomb of Cardinal Brancaccio, created by Donatello and others.

Backing on to lively Piazza San Domenico Maggiore, the Gothic Chiesa di San Domenico Maggiore (Map; 081 557 32 04; Piazza San Domenico Maggiore 8a; 8.30am-noon & 4.30-7pm) was completed in 1324 and much favoured by the Angevin nobility. The interior, a cross between baroque and 19th-century neo-Gothic, features some fine 14th-century­ frescoes by Pietro Cavallini and, in the sacristy, 45 coffins of Aragon princes and other nobles.

The simple exterior of the nearby Cappella Sansevero (Map; 081 551 84 70; Via de Sanctis 19; admission €6; 10am-5.40pm Mon & Wed-Sat, 10am-1.10pm Sun) belies the sumptuous sculpture inside. The centrepiece is Cristo Velato (Veiled Christ), Giuseppe Sanmartino’s jaw-dropping­ depiction of Jesus covered by a veil so realistic that it’s tempting to try and lift it. Also intriguing is Corradini’s Pudicizia (Modesty), which is more erotic than modest. Downstairs are two meticulously preserved human arterial systems, testament to the bizarre obsession of alchemist Prince Raimondo di Sangro, the man who financed the chapel’s 18th-century makeover.

PIAZZA DEL GESù NUOVO & AROUND

Marking the end of Via Benedetto Croce, Piazza del Gesù Nuovo is a popular student hang-out. At its centre soars the Guglia dell’Immacolata, an 18th-century baroque obelisk; to the north and east sit two of Naples’ most famous churches.

Characterised by the pyramid-shaped ashlar stones on its facade, whose carvings are said to be esoteric symbols, the Chiesa del Gesù Nuovo (Map; 081 551 86 13; Piazza del Gesù Nuovo; 7am-1pm & 4-7.30pm), dating back to the 16th century, is considered one of the city’s greatest examples of Renaissance architecture. Its frescoed barrel-vaulted interior, the result of a 17th-century spruce-up, features works by a trio of Naples’ big-name baroque artists – Cosimo Fanzago, Luca Giordano and Francesco Solimena.

To the east, the Gothic Basilica di Santa Chiara (Map; 081 195 759 15; Via Benedetto Croce; 9am-1pm & 4.30-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 8am-1pm & 5.30-7.30pm Sun) is famous for its majolica-tiled cloisters. What you see today is not, however, the original 14th-century Angevin church but a brilliant re-creation – the original was all but destroyed by Allied bombing in August 1943. Within the nuns’ cloisters (admission €5; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, 9.30am-1.30pm Sun) is a long parapet entirely covered in decorative ceramic tiles depicting scenes of rural life, from hunting to posing peasants. The four internal walls are covered with softly coloured 17th-century frescoes of Franciscan tales. Adjacent to the cloisters, an elegant museum of mostly ecclesiastical props also features the excavated ruins of a 1st-century­ spa complex.

From the square, Calata Trinità Maggiore leads down to Piazza Monteoliveto and the 15th-century Chiesa di Sant’Anna dei Lombardi (Map; 081 551 33 33; Piazza Monteoliveto; 9am-noon Tue-Sun), worth a look for its fine Renaissance sculpture, including a superb terracotta Pietà (1492) by Guido Mazzoni.

VIA DEI TRIBUNALI & AROUND

One block to the north of Spaccanapoli is Via dei Tribunali, the decumanus maior (main road) of ancient Neapolis. Connecting the two, Via San Gregorio Armeno is celebrated for its shops selling presepi (nativity scenes). The street is also home to the 16th-century Chiesa e Chiostro di San Gregorio Armeno (Map; 081 420 63 85; Via San Gregorio Armeno 44; 9.30am-noon Mon-Sat, to 1pm Sun), a blast of bombastic baroque. Highlights include sumptuous wood and papier-mâché choir stalls and lavish frescoes by Paolo de Matteis and Luca Giordano.

A masterpiece of French Gothic architecture, the Chiesa e Scavi di San Lorenzo Maggiore (Map; 081 211 08 60; Via dei Tribunali 316; church admission free, excavations €5; 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat, to 1.30pm Sun) dates to the late 13th century. Inside, note the impressive 14th-century mosaic-covered tomb of Catherine of Austria. You can also pass through to the cloisters of the neighbouring convent, where the poet Petrarch stayed in 1345.

Beneath the complex are some remarkable scavi (excavations) of the original Graeco-Roman city. Stretching the length of the underground area is a road lined with ancient bakeries, wineries and communal laundries.

Across Via dei Tribunali, a grand double staircase leads up to the Chiesa di San Paolo Maggiore (Map; 081 45 40 48; Piazza San Gaetano 76; 9am-1pm & 3-6pm Mon-Fri, 9am-1pm Sat, 9am-12.30pm Sun), whose huge gold-stuccoed interior features paintings by Massimo Stanzione, as well as frescoes by Francesco Solimena in the exquisite sacristy.

To the east, the 17th-century Pio Monte della Misericordia (Map; 081 44 69 44; Via dei Tribunali 253; admission €5; 9am-2pm Thu-Tue) is home to Caravaggio’s masterpiece Le sette opere di Misericordia (The Seven Acts of Mercy), considered by many to be the single most important painting in Naples.

MERCATO DI PORTA NOLANA

Naples at its vociferous, gut-rumbling best, the Mercato di Porta Nolana (Map; 8am-6pm Mon-Sat, to 2pm Sun) is a heady street market where bellowing fishmongers and green grocers collide with fragrant delis and bakeries, industrious Chinese traders and contraband cigarette stalls. Dive in for anything from buxom tomatoes and mozzarella to golden-fried street snacks, cheap luggage and bootleg CDs. The market’s namesake, Porta Nolana, is one of Naples’ med­ieval city gates. Standing at the head of Via Sopramuro, its arch features a bas-relief of Ferdinand I of Aragon on horseback.

Toledo & Quartieri Spagnoli

The magnificent Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Map; 081 44 01 66; Piazza Museo Nazionale 19; admission €6.50; 9am-7.30pm Wed-Mon) houses one of the world’s finest collections of Graeco-Roman artefacts. It was originally a cavalry barracks and later the seat of the city’s university. The museum was established by the Bourbon king Charles VII in the late 18th century to house the rich collection of antiquities he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, as well as treasures that had been looted from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The museum also contains the Borgia collection of Etruscan and Egyptian relics.

To avoid getting lost in its rambling galleries (numbered in Roman numerals), invest €7.50 in the green quick-guide National Archaeological Museum of Naples or, to concentrate on the highlights, €4 for an audioguide in English. It’s also worth calling ahead to ensure the galleries you want to see are open, as staff shortages often mean that sections of the museum close for part of the day.

While the basement houses the Borgia collection of Egyptian relics and epigraphs, the ground floor is given over to the Farnese collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. The two highlights are the colossal Toro Farnese (Farnese Bull) in Room XVI and gigantic Ercole (Hercules) in Room XI. Sculpted in the early 3rd century AD, the Toro Farnese, probably a Roman copy of a Greek original, depicts the death of Dirce, Queen of Thebes, who was tied to a bull and torn apart over rocks. The sculpture, carved from a single block, was discovered in Rome in 1545 and restored by Michelangelo before being shipped to Naples in 1787. Ercole was discovered in the same Roman excavations. It was found legless, but the Bourbons had his original pins fitted when they turned up at a later dig.

On the mezzanine floor is a small but stunning collection of mosaics, mostly from Pompeii. Of the series taken from the Casa del Fauno at Pompeii, it’s the awe-inspiring La Battaglia di Alessandro Contro Dario (The Battle of Alexander against Darius) that stands out. Measuring 20 sq metres, it’s the best-known depiction of Alexander the Great in existence.

Beyond the mosaics is the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Room), home to the museum’s ancient porn. The climax, so to speak, is an intriguing statue of Pan servicing a nanny goat, originally found in Herculaneum. The erotic paintings depicting sexual positions once served as a menu for brothel clients.

On the 1st floor, the vast Sala Meridiana contains the Farnese Atlante, a statue of Atlas carrying a globe on his shoulders. The rest of the floor is largely devoted to discoveries from Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Cuma. Items range from huge murals and frescoes to a pair of gladiator helmets, household items, ceramics and glassware.

South of the museum, in the lively Quartieri Spagnoli, La Pignasecca (Map; Via Pignasecca; 8am-1pm) is Naples’ oldest street market. A multisensory escapade into a world of wriggling seafood, drool-worthy delis and clued-up casalinghe (homemakers), it’s a great place to soak up Naples’ trademark street life and pick up a few bargains.

Vomero

Visible from all over Naples, the stunning Certosa di San Martino is the one compelling reason to take the funicular Click here up to Vomero (vom-e-ro), an area of spectacular views and Liberty mansions.

CERTOSA DI SAN MARTINO

The high point (quite literally) of Neapolitan baroque, this stunning charterhouse is home to the Museo Nazionale di San Martino (Map; 848 80 02 88; Largo San Martino 5; admission €6; 8.30am-7.30pm Thu-Tue). Founded as a Carthusian monastery in the 14th century, the Certosa owes most of its present look to facelifts in the 16th and 17th centuries, the latter by baroque maestro Cosimo Fanzago. The church and the rooms that flank it contain a feast of frescoes and paintings by Naples’ greatest 17th-century artists – Francesco Solimena, Massimo Stanzione, Giuseppe de Ribera and Battista Caracciolo.

Adjacent to the church, the elegant Chiostro dei Procuratori is the smaller of the monastery’s two cloisters. A grand corridor on the left leads to the larger Chiostro Grande, considered one of Italy’s finest. Originally designed by Giovanni Antonio Dosio in the late 16th century and added to by Fanzago, it’s a sublime composition of white Tuscan-Doric porticoes, manicured gardens and marble statues. The skulls mounted on the balustrade were a light-hearted reminder to the monks of their own mortality.

Just off the Chiostro dei Procuratori, the Sezione Navale focuses on the history of the Bourbon navy from 1734 to 1860, and features a small collection of beautiful royal barges.

To the north of the Chiostro Grande, the Sezione Presepiale houses a whimsical collection of rare Neapolitan presepi (nativity scenes) carved in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Quarto del Priore (Prior’s Quarter) in the southern wing houses the bulk of the picture collection, as well as one of the museum’s most famous pieces, Pietro Bernini’s tender La Vergine col Bambino e San Giovannino (Madonna and Child with the Infant John the Baptist).

CASTEL SANT’ELMO

Commanding spectacular views across the city, this star-shaped castle (Map; 081 578 40 30; Via Tito Angelini 22; admission €3; 8.30am-7.30pm Thu-Tue, 9am-6.30pm Sun) was built by the Spanish in 1538. Impressive though it is, the austere castle has seen little real military action. It has, however, seen plenty of prisoners: a long-time jail, its dungeons were used as a military prison until the 1970s. The admission times and price can change when the castle is being used for exhibitions.

VILLA FLORIDIANA

In a city decidedly short of green space, this public park (Map; Via Domenico Cimarosa; admission free; 9am to 1hr before sunset Tue-Sun) is a tonic, spreading down the slopes towards Mergellina. Sitting snugly at the bottom, Villa Floridiana was built in 1817 by Ferdinand I for his wife, the Duchess of Floridia. Nowadays it contains the Museo Nazionale della Ceramica Duca di Martina (Map; 081 578 84 18; admission €2.50; 8.30am-1.30pm Wed-Mon) and its 6000-piece collection of European, Chinese and Japanese china, ivory and enamels; and Italian majolica.

Santa Lucia & Chiaia

CASTEL NUOVO

Known to Neapolitans as the Maschio Angioino (Angevin Keep) and to everyone else as the Castel Nuovo, this crenellated 13th-century castle is a hulking Neapolitan landmark. Built as part of the city makeover that Charles I of Anjou launched in the late 13th century, it was erected in three years from 1279 and christened the Castrum Novum (New Castle) to distinguish it from the Castel dell’Ovo.

Of the original structure only the Cappella Palatina remains; the rest is the result of renovations by the Aragonese two centuries later, as well as a meticulous restoration effort prior to WWII. The two-storey Renaissance triumphal arch at the entrance, the Torre della Guardia, commemorates the triumphal entry of Alfonso I of Aragon into Naples in 1443.

The walls of the Cappella Palatina were once graced by Giotto frescoes, of which only fragments remain on the splays of the Gothic windows. To the left of the cappella, the glass-floored Sala dell’Armeria (Armoury Hall) showcases Roman ruins discovered during restoration works on the Sala dei Baroni (Hall of the Barons) above.

Nowadays, they all form part of the Museo Civico (Map; 081 795 58 77; admission €5; 9am-7pm Mon-Sat), spread across several halls on three floors. The 14th- and 15th-century frescoes and sculptures on the ground floor are of the most interest. The other two floors mostly display paintings, either by Neapolitan artists, or with Naples or Campania as subjects, covering the 17th to the early 20th centuries. Worth looking out for is Guglielmo Monaco’s 15th-century bronze door, complete with a cannonball embedded in it.

PIAZZA DEL PLEBISCITO & AROUND

The undisputed star of Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples’ largest square, is the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola (Map; 081 74 51 33; 8am-noon & 3.30-6pm Mon-Sat, 8am-1pm Sun), a later addition to the colonnade that formed the highlight of Joachim Murat’s original piazza (1809). A neoclassical copy of the Pantheon in Rome, the church was commissioned by Ferdinand I in 1817 to celebrate the restoration of his kingdom after the Napoleonic interlude.

Facing the church is the Palazzo Reale (below), with its eight statues of past kings. The royal theme continues centre square with Antonio Canova’s statue of a galloping Bourbon king Charles VII and a nearby statue of his son Ferdinand I by Antonio Calí.

Adjoining the square, Piazza Trieste e Trento is fronted on the northeastern side by Italy’s largest opera house, the sumptuous Teatro San Carlo (Map; box office 081 797 23 31, guided tours 081 553 45 65; www.teatrosancarlo.it; Via San Carlo 98; tours €5; 9am-5pm Wed-Mon), famed for its perfect acoustics. Locals will proudly boast that it was built in 1737, predating its northern rival, Milan’s La Scala, by 41 years. Inaugurated on 4 December 1737 by Charles VII, it was severely damaged by a fire in 1816 and rebuilt by Antonio Niccolini, the same architect who a few years before had added the facade. At the time of research, the future of the 40-minute tours of the theatre was unclear. Contact the theatre or tourist office for updates.

Across Via San Carlo is one of the four entrances to the palatial glass atrium of the Galleria Umberto I shopping centre. Opened in 1900 as a twin arcade to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II Click here in Milan, it’s worth a quick look for its beautiful marble floor and elegant engineering.

PALAZZO REALE

Flanking Piazza del Plebiscito, the rusty red Palazzo Reale (Map; Royal Palace; 081 40 04 54; Piazza Trieste e Trento; admission €4; 9am- 7pm Thu-Tue) was built around 1600. It was completely renovated in 1841 and suffered extensive damage during WWII.

From the courtyard, a monumental doublestaircase leads to the royal apartments, now home to the Museo del Palazzo Reale and its rich collection of baroque and neoclassical furnishings, porcelain, tapestries, statues and paintings. There’s also a lavish private theatre, the Teatrino di Corte (1768), and a colossal 18th-century presepe in the Cappella Reale (Royal Chapel).

The palace also houses the Biblioteca Nazionale (National Library; Map; 081 781 92 31; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat), which includes at least 2000 papyruses discovered at Herculaneum and fragments of a 5th-century Coptic Bible. Bring ID or miss out.

THE LUNGOMARE

Marking the eastern end of the 2.5km lungomare (seafront), Castel dell’Ovo (Map; 081 240 00 55; Borgo Marinaro; admission free; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, to 1pm Sat & Sun) sits atop the rocky Borgo Marinaro. Naples’ oldest castle, it was built by the Normans in the 12th century and became a key fortress in the defence of Campania. According to myth, the castle owes its improbable name (Castle of the Egg) to Virgil, who was said to have buried an egg on the site where the castle now stands, warning that when the egg breaks, the castle (and Naples) will fall.

Nearby, the Fontana dell’Immacolatella dates from the 17th century and features statues by Bernini and Naccherini.

West of Santa Lucia, Via Partenope spills into Piazza Vittoria, marking the beginning of the Riviera di Chiaia. This boulevard runs beside the Villa Comunale, a long leafy park bordered on its seaward side by Via Francesco Caracciolo, which is closed to traffic on Sunday mornings and taken over by strollers, scooters and joggers.

Within the park is Europe’s oldest aquarium. Dating to 1872, the Stazione Zoologica (aquarium; Map; 081 583 32 63; Villa Comunale; admission €1.50; 9am-6pm Tue-Sat, to 7.30pm Sun Mar-Oct, 9am-5pm Tue-Sat, to 2pm Sun Nov-Feb) contains some 200 species of sea life fished out of the Bay of Naples.

Further along Riviera di Chiaia, the Museo Pignatelli (Map; 081 761 23 56; Riviera di Chiaia 200; admission €2; 8.30am-1.30pm Wed-Mon) is housed in a neoclassical villa that once belonged to the Rothschilds. It contains mostly 19th-century furnishings, china and other mildly interesting knick-knacks. A pavilion set in the villa’s handsome gardens houses a coach museum, currently closed.

Capodimonte

PALAZZO REALE DI CAPODIMONTE

On the northern edge of the city, this colossal palace took more than a century to build. It was originally intended as a hunting lodge for Charles VII of Bourbon, but as construction got under way in 1738, the plans kept on getting grander and grander. The result was the monumental palazzo that since 1759 has housed the art collection that Charles inherited from his mother Elisabetta Farnese.

The Museo di Capodimonte (off Map; 081 749 91 11; Parco di Capodimonte; admission €7.50; 8.30am-7.30pm Thu-Tue, last entry 90min before closing) is spread over three floors and 160 rooms. You’ll never see the whole place in one day, but a morning should be enough for an abridged best-of tour.

On the 1st floor you’ll find works by Bellini, Botticelli, Caravaggio, Masaccio and Titian. Highlights are numerous, but look out for Masaccio’s Crocifissione (Crucifixion), Bellini’s Trasfigurazione (Transfiguration) and Parmigianino’s Antea.

Also on the 1st floor, the royal apartments are a study in regal excess. The Salottino di Porcellana (Room 51) is an outrageous example of 18th-century Chinoiserie, its walls and ceiling crawling with whimsically themed porcelain ‘stucco’. Originally created between 1757 and 1759 for the Palazzo Reale in Portici, it was transferred to Capodimonte in 1867.

Upstairs, the 2nd-floor galleries display work by Neapolitan artists from the 13th to the 19th centuries, plus some spectacular 16th-century Belgian tapestries. The piece that many come to Capodimonte to see, Caravaggio’s Flagellazione (Flagellation; 1607–10), hangs in reverential solitude in Room 78, at the end of a long corridor.

If you have any energy left, the small gallery of modern art on the 3rd floor is worth a quick look, if for nothing else than Andy Warhol’s poptastic Mt Vesuvius.

Once you’re finished in the museum, the 130-hectare Parco di Capodimonte (off Map; admission free; 9am to 1hr before sunset) provides a much-needed breath of fresh air.

CATACOMBE DI SAN GENNARO

The oldest and most famous of Naples’ ancient catacombs, the Catacombe di San Gennaro (off Map; 081 741 10 71; Via di Capodimonte 13; admission €5; 1hr tours 9am, 10am, 11am, noon, 2pm, 3pm Tue-Sat, 9am, 10am, 11pm, noon Sun), date to the 2nd century. Spread over two levels and decorated with early Christian frescoes, they contain a mix of tombs, corridors and broad vestibules held up by columns and arches. They were an important pilgrimage site in the 5th century, when St Januarius’ body was brought here.

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TOURS

Napoli Sotterranea (Underground Naples; Map; 081 29 69 44; www.napolisotterranea.org; Piazza San Gaetano 68; tours €9.30; tours noon, 2pm & 4pm Mon-Fri, extra tours 10am & 6pm Sat & Sun, 9pm Thu) runs 1½-hour guided tours of the city’s underworld. Visits take you 40m below the city to explore a network of creepy passages and caves. The passages were originally hewn by the Greeks to extract tufa stone used in construction and channel water from Mt Vesuvius. Extended by the Romans, the network of conduits and cisterns was more recently used as air-raid shelters in WWII. Part of the tour takes place by candlelight via extremely narrow passages – not suitable for expanded girths!

City Sightseeing Napoli (Map; 081 551 72 79; www.napoli.city-sightseeing.it; adult/child €22/11) operates a hop-on, hop-off bus service with four routes across the city. All depart from Piazza del Municipio Parco Castello, and tickets, available on board, are valid for 24 hours for each of the routes. Tour commentaries are provided in English.

Torres Travel ( 081 856 78 02; www.torrestravel.it; Viale Mazzini 7 bis, Pompeii) is one of several companies that organise themed excursions to the Bay of Naples islands, the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Vesuvius. Prices range from €125 for a tour to Pompeii or €220 for a Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri tour. A Naples city tour costs €175.

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FESTIVALS & EVENTS

Naples’ main festival, the Festa di San Gennaro, honours St Januarius. On the first Sunday in May and then on 19 September and 16 December, thousands of people gather in the Duomo to witness the saint’s blood liquefy – a miracle believed to save the city from potential disasters. In 1944 the miracle failed and Mt Vesuvius erupted; in 1980 it failed again and the city was struck by an earthquake. Coincidence?

In May, Naples premier cultural event, Maggio dei Monumenti, ensures a month-long menu of exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, guided tours and more.

Summer sees plenty of festival fun. In June, the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia (www.teatrofestivalitalia.it) serves up over three weeks of local and international theatre in venues across the city. The Madonna del Carmine, held on 16 July, culminates in a fabulous fireworks display on Piazza del Carmine (Map), while southern Italy’s top rock fest, the Neapolis Rock Festival (www.neapolis.it), attracts top international acts in July/August.

In early to mid-September, Naples’ traditional Festa di Piedigrotta (www.festadipiedigrotta.it) combines folk tunes with floats and fireworks around the Chiesa di Piedigrotta (Map) in Mergellina.

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SLEEPING

Accommodation in Naples is varied and plentiful, ranging from luxe seafront piles to cheery backpacker hostels and funky B&Bs.

If you’re after a cheap hotel, the area around Stazione Centrale is your best bet, although it can be seedy at night. The places listed, however, are all clean and safe.

For maximum atmosphere, hit the centro storico, where historic palazzi house charming hotels. You’ll also have many of the city’s sights on your doorstep.

Seaside Santa Lucia is home to some of the city’s most prestigious hotels, and Chiaia is cool and chic. For lofty views and a chilled-out vibe, hit Vomero.

The closest campsites are in Pozzuoli to the west and Pompeii to the east.

Around Stazione Centrale & Mercato

BUDGET

Hotel Ideal (Map; 081 26 92 37; www.albergoideal.it; Piazza Garibaldi 99; s €34-50, d €39-60; ) It mightn’t ooze atmosphere, but the Ideal is a short stagger from the train station and staffed by friendly folk. Upstairs, the spacious rooms are soothing hideaways, with warm salmon tones, polished wood furniture and wrought-iron bedsteads.

Hotel Zara (Map; 081 28 71 25; www.hotelzara.it; 2nd fl, Via Firenze 81; s €39-45, d €46-62; ) A world away from the grungy streets outside, the Zara is clean, good value and friendly. Rooms are straightforward, with shiny natural wood, off-white furnishings and double-glazed windows. There’s a book exchange, and breakfast is an optional €4. Bring €0.05 for the lift.

Hostel of the Sun (Map; 081 420 63 93; www.hostelnapoli.com; Via Melisurgo 15; s €45-50, d €60-70, dm/s/d without bathroom from €16/40/50; ) Recently renovated and constantly winning accolades, HOTS is an ultrafriendly hostel near the port. On the 7th floor of an uninspiring palazzo (have €0.05 handy for the lift), it’s a bright, sociable place with multicoloured dorms and, five floors down, a series of hotel-standard private rooms.

MIDRANGE

Hotel Nuovo Rebecchino (Map; 081 26 80 26; www.nuovorebecchino.it; Corso G Garibaldi 356; s €60-105, d €70-160; ) Refined Regency furniture and 19th-century prints combine to elegant effect in the Rebecchino’s large rooms. Bathrooms are fresh and bright, and include a jacuzzi in the superior-class rooms.

Centro Storico

BUDGET

6 Small Rooms (Map; 081 790 13 78; www.6smallrooms.com; Via D Lioy 18; dm €18, s €35-40,d €45; ) On the top floor of a dusty old building, this happy little hostel has bright dorms, funky wall murals, two spartan private rooms downstairs (with air-con), a huge communal kitchen, and a cat called Simon. BYO lock for the lockers.

B&B DiLetto a Napoli (Map; 081 033 09 77, 338 9264453; www.dilettoanapoli.it; Vicolo Sedil Capuano 16; s €35-55, d €50-75; ) Four rooms with vintage cotto (fired clay) floor tiles, organza curtains and artisan decor set a stylish scene at this B&B set in a 15th-century palazzo. The urbane communal lounge comes with a kitchenette and dining table for convivial noshing and lounging.

B&B Cerasiello (Map; 081 033 09 77, 338 9264453; www.cerasiello.it; Via Supportico Lopez 20; s €40-60, d €55-80; ) Technically in the Sanità district but a short walk from the centro storico, this gorgeous B&B has four rooms, an enchanting communal terrace (with barbeque), stylish kitchen and an ethno-chic look. Bring €0.10 for the lift.

Hotel Pignatelli (Map; 081 658 49 50; www.hotelpignatellinapoli.com, in Italian; Via San Giovanni Maggiore Pignatelli 16; s €45, d €75-80) Hidden on the 2nd floor of a historic palazzo, this gem has rustic, Renaissance-style rooms complete with brass beds, butter-colour walls and terracotta tiles; some boast original 15th-century wood-beam ceilings. At the time of research, construction was under way on five new rooms, with plans for a panoramic rooftop terrace.

MIDRANGE

Belle Arti Resort (Map; 081 557 10 62; www.belleartiresort.com; Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 27; s €65-99, d €80-160; ) More boutique than B&B, this urbane hideaway melds contemporary cool with vintage touches. Four of the impeccable rooms (some as big as small suites) have ceiling frescoes, while all feature marble bathrooms and funky painted headboards.

Portalba Relais (Map; 081 564 51 71; www.portalbarelais.com; Via Port’Alba 33; s €65-99, d €80-160; ) On a vintage street lined with bookshops, this sassy B&B has soaring bookshelves in the foyer and six rooms that ooze Armani-inspired chic – think muted tones, stainless-steel detailing and mosaic showers; Room 216 has a jacuzzi. Rooms look out over lively Piazza Dante, but double-glazing keeps the noise at bay.

Decumani Hotel de Charme (Map; 081 551 81 88; www.decumani.it; Via San Giovanni Maggiore Pignatelli; 15; s €90-105, d €105-130, deluxe d €130-150; ) Don’t be fooled by the scruffy staircase; this boutique hotel is fresh, elegant and located in the former palazzo of Cardinal Sisto Riario Sforza, the last bishop of the Bourbon Kingdom. The simple yet stylish rooms have high ceilings, 19th-century furniture and modern bathrooms. Deluxe rooms have a jacuzzi, and the restored baroque hall hosts cultural soirées.

TOP END

Costantinopoli 104 (Map; 081 557 10 35; www.costantinopoli104.it; Via Santa Maria di Costantinopoli 104; s/d €170/220; ) Chic and tranquil, Costantinopoli 104 is set in a neoclassical villa in the city’s bohemian heartland. Although showing a bit of wear in places, rooms remain elegant and clean – those on the 1st floor open on to a sun terrace, while ground-floor rooms face the small, palm-fringed pool. Antique furniture and a stained-glass Liberty window add a dash of vintage glam.

Romeo Hotel (Map; 081 017 50 08; www.romeohotel.it; Via Cristoforo Colombo 45; r €165-330; ) Naples new design hotel is a striking combo of Artesia stone and ivory-hued interiors, A-list art and furniture, metro-glam sushi bar, rooftop restaurant, and jaw-dropping spa centre. ‘Classic’ category rooms are small but luxe, with personal DeLonghi espresso machines and sleek bathrooms. Up a notch, ‘Deluxe’ rooms (€225 to €450) offer the same perks but with added space and bay views.

Toledo & Vomero

BUDGET

La Controra (Map; 081 549 40 14; www.lacontrora.com; Piazzetta Trinità alla Cesarea 231; dm €15-24, s €28-30, d €30-32; ) Housed in a converted 18th-century convent, this upbeat hostel is a hip combo of stainless-steel lamps, sleek bar, blonde-wood bunks, mint-colour bathrooms and a funky communal kitchen. Snooze in a courtyard hammock or log on to free wi-fi.

B&B Sui Tetti di Napoli (Map; 081 033 09 77, 338 9264453; www.suitettidinapoli.net; Vico Figuerelle a Montecalvario 6; s €35-65, d €45-80; ) A block away from Via Toledo, this B&B is more like four apartments atop a thigh-toning stairwell. While two apartments share a terrace, the rooftop option has its own, complete with mesmerising views. All apartments includea kitchenette (the cheapest two share a kitchen), simple yet savvy furnishings and a homey vibe.

MIDRANGE

Napolit’amo (Map; 081 552 36 26; www.napolitamo.it; Via Toledo 148; s €55-65, d €79-99; ) Escape the shopping hordes at this gilded enclave. The grandiose staircase sets the tone for the 1st-floor hotel, which has huge 18th-century mirrors, lofty ceilings and eyefuls of gold leaf.

Hotel Il Convento (Map; 081 40 39 77; www.hotelilconvento.com; Via Speranzella 137a; s €55-110, d €65-160; ) Taking its name from the neighbouring convent, this lovely hotel is a soothing blend of antique Tuscan furniture, erudite book collections and candlelit stairs. Rooms are cosy and elegant, combining creamy tones and dark woods with patches of 16th-century brickwork. For €80 to €180 you get a room with a private roof garden.

Hotel Toledo (Map; 081 40 68 71; www.hoteltoledo.com; Via Montecalvario 15; s/d €85/130; ) Snugly situated in an old three-storey building, Hotel Toledo offers comfy, smallish rooms with terracotta tiles and mod cons; the rooms are a little on the dark side, however. Suites come with a stove, and breakfast is served on the rooftop terrace when the weather’s warm.

TOP END

Hotel San Francisco al Monte (Map; 081 423 91 11; www.hotelsanfrancesco.it; Corso Vittorio Emanuele I 328; s €160-190, d €170-225; ) The monks in this 16th-century monastery never had it as good as the hotel’s pampered guests. The cells have been converted into stylish rooms, the ancient cloisters house an open-air bar and the barrel-vaulted corridors are cool and atmospheric. Topping it all off is the 7th-floor swimming pool.

Santa Lucia & Chiaia

MIDRANGE

B&B Cappella Vecchia (Map; 081 240 51 17; www.cappellavecchia11.it; Vico Santa Maria a Cappella Vecchia 11; s €50-70, d €75-100; ) Run by a superhelpful young couple, this B&B has six simple, witty rooms with funky bathrooms and different Neapolitan themes, from mal’occhio (evil eye) to peperoncino (chilli) There’s a spacious communal area for breakfast, and free internet available 24/7. Check the website for monthly packages.

Hotel Pinto-Storey (Map; 081 68 12 60; www.pintostorey.it; 4th & 5th fl, Via Martucci 72; s €68-98, d €88-153; ) Make it up to the 5th floor – the lift is in the far corner as you enter – and you’ll find a relaxed hotel with large, airy rooms, classic decor and some stunning sea views. On a clear day you can see Capri shimmering in the haze.

Parteno (Map; 081 245 20 95; www.parteno.it; Via Partenope 1; s €80-100, d €100-125; ) Six chic rooms, each named after a flower, are exquisitely decorated with period furniture, vintage Neapolitan prints and silk bedding. The azalea room (€130 to €165) steals the show with its silver-screen view of sea, sky and Capri. Hi-tech touches include satellite TV and free landline calls to Europe, USA and Canada. Call ahead for last-minute offers.

Chiaja Hotel de Charme (Map; 081 41 55 55; www.hotelchiaia.it; Via Chiaia 216; s €95-105, d €99-145, superior d €140-165; ) Encompassing a former brothel and an aristocratic town house, this refined hotel lives up to its name. The look is effortlessly noble – think gilt-framed portraits on pale lemon walls, opulent table lamps and heavy fabrics. Rooms facing Via Chiaia come with a jacuzzi.

TOP END

Grand Hotel Vesuvio (Map; 081 764 00 44; www.vesuvio.it; Via Partenope 45; s €230-370, d €290-450; ) Known for bedding legends – past guests include Rita Hayworth and Humphrey Bogart – this five-star heavyweight is a decadent wonderland of dripping chandeliers, period antiques and opulent rooms. Count your lucky stars while drinking a martini at the rooftop restaurant.

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EATING

Drizzle and fusion might cut it elsewhere but not in Naples. Neapolitans don’t want a culinary artist poncing about with their food; they want it as they’ve always had it – simple, seasonal and fresh. And that’s exactly how they get it at the huge number of pizzerias, trattorias and ristoranti that litter the city.

Pizza and pasta are the staples of Neapolitan cuisine. Pizza was created here and nowhere will you eat it better. Seafood is another local speciality and you’ll find mussels and clams served in many dishes.

Neapolitan street food is equally brilliant. Misto di frittura – courgette flowers, deep-fried potato and aubergine – makes for a great snack, especially if eaten from paper outside a tiny streetside stall.

Neapolitan sfogliatelle (sweet pastries filled with cinnamon-infused ricotta) are envied across the land, and even the coffee tastes better in Naples.

Many eateries close for two to four weeks in August.

Around Stazione Centrale & Mercato

Attanasio (Map; 081 28 56 75; Vico Ferrovia 1-4; snacks from €1.20; 6.30am-7.30pm Tue-Sun) This retro pastry peddler makes one mighty sfogliatella, not to mention creamy cannolli siciliani (pastry shells with a sweet filling of ricotta) and runny, rummy babà (rum-soaked yeast cake). Savoury fiends shouldn’t miss the hearty pasticcino rustico (savoury bread), stuffed with provola (provolone), ricotta and salami.

Da Michele (Map; 081 553 92 04; Via Cesare Sersale 1; pizzas from €4; Mon-Sat) As hard-core as it gets, Naples’ most famous pizzeria takes the no-frills ethos to its extremes. It’s dingy and old-fashioned and serves only two types of pizza: margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and marinara (tomatoes, garlic and oregano). But boy are they good!

Centro Storico

Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo (Map; 081 44 66 43; Via dei Tribunali 32; pizzas from €3; Mon-Sat) The clamouring crowds say it all: Gino Sorbillo is king of the pizza pack. Head in for gigantic, wood-fired perfection, best followed by a velvety semifreddo; the chocolate and torroncino (almond nougat) combo is divine.

Trattoria Mangia e Bevi (Map; 081 552 95 46; Via Sedile di Porto 92; meals €8; lunch Mon-Fri) Everyone from pierced students to bespectacled professori squeeze around the lively, communal tables for brilliant home cooking at rock-bottom prices. Scan the daily-changing­ menu, jot down your choices and brace for gems like juicy salsiccia di maiale (pork sausage) and peperoncino-spiked friarielli (local broccoli).

Trattoria da Carmine (Map; 081 29 43 83; Via dei Tribunali 330; meals €18; Wed-Sat, lunch Tue & Sun) A quiet haven of homey, Neapolitan cooking in the midst of the tumultuous centro storico. Beneath vintage photos, the patient waiter guides diners through the limited menu of regional staples, such as marinated anchovies and penne alla sorrentina (pasta, mozzarella and tomatoes).

La Cantina della Sapienza (Map; 081 45 90 78; Via della Sapienza 40; meals €18; lunch Mon-Sat) Pared-down classics made with the morning’s market shop are what they do best here. Think parmigiana di melanzane (slices of aubergine alternated with layers of tomato sauce and mozzarella) and caprese con provola. Sweet tooths take note: owner Gaetano whips up a different dessert every day.

La Stanza del Gusto (Map; 081 40 15 78; Via Costantinopoli 100; set lunch €18, meals €45; cheese bar 7.30pm-midnight Mon, 11am-4pm & 7.30pm-midnight Tue-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun, restaurant 7.30pm-midnight Mon-Sat) Hip and eclectic, the ‘Taste Room’ offers a ground-floor ‘cheese bar’ for low-fuss vino sessions and grazing (the rare cheeses are fabulous), and an upstairs dining room for mod-twist adventures – think fegatini (chicken liver) flan with strawberry salsa and variations on baccalà (salted cod). A small basement food shop stocks the kitchen’s own sauces, as well as take-home deli treats and wines.

Toledo & Vomero

Friggitoria Fiorenzano (Map; 081 551 27 88; Piazza Montesanto; snacks from €1; Mon-Sat) The Brits don’t have a monopoly on fried food served in paper. Here you’ll find piles of crunchy deep-fried aubergines and artichokes, croquets filled with prosciutto and mozzarella, and a whole lot more.

Pintauro (Map; 348 7781645; Via Toledo 275; sfogliatelle €1.50; 8am-2pm & 2.30-8pm Mon-Sat, 9am-2pm Sun Sep-May) Another local institution, the cinnamon-scented Pintauro peddles perfect sfogliatelle to shopped-out locals.

Nennella (Map; 081 41 43 38; Vico Lungo Teatro 103-105; meals €10; Mon-Sat) Casareccio (homestyle) cooking and Neapolitan theatricality collide at loud, unmissable Nennella. Give your name to Ciro and wait for the boisterous staff to call you in. Inside, roguish waiters serve up uncomplicated gems like crispy fried sardines, lip-smacking spaghetti con lupine (spaghetti with lupin) or insalatona nennella (rocket, bresaola and radish salad).

Donna Teresa (Map; 081 556 70 70; Via Kerbaker 58; meals €14; Mon-Sat) Locals know exactly what they’re getting when they squeeze into this tiny, eight-table trattoria – traditional food as their nonna (grandma) would have cooked it. The limited menu changes daily, but you might find spezzatini al ragù (meat stew), polpette (meat balls) or salsicce al sugo (sausages in tomato sauce).

Santa Lucia & Chiaia

La Focaccia (Map; 081 41 22 77; Vico Belledonne a Chiaia 31; focaccia from €1.60; 11am-late Mon-Sat, 5pm-late Sun) Head to this funky, no-fuss bolthole for fat focaccia squares stacked with combos like artichokes and provola, or aubergine with pecorino cheese and smoked ham. Best of all, there isn’t a microwave oven in sight.

La Trattoria dell’Oca (Map; 081 41 48 65; Via Santa Teresa a Chiaia 11; meals €20; closed dinner Sun Oct-May) Refined yet relaxed, this softly lit trattoria celebrates beautifully cooked classics, which may include gnocchi al ragù or a superb baccalà (salted cod) cooked with succulent cherry tomatoes, capers and olives.

La Scialuppa (Map; 081 764 53 33; Borgo Marinaro 4; meals €45; Tue-Sun) Almost 150 years young and a hit with Italian VIPs, La Scialuppa is a sound choice for romantic harbourside noshing. Predictably, seafood is the star, from the moreish fritto misto (mixed fried seafood) to the vino-infused risotto alla scialuppa (seafood risotto). In the warmer months, the yacht-flanking alfresco tables are a prized possession, so book ahead.

Dora (Map; 081 68 05 19; Via Palasciano 30; meals €60; lunch Tue-Sun, dinner Mon-Sat) Don’t be fooled by the humble front on a forlorn street: Dora’s is one of Naples’ finest fish restaurants. Surrounded by breezy blue-and-white tiles and marine memorabilia, you can dive into juicy chargrilled prawns and a crisp frittura di pesce (fried fish) as the veteran owner breaks into song. Reservations are essential.

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DRINKING

The city’s student and alternative drinking scene is around the piazzas and alleyways of the centro storico. For a chicer vibe, hit the cobbled lanes of upmarket Chiaia. While some bars operate from 8am, most open from around 6.30pm and close around 2am.

Al Barcadero (Map; 333 2227023; Banchina Santa Lucia 2) Duck down the steps on the left as you walk towards Borgo Marinaro and you’ll find this unpretentious waterside bar. Grab a beer and watch the fishers pootle around the marina.

Caffè Mexico (Map; 081 549 93 30; Piazza Dante 86; 7am-8.30pm Mon-Sat) Make a beeline for Naples’ best-loved espresso bar, where old-school baristas serve up the city’s mightiest espresso.

Enoteca Belledonne (Map; 081 40 31 62; Vico Belledonne a Chiaia 18) One of the best-loved wine bars in Chiaia. All exposed-brick walls and bottle-lined shelves, it’s a stalwart of the area’s well-trodden aperitivo (happy hour) circuit.

Il Caffè Arabo (Map; 081 442 06 07; Piazza Bellini) One of the squareside cafes on bohemian Piazza Bellini, this raffish spot is good for a laid-back wine (the cheapest on the piazza) and a Middle Eastern nibble or two. Just to the right, Intra Moenia ( 081 29 07 20, Piazza Bellini 70) is its more upmarket neighbour, complete with erudite bookshop.

S’Move (Map; 081 764 58 13; Vico dei Sospiri 10a) Another aperitivo hot spot in Chiaia, the bulbous lamps and futuristic wall panels here channel Barbarella. DJs spin nu-jazz, acid jazz, electro and funk every Thursday to Sunday.

Caffè Gambrinus (Map; 081 41 41 33; Via Chiaia 12) Tourists and overdressed visitors self-consciously sip overpriced coffee and cocktails at Naples’ most venerable cafe. Oscar Wilde and Bill Clinton count among the celebs who have graced its lavish art-nouveau interior.

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ENTERTAINMENT

Options run the gamut from world-class opera and jazz to rock festivals and cavernous clubbing. For cultural listings pick up the monthly Qui Napoli (at the tourist offices) or a local newspaper; for the latest club news check out the free minimag Zero (in Italian), available from many bars.

You can buy tickets for most cultural events at the box office inside Feltrinelli (Map; 081 764 21 11; Piazza dei Martiri; 4.30-8pm Mon, 10am-1.30pm & 4.30-8pm Tue-Sat).

The month-long Maggio dei Monumenti festival in May offers concerts and cultural activities in various museums and monuments around town, most of which are free. From May until September, alfresco concerts are common throughout the city. Tourist offices have details.

At the time of writing, only local residents were permitted to attend football matches at Naples’ Stadio San Paolo; a measure aimed at curbing hooliganism.

Nightclubs & Live Music

Clubs usually open at 10.30pm or 11pm but don’t fill up until after midnight. Many close in summer (July to September), some transferring to out-of-town beach locations. Admission charges vary, but expect to pay between €5 and €25, which may or may not include a drink.

Rising South (Map; 335 8790428; Via San Sebastiano 19) Urged on by a strident soundtrack of hip hop, drum and bass, Latin and electronica, a young, up-for-it crowd grooves beneath the centro storico. Art-house video projections provide the visuals.

Velvet Zone (Map; 328 9577115; Via Cisterna dell’Olio 11) A historic Naples club, the Velvet rocks to different tunes on different nights. Expect anything from minimal techno to house, retro and rock.

Around Midnight (Map; 081 742 32 78; Via Bonito 32A; Sep—early Jul) One of Naples’ oldest and most famous jazz clubs, this tiny swinging bolthole features mostly home-grown live gigs, with the occasional blues band putting in a performance.

Arenile di Bagnoli (off Map; 081 230 30 50; Via Nuova Bagnoli 10; Apr-Sep) The biggest of Naples’ beachside clubs. Order a pizza, catch a band or hit the beachside dance floor for thumping house under the stars. The club is a short walk south of Bagnoli station on the Cumana rail line.

Theatre

Teatro San Carlo (Map; 081 797 23 31; www.teatrosancarlo.it; Via San Carlo 98; box office 10am-7pm Tue-Sat) One of Italy’s premier opera venues, the theatre stages a year-round programme of opera, ballet and concerts, though tickets can be fiendishly difficult to get hold of. For opera, count on €50 for a place in the sixth tier and €100 for a seat in the stalls. If you’re under 30 (and can prove it), last-minute tickets are available one hour before performances for €15.

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SHOPPING

Colourful markets, artisan studios, and heirloom tailors – shopping in Naples is highly idiosyncratic.

For a gastronomic souvenir, head to Limonè (Map; 081 29 94 29; Piazza San Gaetano 72), where you’ll be able to try the organic limoncello (lemon liqueur) before buying a bottle. If it goes to your head, grab some lemon pasta as well. For organic, handmade soaps and beauty products, head to Kiphy (Map; 393 8703280; Piazza San Gaetano 72), while those after offbeat art, design and craft should check out Mani Design (Map; 347 9532930; Via San Giovanni Maggiore Pignatelli 1B).

Chiaia is the place for the fashion big guns and Naples’ legendary tailors; places like Mariano Rubinacci (Map; 081 41 57 93; Via Filangeri 26), where you’ll pay around €1500 for a jacket, or Marinella (Map; 081 245 11 82; Piazza Vittoria 287), whose made-to-measure ties were worn by Aristotle Onassis and Gianni Agnelli.

For traditional Neapolitan presepi (nativity scenes), drop into the artisan shops lining Via San Gregorio Armeno.

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GETTING THERE & AWAY

Air

Capodichino airport (NAP; off Map; 081 789 62 59; www.gesac.it), 7km northeast of the city centre, is southern Italy’s main airport, linking Naples with most Italian and several major European cities, as well as New York. Serviced by a number of major airlines, including Alitalia and British Airways, the airport also hosts a number of low-cost carriers. Among the latter is easyjet which connects Naples to several European cities, including London, Paris (Orly) and Berlin.

Boat

Naples, the bay islands and the Amalfi Coast are served by a comprehensive ferry network. In Naples, ferries and hydrofoils leave for Capri, Sorrento, Ischia, Procida and Forio from Molo Beverello in front of Castel Nuovo; hydrofoils for Capri, Ischia and Procida also sail from Mergellina; longer-distance ferries for Palermo, Cagliari, Milazzo, the Aeolian Islands (Isole Eolie) and Tunisia leave from the Stazione Marittima.

Tickets for shorter journeys can be bought at the ticket booths on Molo Beverello and at Mergellina. For longer journeys try the offices of the ferry companies or a travel agent.

Qui Napoli lists timetables for Bay of Naples services. Note, however, that ferry services are pared back considerably in the winter, and adverse sea conditions may affect sailing schedules.

Following is a list of ferry and hydrofoil companies and the destinations they service. The fares, unless otherwise stated, are for a one-way, high-season, deck-class single.

Bus

Most national and international buses leave from Piazza Garibaldi.

Regional bus services are operated by a number of companies, the most useful of which is SITA ( 199 730749; www.sitabus.it, in Italian), which runs buses from Naples to Pompeii (€2.40, 40 minutes, half-hourly), Sorrento (€3.30, one hour 20 minutes, twice daily), Positano (€3.30, two hours, twice daily), Amalfi (€3.30, two hours, twice daily) and Salerno (€3.30, one hour 10 minutes, every 25 minutes). Casting wider, it runs from Salerno to Bari via Naples (€22.50, 4½ hours, twice daily) and operates a service to Germany, including Frankfurt (€105), Düsseldorf (€118) and Hamburg (€124). You can buy SITA tickets and catch buses either from Porto Immacolatella, near Stazione Marittima, or from Via Galileo Ferraris (Map), near Stazione Centrale; you can also buy tickets at Bar Clizia (Map; Corso Arnaldo Lucci 173).

Marino ( 080 311 23 35) has buses to Bari (€22, three hours, up to five services daily); Miccolis ( 081 20 03 80) runs to Taranto (€17.50, four hours, three to four services daily), Brindisi (€25.20, five hours) and Lecce (€28.50, 5½ hours); while CLP ( 081 531 17 07) serves Foggia (€11, two hours, frequent), Perugia (€29.45, 3½ hours) and Assisi (€32, 4½ hours, one per day).

Car & Motorcycle

Naples is on the Autostrada del Sole, the A1 (north to Rome and Milan) and the A3 (south to Salerno and Reggio di Calabria). The A30 skirts Naples to the northeast, while the A16 heads across the Apennines to Bari.

On approaching the city, the motorways meet the Tangenziale di Napoli, a major ring road around the city. The ring road hugs the city’s northern fringe, meeting the A1 for Rome in the east, and continuing westwards towards the Campi Flegrei and Pozzuoli.

Train

Naples is southern Italy’s main rail hub. Most national trains arrive at or depart from Stazione Centrale or, underneath the main station, Stazione Garibaldi. There are up to 30 trains daily to Rome (IC €19.50, two hours), some of which stop at Mergellina station, and some 20 to Salerno (IC €6.50, 35 minutes).

The Stazione Circumvesuviana (Map; 081 772 24 44; www.vesuviana.it; Corso Garibaldi), southwest of Stazione Centrale (follow the signs from the main concourse), operates trains to Sorrento (€3.30, 70 minutes) via Ercolano (€1.80, 20 minutes), Pompeii (€2.40, 40 minutes) and other towns along the coast. There are about 40 trains daily running between 5am and 10.30pm, with reduced services on Sunday.

Ferrovia Cumana and Circumflegrea ( 800 001616; www.sepsa.it), based at Stazione Cumana di Montesanto (Map) on Piazza Montesanto, 500m southwest of Piazza Dante, operate services to Pozzuoli (€1.10, 20 minutes, every 25 minutes).

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GETTING AROUND

To/From the Airport

By public transport you can take either the regular ANM ( 800 639525; www.anm.it, in Italian) bus 3S (€1.10, 45 minutes, every 15 minutes) from Piazza Garibaldi or the Alibus ( 800 5311705) airport shuttle (€3, 45 minutes, every 30 minutes) from Piazza del Municipio or Piazza Garibaldi.

Official taxi fares to the airport are as follows: €21 from a seafront hotel or from theMergellina hydrofoil terminal; €18 from Piazza del Municipio; and €14.50 from Stazione Centrale.

Bus

In Naples, buses are operated by the city transport company ANM ( 800 639525; www.anm.it, in Italian). There’s no central bus station, but most buses pass through Piazza Garibaldi, the city’s chaotic transport hub. To locate your bus stop you’ll probably need to ask at the information kiosk in the centre of the square.

Useful bus services:

Car & Motorcycle

Vehicle theft and anarchic traffic make driving in Naples a bad option.

Officially much of the city centre is closed to nonresident traffic for much of the day. Daily restrictions are in place in the centro storico, in the area around Piazza del Municipio and Via Toledo, and in the Chiaia district around Piazza dei Martiri. Hours vary but are typically from 8am to 6.30pm, possibly later.

East of the city centre, there’s a 24-hour car park at Via Brin (€1.30 for the first four hours, €7.20 for 24 hours).

An economy car will cost about €60 per day; for a scooter expect to pay about €35. The major car-hire firms are all represented in Naples:

Funicular

Three of Naples’ four funicular railways connect the centre with Vomero:

The fourth, Funicolare di Mergellina, connects the waterfront at Via Mergellina with Via Manzoni.

Unico Napoli tickets (see boxed text, below) are valid on the funiculars.

Metro

Currently being extended, Naples’ Metropolitana ( 800 568866; www.metro.na.it) is, in fact, mostly above ground. Metro journeys are covered by Unico Napoli tickets (see boxed text, below).

Taxi

Official taxis are white and have meters. There are taxi stands at most of the city’s main piazzas or you can call one of the five taxi cooperatives: Napoli ( 081 556 44 44), Consortaxi ( 081 20 20 20), Cotana ( 081 570 70 70), Free ( 081 551 51 51) or Partenope ( 081 556 02 02).

The minimum taxi fare is €4.75, of which €3.10 is the starting fare. There’s also a baffling range of additional charges: €0.95 for a radio taxi call, €2.10 extra on Sundays and holidays, €2.40 more between 10pm and 7am, €2.95 for an airport run and €0.60 per piece of luggage in the boot. Guide dogs for the blind and wheelchairs are carried free of charge.

Always ensure the meter is running.

See opposite for fares to the airport.

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AROUND NAPLES

CAMPI FLEGREI

Stretching west from Posillipo to the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean – or ‘Fiery’ – Fields) is a pockmarked area of craters, lakes and fumaroles, one of the world’s most geologically unstable. Here, archaeological ruins stand in the midst of modern eyesores, and history merges with myth. This is where Icarus plunged to his death, where Aeneas sought the Sybil’s advice, and where Greek colonists first settled in Italy – Cuma dates to the 8th century BC, while Pozzuoli, the main centre, was founded around 530 BC.

Before exploring the area it’s worth stopping at Pozzuoli’s tourist office for updated information on the area’s sights and opening times. Also a good idea is the two-day €4 cumulative ticket that covers the archaeological sites of Baia and Cuma.

Pozzuoli

The first town that emerges beyond Naples’ dreary western suburbs is Pozzuoli, a workaday place whose attractions are not immediately apparent. However, nose around and you’ll find some impressive Roman ruins and an eerie, steaming volcanic crater. The town was established by the Greeks around 530 BC and later renamed Puteoli (Little Wells) by the Romans, who turned it into a major port. It was here that St Paul is said to have landed in AD 61 and that screen goddess Sophia Loren spent her childhood.

TICKETS PLEASE

Tickets for public transport in Naples and the surrounding Campania region are managed by Unico Campania (www.unicocampania.it). There are various plans, depending on where you plan to travel. Both the Unico Napoli 90-minute ticket (€1.10) and the 24-hour ticket (€3.10, reduced to €2.60 at weekends) offer unlimited travel by bus, tram, funicular, metro, Ferrovia Cumana or Circumflegrea. Other deals include the Unico 3T, a 72-hour ticket for €20 which covers rail travel throughout Campania, including the Alibus and transport on the islands of Ischia and Procida; Unico Ischia, which costs €1.20 for 90 minutes and €1.20 for 24 hours of bus travel on Ischia; and a similar deal offered with Unico Capri that covers bus travel on Capri. If you plan to do much travelling by SITA bus and/or Circumvesuviana train in the Bay of Naples and Amalfi Coast area, then save money by investing in a Unico Costiera card, available between April and October for durations of 45 minutes (€2), 90 minutes (€3), 24 hours (€6) or 72 hours (€15). Aside from the SITA buses, the 24- and 72-hour tickets also allow you to hop on the City Sightseeing tourist bus that travels between Amalfi and Ravello and Amalfi and Maiori. All Unico Campania tickets are sold at stations, ANM booths and tobacconists.

The tourist office ( 081 526 66 39; Piazza G Matteotti 1a; 9am-1pm & 4-7.30pm daily Jun-Sep, 9am-2pm & 2.30-3.40pm Mon-Fri Oct-May) is beside the Porta Napoli gate, around 700m downhill from the metro station.

Rising 33m above the western end of the seafront, the Rione Terra ( 848 800288; Largo Sedile di Porto; admission €3) is Pozzuoli’s oldest quarter and ancient Puteoli’s acropolis. Underground visits to the quarter, which contains Roman-era roads, shops and even a brothel, are by guided tour only. Contact the tourist office for opening times: hours vary and the site closes sporadically.

Just east of the port, sunken in a leafy piazza, sits the Tempio di Serapide (Temple of Serapis). Despite its name, it wasn’t a temple at all, but an ancient macellum (town market). Named after a statue of the Egyptian god Serapis found here in 1750, its toilets (at either side of the eastern apse) are considered works of ancient ingenuity. Badly damaged over the centuries by bradyseism (the slow upward and downward movement of the earth’s crust), the temple is occasionally flooded by sea water.

Head northeast along Via Rosini to the ruins of the 1st-century-BC Anfiteatro Flavio ( 081 526 60 07; Via Terracciano 75; admission €4; 9am to 1hr before sunset Wed-Mon). The third-largest amphitheatre in Italy, it could hold over 20,000 spectators and was occasionally flooded for mock naval battles. Under the main arena you can wander among fallen columns and get your head around the complex mechanics involved in hoisting the caged wild beasts up to their waiting victims. In AD 305 seven Christian martyrs, including St Januarius, were thrown to the animals here. They survived only to be beheaded later.

Some 2km up Via Rosini, which becomes Via Solfatara, the surreal Solfatara crater ( 081 526 23 41; www.solfatara.it; Via Solfatara 161; admission €6; 8.30am to 1hr before sunset) was known to the Romans as the Forum Vulcani (home of the god of fire). At the far end of the steaming, malodorous crater are the Stufe, in which two ancient grottoes were excavated at the end of the 19th century to create two brick sudatoria (sweat rooms). Christened Purgatory and Hell, they both reach temperatures of up to 90°C. To get to the crater, catch any city bus heading uphill from the metro station and ask the driver to let you off at Solfatara.

Pozzuoli has several campsites; they’re the nearest ones to Naples. Up by the Solfatara, a panoply of trees provides shade at the well-equipped Camping Vulcano Solfatara ( 081 526 74 13; www.solfatara.it; Via Solfatara 161; camping 2 people, car & tent €26-32.60; ).

There are frequent car and passenger ferries from Pozzuoli to Ischia and Procida, run by a variety of companies. Typical prices are €6.60 to Procida and €7.60 to Ischia – more if you take a hydrofoil.

Both the Ferrovia Cumana ( 800 001616; www.sepsa.it) and the Naples metro (line 2) serve Pozzuoli.

By bus, take AMN bus 152 from Naples.

If you have your own wheels, take the Tangenziale ring road from Naples and swing off at the Pozzuoli exit. Less swift but more scenic is taking Via Francesco Caracciolo along the Naples waterfront to Posillipo, then on to Pozzuoli.

Baia & Cuma

About 7km southwest of Pozzuoli, Baia was an upmarket Roman holiday resort with a reputation as a sordid centre of sex and sin. Today much of the ancient town is underwater, and modern development has left what is effectively a built-up, ugly and uninspiring coastal road.

Between April and October, CYMBA runs glass-bottom-boat tours of Baia Sommersa ( 349 4974183; www.baiasommersa.it; tours €12; 10am, noon & 3pm Sat & Sun), the underwater ruins. All year round, however, you can admire the elaborate nymphaeum (shrine to the water nymph), complete with statues, jewels, coins and decorative pillars dredged up and reassembled in the recently expanded Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei ( 081 523 37 97; Via Castello; admission €4; 9am to 1hr before sunset Tue-Sun). The 15th-century castle that houses the museum was built by Naples’ Aragon rulers as a defence against possible French invasion.

Cuma (known to the ancient Greeks as Cumae) was the earliest Greek colony on the Italian mainland. The highlight of the Acropoli di Cuma ( 081 854 30 60; Via Montecuma; admission €4; 9am to 2hr before sunset) is the haunting Antro della Sibilla Cumana (Cave of the Cuman Sybil). Hollowed out of the tufa bank, its eerie 130m-long trapezoidal tunnel leads to the vaulted chamber where the Sybil was said to pass on messages from Apollo. The poet Virgil writes of Aeneas coming here to seek the oracle, who directs him to the underworld, entered from nearby Lago d’Averno (Lake Avernus). The lake, a 1km walk from Lucrino train station, is now a chilled-out spot for a picnic.

From Fusaro train station (Ferrovia Cumana), walk 150m north to Via Fusaro and jump on a Cuma-bound EAV bus (www.eavbus.it, in Italian), which runs roughly every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday and every hour on Sunday. For Baia, jump on a Miseno-bound EAV Bus from the opposite side of the street.

CASERTA

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The one compelling reason to stop at this otherwise nondescript town, 22km north of Naples, is to visit the colossal Palazzo Reale. Dubbed the Italian Versailles, the vast palace is one of the greatest – and last – achievements of Italian baroque architecture. It is also where Tom Cruise shot scenes for Mission Impossible III and where George Lucas filmed the interior shots of Queen Amidala’s royal residence in Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode 2 - Attack of the Clones.

Caserta was founded in the 8th century by the Lombards on the site of a Roman emplacement atop Monte Tifata, expanding onto the plains below from the 12th century onwards.

Caserta’s tourist office ( 0823 32 11 37; Piazza Dante; 9am-4.15pm Mon-Fri) is near the entrance to the palace gardens.

Sights

Known to Italians as the Reggia di Caserta, the Unesco-listed Palazzo Reale ( 0823 44 80 84; Via Douhet 22; admission €10; 8.30am-7pm Wed-Mon) is one of Italy’s tourist heavyweights, pulling in some 460,000 visitors each year.

Work on the palace began in 1752 after King Charles VII of Bourbon ordered a palace to rival Versailles. Neapolitan Luigi Vanvitelli was commissioned for the job and built a palace not just equal to Versailles, but even bigger. With its 1200 rooms, 1790 windows, 34 staircases and a 250m-long facade, it was reputedly the largest building in 18th-century Europe.

You enter by Vanvitelli’s immense staircase, a masterpiece of vainglorious baroque, and follow a route through the royal apartments, richly decorated with tapestries, furniture and crystal. Beyond the library is a room containing a vast collection of presepi composed of hundreds of hand-carved nativity pieces.

To clear your head afterwards, take a walk in the elegant landscaped park ( 8.30am-7pm Jun-Aug, to 5.30pm May & Sep, to 6pm Apr, to 4.30pm Oct, to 4pm Mar, to 3.30pm Nov-Feb, last entry 1hr before closing Wed-Mon). It stretches for some 3km to a waterfall and fountain of Diana and the famous Giardino Inglese (English Garden; tours 9.30am-1pm Wed-Mon) with its intricate pathways, exotic plants, pools and cascades. Last entry is one hour before closing.

The weary can cover the same ground in a pony and trap (from €5), or for €1 you can bring a bike into the park. A picnic is another good idea. Within the palace there’s also the Mostra Terrea Motus (admission free with palace ticket; 9am-6pm Wed-Mon), illustrating the 1980 earthquake that devastated the region.

When you’re done, revive yourself in the palace’s cafeteria and restaurant.

Getting There & Away

CTP buses connect Caserta with Naples’ Piazza Garibaldi (€2.90) about every 35 minutes between 6am and 9pm. Some Benevento services also stop in Caserta.

The town is on the main train line between Rome (€10.50, around two hours and 30 minutes) and Naples (€2.90, 40 minutes). Both bus and train stations are near the Palazzo Reale entrance, which is signposted from each. If you’re driving, follow signs for the Reggia.

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BENEVENTO

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Inside the ring of drab modern housing blocks that announce Benevento, the city has a lovely centre peppered with remnants of its ancient past. Nestled in the green hills of the Apennines, it was originally known as Maleventum but was renamed Beneventum after the Romans ousted the Samnites in 275 BC. Its golden age came around the 8th century, when it controlled much of southern Italy as a Lombard duchy. In the 11th century it was transferred to the control of the papacy and remained mostly under papal rule until 1860.

The helpful tourist office ( 0824 31 99 11; www.eptbenevento.it; Via Nicola Sala 31; 8.15am-1.45pm & 3pm-6pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-12.30pm Sat) is east of the historic centre. Catch local bus 1 from the train station to reach it.

Sights

The town was heavily bombed in WWII and the Romanesque cathedral with its elaborate facade had to be largely rebuilt. Southwest of the cathedral is a restored Roman theatre dating from Hadrian’s time. The beautifully preserved Arco di Traiano (Trajan’s Arch), built in AD 114, commemorates the opening of the Via Traiano, while the obelisk (Piazza Matteotti) marks the Napoleonic invasion of Italy.

Nearby, the atmospheric 8th-century Chiesa di Santa Sofia adjoins what was once a Benedictine abbey. Nowadays, the abbey houses the Museo Sannio ( 0824 218 18; Piazza Santa Sofia; admission €4; 9am-7pm Tue-Sun), whose collection contains remnants of a 1st-century temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, along with some impressive archaeological finds. The ticket price includes admission to the church’s tranquil cloisters.

Housed in the handsome Palazzo del Governo across from the museum, ARCOS (Museo di Arte Contemporanea del Sannio; 0824 312 465; www.museoarcos.it, in Italian; Corso Garibaldi 1; admission €4) is the Sannio region’s contemporary art museum, with regular temporary exhibitions in a beautiful vaulted gallery. Opening hours vary.

Sleeping & Eating

Hotel President ( 0824 31 67 16; www.hotelpresidentbenevento.it; Via Giovan Battista Perasso 1; s/d €78/115; ) Modern and central, the President is convenient rather than characterful. The comfortable, bland rooms feature stripy fabrics, white walls and polished wood.

Osteria Nunzia ( 0824 294 31; Via Annunziata 152; meals €18; Mon-Sat) A slow-food stalwart, this vaulted nosh spot serves soulful regional classics to in-the-know foodies. Highlights include heavenly linguine al nero di seppia (linguine pasta with black squid ink) and an equally exquisite tender polipo (calamari) with tomato sauce.

Getting There & Away

Metrocampania Nord-Est ( 800 053939 www.metrocampanianordest.it) operates direct train services between Benevento and Naples (€4.20). The train station is a good half-hour slog from the town centre and sights. Alternatively, local bus 1 runs half-hourly from the train station to the town centre. Buses also link Benevento with Rome (€17.50, three hours, four to five services daily) and Campobasso (€3.60, two hours, two services daily).

Benevento is on the SS7 (Via Appia) and close to the A16.

AVELLINO & AROUND

Largely rebuilt after the shattering earthquake of 1980, modern-day Avellino won’t delay you long. The area’s main sight is 1000m above town, perched on the vertiginous summit of Monte Vergine (1493m): the Santuario di Montevergine ( 0825 729 24; museum €1; 7.30am-6.30pm year-round) dates to the 12th century, when a young pilgrim, Guglielmo di Vercelli, built the first church here. Since then it’s undergone numerous facelifts, the last being in the mid-20th century. You can visit the abbey (admission free), and enjoy a small collection of archaeological finds, sculpture and painting in the sanctuary museum.

The green slopes around Avellino are home to some of Campania’s finest vineyards. Fiano di Avellino, a dry white, Greco di Tufo, a dry and aromatic white, and Taurasi, the region’s top red, are all produced in the area.

For winter exercise, there’s limited skiing at Lago di Laceno, about 30km southeast of Avellino.

For more information on Avellino and its environs contact the town’s tourist office ( 0825 747 32; www.eptavellino.it, in Italian; Via Due Principati 32a; 8.30am-2.30pm Mon-Sat).

Buses connect Avellino to Naples (€3.30, every 20 minutes or so Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sunday). In summer buses go from Avellino to Monte Vergine and the sanctuary.

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