Naples

Naples: the capital of the Campania region, Naples is a melting pot of busy streets, incredible culture and vast historic importance.

Naples

Naples is the capital of the southern Italian region of Campania. It is the third biggest city in Italy, and one of the top 10 most populous urban spaces in Europe. In fact, its population lies between 3-3.7 million inhabitants in total. It is moreover one of the oldest continuously occupied in the world. The oldest known civilisation to occupy this space were Bronze Age Greeks.

Though it may be ageing and run down in some area, Naples has plenty to offer in terms of its culture and vast, interesting history. For example, here you can visit the National Archeological Museum. This has a wealth of artefacts discovered at the nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum. Both of these sights are worth a visit in themselves, but here is where you can find a greater context to what you might see here. For more archeological sights, you can make the day trip to Paestum, which has Ancient Greek remains.

Within the town you will also find some beautiful churches. For instance, the Chiesa di San Francesco di Paola has such striking architecture that is often compared to the Pantheon in Rome. Alternatively, the Cappella Sansevere is home to the world-famous Veiled Christ. Celebrated for its life-like semblance, this statue is a must see!

Naples is also home to Europe’s oldest working theater in its Teatro San Carlo. Another of its age-old exports is its famous pizza. What we widely accept as a pizza these days originated in Naples. The most popular of the pizzerias is the tiny ‘Da Michele’. It only serves two pizza toppings, but is widely acknowledged as being the most authentic server of pizza in the world.

Part of the charm of staying in Naples is the plethora of day trips you can take from here. You will have access to the whole of the Amalfi Coast, the stunning Capri and even Mt Vesuvius. A fun and unique activity to do within Naples itself is explore Napoli Sotterranea. This is an underground network of tunnels and caves that run under the city.

Bella Napoli is just a 2 hr journey from Rome. You can, however fly to the city itself, as well as get a variety of train and bus transfers from many places in the area. Given its importance and fame, it is easy to travel to and from here by boat, too.

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