The historic center of Naples, a UNESCO World Heritage site, encompasses three thousand years of history and is the largest in Italy (even larger than Rome’s). Its peculiarity lies in the almost total preservation of the street layout from the Greek era, dating back to the 8th century BC, still in use today. These are the so-called Decumani.
To immediately tune into the soul of Naples, it is essential to start with an in-depth exploration of the Decumani, corresponding to the streets of Sapienza, Anticaglia, and Santi Apostoli (Upper Decumanus), Via dei Tribunali (Main Decumanus), and Spaccanapoli (Lower Decumanus). These streets, along with the alleys and squares connected to them, hold many treasures, big and small: first of all religious buildings such as the Cathedral of San Gennaro, the Sansevero Chapel (with its Veiled Christ), and the Monastery of Santa Chiara. One can also admire traces of Greek and Roman Neapolis, the popular art of murals, or the beautiful palaces, sometimes in slightly precarious condition, but with doorways and staircases of incredible charm.
The more aristocratic and postcard-like Naples is that of Piazza del Plebiscito, with the Royal Palace and the Maschio Angioino, the Galleria Umberto I, and the San Carlo Theatre. The latter can be visited with guided tours on weekends. But the best way to enjoy it is, of course, to attend an opera, ballet, or classical music concert. Then there is the Liberty district of Naples which deserves the trip.
So far, the surface of Naples. But the city also has a surprising underground face worth exploring to better understand its history and evolution. Various tours of Naples Underground exist. The one likely offering the most comprehensive general view is the Official Underground Naples Route, starting from Piazza San Gaetano at number 68. Also staying underground, when traveling by metro it is good to observe its stations that have been transformed into artistic installations.
Finally, a visit to the Archaeological Museum of Naples is a must, considered one of the most important archaeological museums in the world concerning Roman archaeology. Visiting it is a prerequisite for excursions to Pompeii and Herculaneum, as it houses numerous artifacts from these cities, including mosaics and paintings.
What to eat in Naples
The national dish of Naples is pizza, and Via dei Tribunali has been dubbed by many “Neapolitan Pizza Street” due to the large number of pizzerias there. Among them is Gino and Toto Sorbillo’s, descendants of one of the oldest pizza-making families in Naples. Gino’s grandparents, who opened a pizzeria on Via dei Tribunali in 1935, had twenty-one children, all of whom became pizza makers. The pizza of Gino and Toto Sorbillo is that of the “poor alleys of the city,” meaning bigger, generous, and accessible to all. Another institution is L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele. To preserve the tradition at its best, it offers only two pizzas, the margherita and the Neapolitan, prepared with the best ingredients available locally.
Finally, the Campanian street food is a gastronomic experience not to be missed. The main specialties are o’ cuoppo, a paper cone filled with fried delights (fish, potatoes, or little mozzarellas), folded pizza, fried pizza, pasta fritters, and the panuozzo, a cross between pizza and a sandwich.
The Amalfi Coast is the stretch of Campanian coastline located south of the Sorrentine peninsula, overlooking the Gulf of Salerno. It is famous worldwide for its natural beauty and is home to important tourist settlements, such as Positano. It takes its name from the town of Amalfi, the central hub of the Coast not only geographically but also historically as it was one of the Maritime Republics. The beauty of the coast was discovered in the 19th century during the Grand Tour. After World War II it became a vacation destination for the international jet set.
The best way to move among the locations on the Coast is by ferries departing from Piazza della Concordia in Salerno, or it is recommended to rent a motorboat, provided you have a boating license.
The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, each deserve a full day visit. They are easily reachable from Naples using the Circumvesuviana line, departing from Porta Nolana station.
Ancient Pompeii was buried under a layer of ash and lapilli. Excavations, started by the will of Charles III of Bourbon, have allowed its complete uncovering. Therefore, you can find all types of buildings typical of Roman cities: private houses, forums, artisanal and commercial premises, entertainment buildings, baths, and temples.
The city of Herculaneum was instead a vacation spot for the Roman aristocracy, as testified by numerous villas like Villa of the Papyri. It was completely buried under mud and pyroclastic material following the eruption of Vesuvius: this layer, over the years, solidified, forming a rock floor similar to tuff but softer, which protected the city’s remains, though making archaeological excavations more difficult. The theater, in particular, is still buried and, when open to the public, is accessible via a series of Bourbon-era tunnels.
During these first four days, you can stay in Naples and use public transport for transfers. At the end of the fourth day, it is advisable to rent a car and move to Salerno for the second part of the trip.
In Cilento and Vallo di Diano, three sites are selected by UNESCO as World Heritage: Paestum, Velia, and the Padula Charterhouse.
Paestum is a Magna Graecia colony founded by the Sybarites. The extent of its inhabited area, enclosed by its Greek walls, is still clearly visible today. Paestum is especially known for its temples, miraculously preserved in excellent condition, considered unique examples of Magna Graecian architecture. The local Museum houses a notable collection of artifacts found in the areas around Paestum, primarily the funerary furnishings from the Greek and Lucanian necropolises. Countless are the vases, weapons, and painted tombstones, among which the most famous is the Diver.
Velia was also a Greek colony, founded by fleeing Phocaean exiles escaping their land threatened by Persians. The archaeological area therefore preserves remains of the Greek city, the best known being the Porta Rosa, the oldest example of a true arch in Italy, dating back to the 4th century BC.
The Charterhouse of San Lorenzo at Padula is the first charterhouse to arise in Campania, at the beginning of the 14th century. Its 17th-century restoration transformed it into one of the most sumptuous Baroque monumental complexes of southern Italy, as well as one of the largest charterhouses in Europe.
The last stops on the tour are Benevento and Caserta.
In Benevento, there is the Santa Sofia monumental complex, part of the serial site “The Lombards in Italy: the places of power.” It develops around the church, built in 760 by the Lombard duke Arechi II. The attached monastery, whose most notable part is the cloister, hosts the Sannio Museum which holds, among other things, a remarkable collection of archaeological finds, including many remains of an Isis temple located in the city.
The best-known monument in Caserta is undoubtedly the Royal Palace, known as the Royal Palace of Caserta, commissioned in the mid-18th century by Charles of Bourbon who, driven by some rivalry with the French royals and eager to provide Naples with structures worthy of playing a role as a European-level capital city, decided to inaugurate a palace that could rival Versailles in magnificence and grandeur. The palace, considered the last great achievement of Italian Baroque, is a grand complex of 1,200 rooms. The park stretches for 3 kilometers in length, covering 120 hectares.
Less famous than the palace but worth a visit is the complex of San Leucio. The homonymous hill was purchased in 1750 by Charles III of Bourbon with the initial aim of making it a hunting reserve and secondary residence for the leisure of the royal family. Later, Ferdinand IV established a silk manufacturing factory there and made it the forefront of his industrial policy: a manufacturing center for his population, which later became a colony regulated by a special code of laws. San Leucio productions still proudly decorate the Vatican, the Quirinale, the White House, and Buckingham Palace today.
The wine of Sannio
Benevento is the pantry of Campanian wine: its area produces more than half of the DOC and IGT wine of the entire region. The most known wine of the area is probably Falanghina, a native white grape with a fruity taste. The first bottle of Falanghina was produced in 1979 by the Mustilli Winery of Sant’Agata dei Goti, which decided to gamble on a grape variety that at the time was destined only for distillation. Needless to say, the gamble was widely won, as testified by the many awards won by Mustilli’s Falanghina and the spread this grapevine had in the Sant’Agata area in the following decades. The historic cellar of the Mustilli company, dug at 15 meters deep under the family palace, is open for tastings and visits.
